Organizational Structure and Change
Read this text, which explores different types of organizational structures. The first section explores four key organizational descriptors:
- Centralization describes the role management and organizational leaders play in the decision-making process and the central infrastructure of the company or organization;
- Formalization describes whether the company has and follows formal policies and procedures (preferably in writing) to help employees respond to questions and situations consistently;
- Hierarchy describes the arrangement employees follow regarding decision-making authority, central roles, and responsibilities; and
- Departmentalization describes the functional boundaries or divisional structures departments within the company follow to delineate their operations and production.
Organizational Structure and Change
The structures of organizations vary and influence the ease or challenge of organizational performance and change.
What is in It for Me?
| Planning | Organizing | Leading | Controlling |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Vision and Mission 2. Strategizing 3. Goals & Objectives |
1. Organization Design 2. Culture 3. Social Networks |
1. Leadership 2. Decision Making 3. Communications 4. Groups/Teams 5. Motivation |
1. Systems/Processes 2. Strategic Human Resources |
Figure 7.2 The P-O-L-C Framework
Creating or enhancing the structure of an organization defines managers' Organizational Design task. Organizational design is one of the three tasks that fall into the organizing function in the planning-organizing-leading-controlling (P-O-L-C) framework. As much as individual- and team-level factors influence work attitudes and behaviors, the organization's structure can be an even more powerful influence over employee actions.
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