1. Organisational Structure This unit looks at the various ways that businesses organize their human resources

2. Key Topics The formal organization: job roles
The formal organization: organizational charts
Delegation and span of control
Delayering
Levels of hierarchy
Chain of command

3. Why is there a need for a more formal and organized structure?
Accountability – shows who is held responsible for what job.
Responsibility – shows who is in charge of whom.

4. Formal and Informal Structures
Line management
Manager
Supervisor
Chain of command
Span of control
Departments
Teams
Informal
Age
Experience
Qualifications
Peer groups
Friendship groups
‘Floors’

5. Levels of Hierarchy
These are the different job titles/roles given to each layer of an organisation and include terms such as:
Owners
Directors
Managers
Supervisors
Workers etc
CEO
Board of Directors
Management
Supervisors and Team Leaders
Other Employees

6. Making an organisational chart
Task 1: Complete the “roles in the hierarchy” activity, independently then discuss your answers with your neighbour
Task 2: Form 2 groups and create an organisational chart for the secondary school using the materials supplied to your group. You have to work fast and beat the other group to it.
The buzzer will go in 10 minutes!
Task 3: Identify the levels of hierarchy, span of control of all line managers and possible chains of command. Discuss the advantages of such a chart and share with the class.

7. Organisational Charts
An organisational chart shows 4 features of a business:
Functional departments within a business e.g. Marketing, Finance, HR, Production
Chain of Command - which people have authority over others
Span of Control – number of staff directly accountable to a single line manager
Channels of Communication – route that messages are communicated within an organisation

8. Advantages of charts Shows how everyone is linked
Show communication channels
Informs employees as to who is accountable to whom
See your own position in the organisation
Shows links between departments
Gives a sense of belonging

9. Flat Organisational Structure
In this structure there are few layers and tend to describe small businesses such as sole traders/partnerships

10. Flat Organizational Structure --Vertical Structure.
Characteristic of decentralized companies with relatively few layers of management and relatively wide spans of control
Typical Law Firm
Chief Partner
Partners
Associates
Relatively wide span of control
5 - 10

11. Tall or Hierarchical Organisational Structure
A tall or hierarchical structure is one which has many levels/layers.
It tends to describe larger businesses such as Ltds and PLCs

12. Tall Organizational Structure -Vertical
United States Army
General
Colonels
Characteristic of centralized companies with multiple layers of management and relatively narrow spans of control
Majors
Captains & Lieutenants
Warrant Officers
Relatively narrow span of control.
Sergeants
Corporals
At lower levels, where tasks are similar and simpler, span of control widens.
Privates
5 - 12

13. Now create another chart using the US army ranks issued to you.
Compare it with the BISS chart you created earlier with relation to the key terms learnt in this topic.

14. Different method of Departmentalization
Process of grouping jobs into logical units
Customer Departmentalization 
Departmentalization according to types of customers likely to buy a given product
Product Departmentalization 
Departmentalization according to specific products being created
Process Departmentalization 
Departmentalization according to production processes used to create a good or service

15. Departmentalization Geographic Departmentalization
Departmentalization according to areas served by a business
Functional Departmentalization 
Departmentalization according to groups’ functions or activities

16. Multiple Forms of Departmentalization
President
Vice President
Marketing
Production
Finance
Functional Departmentalization
Texas Plant
Manager
Oregon Plant
Florida Plant
Geographical Departmentalization
Consumer
Products
Industrial
Product Departmentalization
6 - 16

17. Delegation
Delegation is when authority (and sometimes responsibility) for a task/activity is handed down from superior to subordinate
You need to understand how delegation can cloud the issue of ‘accountability’
Task
Describe a situation where delegation is essential
Describe a different situation where delegation would be disastrous

18. Fear of Delegating
Many managers actually have trouble delegating tasks to others.
This is especially true in small businesses where the owner-manager started out doing everything.

19. Why do some small business managers have trouble delegating effectively?
They feel that employees can never do anything as well as they can.
They fear that something will go wrong if someone else takes over a job.
They lack time for long-range planning because they are bogged down in day-to-day operations.
They sense they will be in the dark about industry trends and competitive products because of the time they devote to day-to-day operations.

20. What can small business managers do to delegate effectively?
Admit that they can never go back to running the entire show and that they can in fact prosper— with the help of their employees.
They must learn to let go.

21. Four reasons some managers in big companies don’t delegate as much or as well as they should:
They fear that subordinates don’t really know how to do the job
They fear that a subordinate might “show the manager up” in front of others by doing a superb job
They desire to keep as much control as possible over how things are done
They simply lack the ability to effectively delegate to others

22. How can managers in big companies learn to delegate more effectively?
All managers should recognize that they can’t do everything themselves.
If subordinates can’t do a job, they should be trained so that they can assume more responsibility in the future.
Managers should recognize that if a subordinate performs well it also reflects favorably on the manager.
A manager who simply doesn’t know how to delegate should seek specialized training in how to divide up and assign tasks to others.

23. Matrix Structure
A matrix structure refers to the flexible organisation of employees from different departments temporarily working together on a particular project.

24. Centralized Structure
Vast majority of decision-making is performed by a very small number of people
Cons
Increase pressure/stress for decision makers
Inflexibility
Demotivation
Bottleneck if many decisions to be made
Pro
Rapid decision making
Better control
Better sense of direction

25. Decentralised Structures
Some decision making authority and responsibility is passed onto others in the organisation.
Pro
Input from workforce
Speedier day-to-day decision making
Higher morale
Improved accountability
Encourage teamwork
Cons
Loss of control
Greater chance of mistakes
Greater reliance on effective communication
Duplication of functions

26. Flexible Structures Henry Mintzberg p221
Mintzberg came up with 6 organisational configurations:
Innovative
Entrepreneurial
Machine
Divisionalised
Professional
Missionary
All can be evident in an organisation, but one is likely to dominate.

27. Flexible Structures Henry Mintzberg (cont)
Minztberg also argued that:
Different organisational configurations to suit different businesses.
For any structure to work effectively, employees must believe in the organisation's common values (ideology).
A business can only remain successful if its organisational structure is flexible.

28. Flexible Structures Tom Peters
Argued that:
Flatter organisational structure are more successful since:
Better channels of communication
Greater opportunities for delegation and empowerment
Greater flexibility in adapting to change
Key features of successful companies (researched 43 highly successful companies)
Motivated workforce
Removal of bureaucracy leading to greater flexibility
Use of project teams (matrix structures) leading to more innovative and creative ideas being generated

29. Changes in Structures
Organisations can change their internal structure by:
Moving from a flat to a tall structure
Moving from a tall to a flat structure
Moving to a matrix structure
Organisations can change their external structure by:
Changing business structure

30. Outsourcing, Offshoring and Migration
Outsourcing – this is when a business recruits another business or group of employees to carry out work for them (example)
Offshoring – this is when parts of a business or a group of employees are based overseas (example)
Migration of HR – this is similar to offshoring but is when the whole of the HR department are based overseas (example)

31. Matching Activity
the number of subordinates working under a supervisor
the way authority and powers are passed down in a business
the execution of tasks that are governed by official administrative and formal rules of an organisation aka “red tape”
this exists when a small number of managers/leaders have all of the authority
this exists when many workers have a degree of authority
refers to the diagrammatic representation of a firm’s formal organisational structure
is the process of removing one or more levels in the hierarchy in order to flatten out the organizational structure.
Delayering
Chain of command
Centralisation
Organisational Chart
Bureaucracy
Span of control
Decentralisation