SMO310 Lecture 7: Chapter 7 - Organizational Structure and Change

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Strategic Management and Organization
• Course: SMO310
• Professor: Richard Field

Document Summary

The building blocks of structure: centralization, formalization, the degree to which decision-making authority is concentrated at higher levels of organization. Decentralized companies give more authority to lower-level employees, resulting in a sense of empowerment: the extent to which an organization"s policies, procedures, job descriptions, and rules are written and explicitly articulated. Moore"s law: dictates that the overall complexity of computers will double every. 18 months with no increase in cost (the 5th paradigm: hierarchical levels, tall several layers of management, flat few management layers, departmentalization. Matrix organizations balance a traditional functional structure with a product structure. Structures are created in response to uncertainty and dynamism of the environment. May increase communication and cooperation among departments. Increases the frequency of informal and formal communication with the organization. Provides quick responses to technical problems and customer demands. Two managers per individual can result in power struggles flow. More effort is required to coordinate work.