Introduction
Every organization needs to decide how to divide its work or activities, how to coordinate all work – related activities and how to control these activities to ensure that goals are achieved. The organization must consider its external environment and the internal systems and processes used to transform inputs to outputs. A manager of any organization must ensure consistency between the structure of the organization, the scale of its operations, the tasks at hand, the needs of all stakeholders and the strategic direction of the organization. This consistency between structure and operations distinguishes successful organizations from less successful ones.
Organization
An organization is defined as a group of people working, in a structured setting, towards the achievement of a common goal. It is a collectivity with a relatively identifiable boundary, a normative order, ranks of authority, communication systems, and membership coordinating systems. This collectively exists on a relatively continuous basis in an environment and engages in activities that are usually related to a set of goals; the activities have outcomes for organization itself and society.
Organization Structure and Design
Organizational structure and organizational design are very closely related. The process of choosing and implementing a structural configuration is referred to as organizational design. Organizational executives should adjust the structural configuration of their organizations to best meet the challenges faces at any given time.
The organizational structure is the formal structure that shows the intended configuration of positions, job duties and lines of authority among different parts of the enterprise. This structure emerges from the process of designing the organization. It reflects the goals the organization and also reflects the contingency factors that impact on the organization design, such as the organization’s size, environment,
References: Kreitner, R. & Kinicki, A. (2001). Organizational Behavior (5th ed.). USA: The McGraw-Hill Company, Inc. Luthans, F. (1995). Organizational Behavior (7th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill, Inc. French, R., Rayner, C., Rees, G., & Rumbles, S. (2008). Organizational Behavior. England: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.