Introduction
An organizational structure which is well designed plays a crucial role in the process of its development and growth whereas a choice of the wrong structure normally reduces organization profitability, allows insufficient work to flourish and creates tensions among employees and managers (Koontz, 2006). Management structures are usually used everywhere including non- governmental organizations, departments in the government, institutions and even local associations. An organization structure refers to the organization framework which is articulated by the organization’s degree of formalization, complexity and centralization.
Formalization of an organization can be defined as the degree by which it relies on the procedures and the rules which monitor the behavior of the employees. Complexity on the other hand means the extent of the diversity of the organization. Centralization is the attentiveness during decision making of the authority in the higher management.
Set rules that govern a company are used in management control, communication control and in decision making for a better output. Type of influence is regarded as the manipulation techniques which are used by the management in order to give orders and guidelines. This motivates the staff members to achieving the set goals. Authority based influence normally depends on the manager and his or her position in which he is in. Expertise based influence depends on the managers who use their skills to influence their subordinates to carry out duties as expected.
Communication style refers to the ways in which messages are sent to the staff members throughout the organization. The ways used have alternatives for instance communication can be started from the juniors to the senior. It can be done horizontally that is among the peer members in the company. It can also be done from the seniors to the juniors.
Below is an organizational chart that shows the position of the interviewee (Accounts Manager) in the hierarchy:
Organizational structures
According to the interviewee, there are various management structures that are in use today. The major organizational structures include the mechanistic structure and the organic structure. However, each one of the structures has advantages and disadvantages. A mechanistic structure has diversified characteristics that include the following: A mechanistic structure of an organization has a centralized control, communication is vertically carried out and it has a high degree of formalization and co-ordination (BusinessMate, 2009). It has a rigid or inflexible task definition, a complex differentiation and its influence is authority based at all the time.
Advantages of mechanistic structures of organization include the following: They are used in an environment whereby the tasks that are being undertaken have to be with high complexity. In this type of organizational management, every employee has to be specializing in a certain task. At the long run that employee normally is expected to make very small contribution to the final product of the organization. Senior managers in the organization are involved in decision making on how work is accomplished while a lot of emphasis is put on the improvement of the technical processes. One of the complex tasks environments includes the daily operations of the organization (Hanagan, 2005).
Mechanistic structure in an organization has several disadvantages such as: It is very firm or inflexible such that it is slow in adapting to the changes of environmental conditions. This structure is not well suited by the market competitive conditions such as the conditions used in the telecommunication industries (Hanagan, 2005). This type of structure should not be applied especially when almost all the staff members are highly skilled or they are all professional for instance in an auditing firm.
On the other hand however, organic structure of organizations has various characteristics that include the following: It has a decentralized control, its communication is laterally done and its formalization is that of a low degree. Co-ordination degree is low and the definition of tasks is flexible. It has simple differentiation and its influence is based on the expertise.
The major advantage of organic structure of management in an organization is that, it can be used in an environment where its operations are unstable, uncertain or unpredictable, that which change rapidly with the current conditions in the market (Cruz, 2003). It is used in situations whereby employees are allowed to contribute in decision making and during problem solving for example during professional consulting firms. The communication used in organic structure is important because it provides information and it is a form of advice rather than just giving instructions.
Disadvantages of organic structure of management in an organization include the following: It does not provide sufficient management when there are large and complex tasks that need substantial integration of the available resources and workforces in the accomplishment of the strategic goals (Covin, 2007).
Interviewee views
When any employee gets into the company where I carried out the interview or any other organization, begins by learning everything about it. The most crucial thing learnt is the type of management structure that is normally used in the company. Others include the working relationship between the seniors and their junior members.
The manager I interviewed suited in the organic structure of management. This is because its mechanisms are integrated and complex. The teams and the staff members in that organization normally carry out an integrated work. This type of a structure in that company has many employees who work together and in a coordinated manner.
Communication in the interviewee’s company is horizontally carried out. The authorities in the organization are the ones that control every task through delegation verbally from the senior authorities. In most cases the work is unpredictable since it is randomly done. The contact that is usually carried out in this company is face to face. This is the best type of coordination according to my interviewee point of view. This creates mutual adjustments in the work which can allow the staff members to adjust even to what they do.
The work in the organization is simultaneously done. The staff members can even have overtime job and everyone can work in various capacities in the company as long as the final output has got positive effects to the company and its staff members in general. The informal status of the workforce is perceived in brilliance or an intelligence manner.
References
BusinessMate. (2009). Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizational Structure (Contingency Theory). BusinessMate. Web.
Covin, J. G. (2007). The Influence of organizational Structure on the Utility of an Entrepreneural Top Management Style. Journal of Management Studies, 217-234.
Cruz, S. (2003). Organic Vs. Mechanistic Structures: Construction and Validation of a Scale of Measurement. The Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, 111 – 123.
Hanagan, T. (2005). Management: Concepts and Practices. Harlow, England: Pearson.
Koontz, H. (2006). Essentials Of Management. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.