1101IBA Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Mass Production, Accountability, Strategic Management
30 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 4 Management Concepts Lecture Notes
Organising
Organising
• Process of assigning tasks, allocating resources and arranging activities to implement
plans
• Clarifies who does what, who is in charge with whom, and how different people and
parts of the organisation relate to each other
• Organisational Structure is a system of tasks, workflows, reporting relationships and
communication links
• When managers develop, or hage a orgaisatios struture they are egaged i
organisational design
Organising as a management function
Formal structure
• Organisation chart
o A diagram that shows reporting relationships and the formal arrangement of
work positions within an organisation
o Identifies various positions and job titles, as well as the lines of authority and
communication between them
• This is the formal structure, or the structure of the organisation in its official state. It
represents the way the organisation is intended to function
• What you can learn from an organisation chart?
o Division of work: Positions and titles show work responsibilities
o Supervisory relationships: lines show who reports to whom
o Communication channels: lines show formal communication flows
o Major Subunits: positions reporting to a common manager are shown
o Levels of management: vertical layers of management are shown
Informal Structure
• An inforal struture is a shado orgaisatio ade up of the uoffiial, ut ofte
critical, working relationship between organisational members
• If the informal structure could be drawn, it would show who talks to and interacts
regularly with whom, regardless of their formal titles and relationships
• Informal learning is increasingly recognized as an important resource for
organisational development
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Functional Structures
• Groups together people with similar skills who perform similar tasks
• Advantages
o Economies of scale
o Task assignments are consistent with expertise and training
o High quality technical problem solving
o In-depth training and skill development with functions
o Clear career paths within functions
• Disadvantages
o Difficult pinpointing responsibilities
o Functional chimney problem (silos)
o Lack of communication between sections
Divisional structures
• Groups together people working on the same product, in the same area or with
similar customers or involved in the same processes
• Common in complex organisations
• Advantages
o Added flexibility responding to environmental problems
o Improved coordination across departments
o Clear points of responsibility
o Expertise focused on outcomes
o Greater ease of changing organisational size
• Disadvantages
o Increased cost
o Reduced economies of scale
o Unhealthy rivalry
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Matrix structures
• Combines functional and divisional approaches to emphasise project or program
teams results in having two bosses
• Advantages
o Better inter-functional cooperation in operations and problem solving
o Increased flexibility in adding, removing, and/or changing operations
o Better customer service
o Better performance accountability
o Improved decision making
o Improved strategic management
• Disadvantages
o Two bosses= power struggle, leadership accountability and frustrations
o Increased costs
o Time
consuming
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Formal structure: organisation chart, a diagram that shows reporting relationships and the formal arrangement of work positions within an organisation. Identifies various positions and job titles, as well as the lines of authority and communication between them: this is the formal structure, or the structure of the organisation in its official state. Informal structure: an infor(cid:373)al stru(cid:272)ture is a (cid:858)shado(cid:449)(cid:859) orga(cid:374)isatio(cid:374) (cid:373)ade up of the u(cid:374)offi(cid:272)ial, (cid:271)ut ofte(cid:374) critical, working relationship between organisational members. If the informal structure could be drawn, it would show who talks to and interacts regularly with whom, regardless of their formal titles and relationships. Informal learning is increasingly recognized as an important resource for organisational development. Functional structures: groups together people with similar skills who perform similar tasks, advantages, economies of scale, task assignments are consistent with expertise and training, high quality technical problem solving.
