Organizational Structure

Organizational Structure

Introduction

Organizational structures refer to the official and casual manner in which employees, work tasks, and other managerial resource organized and coordinated. However, organizational structure seemed like a singular feature, but it is composed of several dimensions, because there are numerous ways the employees in an organization and the work tasks that are conceded out can be structured. The most regularly studied aspect of the organizational structure includes formalization, centralization, and complexity (Leavitt, 1992).

There are six key elements of Organization Structure

specialization of work;

departmentalization;

chain of command;

control zone;

centralization and decentralization;

Formalization.

Specialization of Work

Ford showed that labor productivity is much higher if workers specialize in performing specific operations. Today for the description of the extent to which the production activities of the organization is divided into separate tasks (operations), the term work or specialized division of labor (Lawrence, 1997).

Departmentalization

Once the works are divided by specialty, it is necessary to group them in order to effectively coordinate the implementation of related tasks. Departmentalization this is the basis on which the grouping of works. Finance, HR, and Marketing department are examples of it.

Chain of command

The command chain is a chain of unbroken power, which extends from the top of the organization to its lower echelons. It defines who is subject to whom the organization. Chain of command gives the employee an answer, for example, the question: "Who can I contact if I have such and such a problem arises?" Or "Who do I obey?"

Area of control

How many subordinates can effectively manage the head? The question of the control zone is extremely important because it largely determines the number of hierarchical levels, as well as leaders in the organization.

Centralization and decentralization

In some organizations, top management takes almost all the solutions, and lower-level managers can only carry out the instructions received from "above". At the opposite extreme are organizations in which decisions are made by those leaders who are "closest" to the problem.

Formalization

By formalization, we understand the degree of standardization of positions in organizations. If a position is characterized by a high degree of formalization, the person occupying it has only minimal freedom of choice with regard to his work, timing and methods of its implementation.

Organizational Structure of Selected Organization

United Parcel Service is the US based cargo, import & export, and delivering goods company. Its head quarter is based on Georgia US. In an approximation, UPS cater 6.1 million customers in over 220 countries all over the world. ...