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Organizing in Business Management

Terms in this set (35)

Organizing
involves the manager determining how to distribute resources and arrange employees according to the plan
organizational structure
the type of framework a company uses to distinguish power and authority, roles and responsibilities, and the manner in which information flows through the organization (mechanic or organic)
Organizational design
a formal process of integrating people, information and technology together in the right mix to achieve objectives
Organizational life cycle
one of five stages of an organization's life, including introduction, growth, maturity, decline and death
Strategy
involves the actions performed to meet organizational goals (action plan)
Environment
external factors that affect the internal organization, like political, economic, sociocultural and competitive forces
Technology
computer systems and communication systems used to facilitate operations
mechanistic structure
also known as a bureaucratic structure, describes an organizational structure that is based on a formal, centralized network (best suited to operate in a stable and certain environment)
Characteristics of Mechanic Structure
Horizontal communication
Well-defined hierarchy
Top-level managers make the majority of decisions
Individualized job specialization
Low integration between functional areas or departments
Organic Structure
organizations that face unstable and dynamic environments and need to quickly adapt to change
Characteristics of Organic Structure
Lateral communication
Highly integrated and dependent functional areas
Do not rely on standardized processes and procedures
Multiple tasks are differentiated to one person
Decision-making is decentralized to allow for complex decision-making processes
Power and authority are awarded to lower-leveled employees
Horizontal communication
the transmission of information between people, divisions, departments or units within the same level of organizational hierarchy
Work Specialization
(division of labor) the degree to which an organization divides individual tasks into separate jobs
Advantages of work specialization
faster, more efficient, higher productivity, SMEs, better quality, higher profit potential, pride in job
disadvantages of work specialization
limits multi-tasking, isolation, smaller employee skill sets, limited cooperation
centralized organization
directs its authority from the top management down through hierarchal channels with only a few top managers in charge of overall decision making
chain of command
an order through which authority is shared from top to bottom
span of control
number of employees that can be managed at one time
decentralized organization
has multiple smaller layers of management on all levels throughout the organization
delegation
involves assigning task responsibilities and accountability down from one level of management to a lower level or to an employee to carry out the work
traditional organizational designs
simple, functional and divisional design structures
simple structures
a basic organizational design structure with low departmentalization, little work specialization, wide spans of control, centralized authority (typically the owner has most of the power) and little formalization or rules that govern operation.
flat
when there are not many hierarchical levels
functional structure
(departmentalization) focuses on practical specialization whereby similar or related occupational specialties are grouped together. Strong Hierarchy
divisional design structure
gives larger companies the capacity to separate large sections of the business into semi-autonomous units or divisions (self-managed groups; narrow business focus)
contemporary organizational designs
Matrix, Team & Network Designs
matrix organizational structure
groups employees by both function and project to maximize the use of cross-functional teams to get work done. Project managers recruit project team members and their individual skills and expertise from various functional areas to form their project team. The employee will have two supervisors while working on a project team: the project manager and their standard manager of the functional department they work in.
team organizational design
arranges groups of employees from various functional areas for the purpose of solving problems and exploring possibilities.Groups can be both horizontal and vertical. The objective is to break down functional barriers among departments to strengthen working relationships and improve efficiency
network design structure
(lean structure) keeps the core functions of the business internal, but subcontracts or outsources non-core functions to other companies which allow organizations to take advantage of shorter time commitments, lowered costs and greater flexibility.
informal organization structure
the social structure that connects employees and directs how they work with one another in practice
Chester Bernard
a pioneer of management theory and organizational studies
clique
an exclusive group of people that naturally forms over time
The grapevine
includes all informal conversations that occur between organizational members that are not officially sanctioned
informal groups
characterized by personal relationships, communities of shared interest, and social networks that arise as employees associate with one another in a workplace setting
formal organizational structure
type or organizational structure can be seen in the organizational chart or hierarchy
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