Organizational Structure: Work Specialization
Organizational Structure: Work Specialization
Organizational Structure: Work Specialization
Refers to the formal pattern of how people and jobs are grouped and coordinated in
organization
Illustrated by an organizational chart, specifying who reports to whom
Consists of mechanisms that serve to coordinate and control activities of organizational
members
Coordination is the process by which tasks and departments are interrelated to achieve
the goals of the organization.
Control refers to the regulation of the activities in ways that will enable members to
predict and stabilize relationships with other members of the organization.
Basic Elements of Organizational Structure
WORK SPECIALIZATION
Work Specialization or division of labor refers to the degree to which tasks in the
organization are subdivide into separated separate jobs.
Essence is to divide a job into a number of steps, each completed by a separate
individual.
Specialization is a means of making the most efficient use of employees’ skills and even
successfully improving them through repetition. Breaks complex tasks into specific
elements by technology, expertise, and region.
Advantages of Work Specialization:
1. Total productivity tends to multiply.
2. Simplified tasks can be learned in a short time and be completed quickly.
3. It possible for people to choose, or be assigned to positions they enjoy
and for which they are well suited.
Departmentation
Departmentation refers to the grouping of jobs under the authority of a single
manager, according to some common, rational basis, for the purpose of planning,
coordination, and control.
Advantages of Departmentation:
1. Supervision is made easier
2. The sharing of resources results to maximum use of such resources
3. Common measures of performance is established
4. Communication is encouraged
Work process and function. Efficiencies gained from putting like specialists together.
A Sample Grouping of Jobs According to Work Process and Function
Time.
A Sample Grouping of Jobs According to Time
Product. Increased accountability for performance because all activities related to a specific
product or service are under the direction of a single manager.
A Sample Grouping of Jobs According to Products
Customer. The organization seeks to reach.
A Sample Grouping of Jobs According to Customer
Location. This form is valuable when an organization’s customers are scattered over a large
geographic area and have similar needs within their locations.
A Sample Grouping of Jobs According to Location
Pattern of Authority
Pattern of Authority refers of the extent by which organization members are allowed
to make decisions without getting approval of another member.
Chain of command. It is an unbroken line of authority that extends from the top of
the organization to the lowest echelon and clarifies who reports to whom.
Unity of command. The idea that a subordinate should have only one superior to
whom he or she is directly responsible.
Can either be centralized or decentralized
Centralized when decision making is concentrated in the hands of higher-level
managers and suited for stable environments
Decentralized when decision making authority is granted to middle and lower
management positions and suited for complex environments
Advantages of decentralized authority:
1. Efficiency- red tapes and bottlenecks and reduced
2. Flexibility- managers can cope with situations as they come
3. Initiative- managers are highly motivated by the challenge
4. Development- managers are provided with opportunity for training
Disadvantages of decentralized authority:
1. Control- coordinating overall activities is more difficult
2. Duplication- there is a great chance of efforts duplicated between
departments
3. Centralized expertise- home office experts may be overlooked or
disregarded
4. Competency- the organization may not be able to produce competent
managers at all levels
Span of Control
Span of control refers to the number of subordinates reporting to a single supervisor
Either narrow or wide
Narrow when there are few subordinates reporting to a supervisor
Wide when there are many subordinates reporting to a supervisor
The appropriate span of control will depend on the situation
Characteristics of a narrow span of control:
1. There is closer relationship between manager and subordinates
2. There is less delegation of authority
3. Controlling activities are more tight
4. There is more time for rewarding behavior
Characteristics of an organization with wide span of control:
1. Employees work with little supervision
2. There is a high level of delegation of authority
3. Controlling is lighter
4. There is less time for rewarding behavior
Coordination of activities
refers to the linking of activities in the organization that serve to achieve a common
goal or objective
As the job is divided into several tasks and each is assigned to a corresponding unit,
there is a risk that one task may be done too well or too early to the detriment of the
other tasks.
B. Bureaucratic Organization
• A rational, systematic, and precise form of organization in which rules,
regulations, and techniques of control are precisely defined
• structure with highly routine operating tasks achieved through specialization, very
formalized rules and regulations, tasks that are grouped into functional
departments, centralized authority, narrow spans of control, and decision making
that follows the chain of command
Machine bureaucracy
Moderately decentralized form of organization
Emphasizes the technical staff and standardization of work processes
Best suited to large organizations
Characteristics:
1. Existence of rules and procedure
2. A high degree of differentiation among organizational functions
3. A high degree of job specialization
4. An organization of offices determined by hierarchy
5. A heavy emphasis on rules and norms to regulate behavior
6. Interpersonal relations characterized by impersonality
7. Selection and promotion of employees and managers based on merit
8. All administrative actions are in writing
Professional bureaucracy
Composed of a core of highly trained professionals that standardize skills
for coordination;
Examples: law and accounting firms
Decentralized decision making and is less formal than machine
bureaucracy
Relatively flat structure with differentiation across units
Emphasizes the expertise of the professionals in the operating core of the
organization
Technical and support staffs serve the professionals
Advantages of a professional bureaucracy:
1. Ability to perform standardized activities in a highly
efficient manner
2. Can operate nicely with less talented middle and lower-
level managers
Disadvantages of a professional bureaucracy:
1. Specialization creates subunit conflicts
2. When cases arise that do not precisely fit the rules, there is
no room for modification
The Bureaucratic Form of Organization
Outsourcing Organization
Also known as virtual organization
An arrangement by which the organization have work performed for it by groups
outside the organization
Very useful because it can reduce the company’s need for employees, equipment,
and materials thus there is reduction in cost
It reduces the demand for labor within the organization thus labor unions are not
elated
The lowest possible price oftentimes lead to violation of wage and child labor
laws.
An Outsourcing Organization
Team Structure
Makes use of teams as the central device to coordinate work activities
Horizontal rather than a vertical organization
Departmental barriers are broken down and decision making is decentralized
Team members must be generalists as well as specialists
The team structure seeks to eliminate the chain of command and replace
departments with empowered teams.