Fluent Essays

Organizational Structure: Read and answer Discussion Questions #4 and 5 on page 143. Provide examples from your own experiences or research. Minimum 2 pages, double spaced and in APA FormatSummaryStakeholder goals and objectives can be achieved only when organizational skills and capabilities are controlled through organizational structure. The activities of organizational members would be chaotic without a structure that assigns people to roles and directs the activities of people and functions.40 This chapter has examined how organizations should design their hierarchy of authority and choose control systems that create an effective organizational structure. The shape of the hierarchy determines how decision making takes place. It also determines how motivated people will be to pursue organizational goals. Designing the hierarchy should be one of management’s major tasks, but, as we have seen, it is a task that many organizations do not do well or fail to consider at all. Chapter 5 has made the following main points:*The height of an organization’s structure is a function of the number of levels in the hierarchy, the span of control at each level, and the balance between centralization and decentralization of authority.*As an organization grows, the increase in the size of the managerial component is less than proportional to the increase in the size of the organization.*Problems with tall hierarchies include communication, motivation, and bureaucratic costs.*According to the principle of minimum chain of command, an organization should choose the minimum number of hierarchical levels consistent with the contingencies it faces.*The span of control is the number of subordinates a manager directly manages. The two main factors that affect the span of control are task complexity and task interrelatedness.*The shape of the hierarchy and the way it works are also affected by choices concerning horizontal differentiation, centralization versus decentralization, differentiation versus integration, standardization versus mutual adjustment, and the influence of the informal organization.*The six principles of bureaucratic theory specify the most effective way to design the hierarchy of authority in an organization.*Bureaucracy has several advantages. It is fair and equitable, and it can promote organizational effectiveness by improving organizational design. However, problems can arise if bureaucratic principles are not followed and if managers allow the organization to become too tall and centralized.*Managers need to recognize how the informal organization affects the way the formal hierarchy of authority works and make sure the two fit to enhance organizational performance.*To keep their organizations as flat as possible, managers are increasingly making use of IT and creating self-managed work teams of empowered workers and/or turning to contingent workers.Questions: 4. How can the principles of bureaucracy help managers design the organizational hierarchy? 5. When does bureaucracy become a problem in an organization? What can man- agers do to prevent bureaucratic problems from arising?