ORGANISATIONS AND BEHAVIOUR

Organisations and Behaviour

Organisations and Behaviour

Assignment 1 (Part 1)

Introduction

Organisations have organisational structures that show the relationship between the company's employees and the responsibilities of said employees. Each firm's organisational structure is different and depends on its specific needs. A large manufacturing firm with multiple factories is likely to have a different organisational structure than a financial services firm with only one office. However, there are some basic types of organisational structures, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

For an increasing number of jobs, the future belongs to teams. Due to the complexity of tasks, the need to integrate multiple perspectives and disciplines into work products and services, and/or the sheer volume of work, more people than ever will find themselves working in teams (West, 2003). For the many that have not been well trained for collaborative effort, the thought of this future can be unsettling. The United States, in particular, is a highly individualistic society where the traditional value of independence in thought and action may clash with the reality of a future of work in interdependent teams (Schneider, 2003: .42-43).

The hallmark of a team-based organization is a relatively flat structure, with few hierarchical levels and delegation of authority to employees who compose teams at the front line. Teams have responsibility for tasks once considered the exclusive province of supervisors, especially scheduling work, budgeting, cross-training, individual work assignments, conducting maintenance, quality checks, and evaluating members' performance. The key feature of work teams is interdependence among individual members for a coordinated output (Schneider, 2003: 42-43).

Each of the types of teams described above may be short- or long-term in duration, comprising all or part of a person's work program. Although each type of team may require different skills for successful performance, two general sets of competencies are important for team members.

First, they need competency in their own area(s) of responsibility, whatever that may be, as do others engaged in individually based work. However, in team contexts, a second set of competencies involving the ability to work effectively with others rise in value. Models of team effectiveness typically include a component dealing with team process, that is, how a team combines their individual resources into a product through means of effective coordination, communication, decision making, and conflict management. Though the best of team processes may not be able to overcome a lack of requisite individual member skills, most models suggest that teams may fail to reach their potential if those skills are not effectively integrated through good process (Adler, 2007: 22-23)..

Functional Structure

Type of Structure and Description

A vertical organisational structure is based on the reporting chain from the head of the company down. It establishes the reporting relationships between people and their span of control. One disadvantage to this sort of structure is that it tends to be bureaucratic and does not foster communication between people at different levels. The advantages include faster decision-making and better coordination of the company's activities (Adler, 2007: 22-23).

Types of Business That Use This Structure

Organizations that adopt functional ...