Slajd 1

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The essence of
organizational structure
dr. hab. Jerzy SupernatInstitute of
Administrative StudiesUniversity of Wroclaw
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The essence of organizational structure
Definitions of organizational structure R.H.
Hall, P.S. Tolbert () organizational structure
can be considered as the arrangement of
organizational parts. The six basic
organizational (structural) elements that can be
used to configure an organization are designing
jobs, grouping jobs, establishing reporting
relationships, distributing authority,
coordinating activities and differentiating
between positions. P.M. Blau () the
distributions, along various lines, of people
among social positions that influence the role
relations among these people. S. Ranson, B.
Hinings, R. Greenwood () a complex medium of
control which is continually produced and
recreated in interaction and yet shapes that
interaction structures are constituted and
constitutive.
dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Functions of organizational structure
• to guarantee effectiveness
• to minimize or at least regulate the influence
  of indivi-dual variations on the organization (it
  is an individual that should conform to
  requirements of the organization, not the
  organization to requirements of an individual)
• to make possible
• exercising power (organizational structure
  determi-nes which positions have power)
• making decisions (organizational structure
  determi-nes the flow of information into a
  decision)
• carrying out organizational activities
  (organizational structure is the arena for
  organizational actions)

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Plurality of structures
• in an organization
• it is a mistake to think that there is only one
  structure in an organization there is
  intraorganizational variation, both across
  organizational units and up and down the
  hierarchy
• structural differences are especially visible in
  multinational organizations (in chapters or
  divisions of international organizations located
  in different countries)

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The essence of organizational structure

• Types of organizational structure
• ideal type of bureaucracy
• real type of bureaucracy
• mechanic/mechanistic organization
• organic organization
• adhocracy

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The essence of organizational structure

• Ideal type of bureaucracy (designed for
  efficiency and reliability) as seen by Max Weber
• Official functions are fulfilled on continuous
  basis.
• Jurisdictional areas are clearly specified
  activities are distributed as official duties.
• Organization follows hierarchical principle.
• Intentional, abstract rules govern decisions and
  actions. Rules are stable, exhaustive, and can be
  learned.
• Decisions are recorded in permanent files.
• Means of production or administration belong to
  office. Personal property is separated from
  office property.
• Officials are selected on basis of technical
  qualifications, appoin-ted not elected, and
  compensated by salary.
• Employment by the organization is a career. The
  official is a full-time employee and looks
  forward to a life-long career. After a trial
  period they get tenure of position and are
  protected from arbitrary dismissal.

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Real type of bureaucracy 1 deviations from ideas
  and principles
• of ideal type of bureaucracy
• lack of the continuous fulfillment of official
  tasks (lack of the continuity of administration)
• delay in the fulfillment of tasks
• making decisions on determinants other than
  legal or not accepted by law
• ignorance of law and/or wrong interpretation of
  law
• non precisely defined competences and/or abuse
  of competences
• nepotism
• cronyism
• corruption
• employing on the basis of non meritorial grounds
  
• lack of proper systematic control
• lack of documentation and/or errors in
  documentation

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Real type of bureaucracy 2 wrong application of
  ideas and principles of ideal type of
  bureaucracy
• excessive specialization
• rigidity, inertia and autonomization of
  procedures
• non-elasticity of organization
• groupthink
• making mutually contradictory provisions
• conservatism and resistance against innovations
• tendency towards oligarchization

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Tom Burns A mechanistic system is appropriate to
  stable conditions. It is characterized by
• The specialized differentiation of functional
  tasks into which the problems and tasks facing
  the concern as a whole are broken down.
• The abstract nature of each individual task,
  which is pursued with techniques and purposes
  more or less distinct from those of the concern
  as a whole.
• The reconciliation, for each level in the
  hierarchy, of these distinct performances by the
  immediate superiors.
• The precise definition of rights and obligations
  and technical methods attached to each functional
  role.
• The translation of rights and obligations and
  methods into the responsibilities of a functional
  position.
• Hierarchic structure of control, authority, and
  communication.
• A reinforcement of the hierarchic structure by
  the location of knowledge of actualities
  exclusively at the top of the hierarchy.
• A tendency for vertical interaction between
  members of the concern, i.e. between superior and
  subordinate.
• A tendency for operations and working behaviour
  to be governed by superiors.
• Insistence on loyalty to the concern and
  obedience to superiors as a condition of
  mem-bership.
• A greater importance and prestige attaching to
  internal (local) then to general (cosmo-politan)
  knowledge, experience and skill.

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Tom Burns The organic form is appropriate to
  changing conditions, which give rise con-stantly
  to fresh problems and unforeseen requirements for
  action which cannot be bro-ken down or
  distributed automatically arising from the
  functional roles defined within a hierarchic
  structure. It is characterized by
• The contributive nature of special knowledge and
  experience to the common task of the concern.
• The realistic nature of the individual task,
  which is seen as set by the total situation of
  the concern.
• The adjustment and continual redefinition of
  individual tasks through interaction with others.
• The shedding of responsibilities as a limited
  field of rights, obligations, and methods.
• The spread of commitment to the concern beyond
  any technical definition.
• A network structure of control, authority, and
  communication.
• Omniscience no longer imputed to the head of the
  concern knowledge may be located anywhere in the
  network this location becoming the centre of
  authority.
• A lateral rather than a vertical direction of
  communication through the organization.
• A content of communication which consists of
  information and advice rather than instructions
  and decisions.
• Commitment to the concerns tasks and to the
  technological ethos of material progress and
  expansion is more highly valued than loyalty.
• Importance and prestige attach to affiliations
  and expertise valid in the industrial and
  technical and commercial milieux external to the
  firm.

dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Adhocracy
• Adhocracy describes an organization which is the
  diametric opposite of Webers bureaucracy.
  According to Stuart Crainer adhocracy or the new
  organization disregards the accepted, classical
  principles of management under which each and
  every one has a carefully defined and permanent
  role
• the new organization is flexible and free
  flowing
• the new organization is non-hierarchical
• the new organization is based on participation
• the new organization is creative and
  entrepreneurial
• the new organization is based round networks
• the new organization is driven by
  organizational goals rather than
  narrowly-defined functional ones
• the new organization utilizes ICT as a key
  resource

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Structural features of an organizations
• complexity
• formalization
• centralization
• Complexity, formalization and centralization may
  change within one organization they are
  multidimensional pheno-mena (they vary from high
  to low).

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Complexity
• Complexity of an organization has major effects
  on the behavior of its members, on other
  structural conditions (formalization and
  centraliza-tion), on processes within the
  organization, and on relationships be-tween the
  organization and its environment.
• Components of complexity
• horizontal differentiation (refers to the ways
  the tasks performed by the organization are
  subdivided)
• vertical (hierarchical) differentiation
• geographical differentiation (spatial
  dispersion) it can be a form of horizontal or
  vertical differentiation or it can be a separate
  element in the complexity concept when an
  organization performs the same functions with the
  same division of labor and hierarchical
  arrangements in multiple locations.
• Most organizations are more or less complex
  (differentiated). One of really highly complex
  organizations (on all three axes) is of course
  public administration.

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure
Harry S. Truman
The sign "The Buck Stops Here" was on USA
President Harry S. Truman's (1884-1972) desk in
his White House office. This was meant to
indicate that he didn't "pass the buck" to anyone
else but accepted personal responsibility for the
way the country was governed. The saying "the
buck stops here" derives from the slang
expression "pass the buck" which means passing
the responsibility on to someone else. The latter
expression is said to have originated with the
game of poker, in which a marker or counter,
frequently in frontier days a knife with a
buckhorn handle, was used to indicate the person
whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not
wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by
passing the "buck," as the counter came to be
called, to the next player.
dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure
Good News Bible, Exodus 18, 13-23 The next day
Moses was settling disputes among the people, and
he was kept busy from morning till night. When
Jethro saw everything that Moses had to do, he
asked, What is all this that you are doing for
the peo-ple? Why are you doing this all alone,
with people standing here from morn-ing till
night to consult you?. Moses answered, I must
do this because the people come to me to learn
Gods will. When two people have a dispute, they
come to me, and I decide which one of them is
right, and I tell them Gods commands and
laws. Then Jethro said, You are not doing it
the right way. You will wear yourself out and
these people as well. This is too much for you to
do alone. Now let me give you some good advice
you should choose some capable men and
appoint them as leaders of the people leaders of
thousands, hun-dreds, fifties, and tens. They
must be God-fearing men who can be trusted and
who cannot be bribed. Let them serve as judges
for the people on a permanent basis. They can
bring all the difficult cases to you, but they
them-selves can decide all the smaller disputes.
This will make it easier for you, as they share
your burden. If you do this, as God commands, you
will not wear yourself out, and all these people
can go home with their disputes settled.
dr hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Formalization a process in which the
  organization sets the rules and procedures and
  the means of ensuring that they are followed.
• Jerald Hage, Michael Aiken
• Formalization represents the use of rules in an
  organization. Job codification is a measure of
  how many rules define what the occupants of
  positions are to do, while rule observation is a
  measure of whether or not the rules are employed.
  In other words, the variable of job codification
  represents the degree to which the job
  descriptions are specified, and the variable,
  rule observation, refers to the degree to which
  job occupants are supervised in conforming to the
  standards established by job codification. Job
  codification represents the degree of work
  standardization while rule observation is a
  measure of the latitude of behavior that is
  tolerated from standards.
• In highly formalized situations, there is very
  little discretion available for members to
  operate on their own (formalization is designed
  to be a control mechanism over individuals).

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Formalization
• formalization is not an abstraction (the degree
  to which an organization is formalized is an
  indication of the perspectives of its decision
  makers in regard to organizational members)
• formalization is not a neutral concept
• it might be helpful, since formalized procedures
  assist people in accomplishing their work
• it is coercive as people are forced into
  compliance (forma-lization involves
  organizational control over the individual the
  amount of individual discretion is inversely
  related to the amount of preprogramming of
  behavior by the organi-zation)
• The above allows to say that formalization has an
  ethical and a political meaning in addition to
  being a structural component.

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Centralization
• Centralization is commonly referred to the
  distribution of power within an organization If
  most decision making occurs at the top, the
  organization is centralized.
• The matter is not that simple. Centralization is
  not only a matter of who makes decisions
• if employees at lower levels in the organization
  are making many decisions but the decisions are
  programmed by organi-zational policies, a high
  degree of centralization remains
• if evaluation is carried out by people at the
  top of the organization, there is centralization,
  regardless of the level at which decisions are
  made

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure
Centrality It is important to distinguish
centralization from centrality. Centrality refers
to a persons or a social roles position in
workflow, communications, or friendship networks.
It is related to peoples being perceived as
influential by both supervisors and
nonsupervisors.
dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• The degree of centralization in an organization
• the degree of centralization says a great deal
  about a society a society in which the majority
  of organizations are highly centralized is one in
  which the workers have little to say about their
  work
• the degree of centralization is an indication of
  what the organization assumes about its members
• high centralization implies an assumption that
  the members need tight control
• low centralization suggests that the members can
  govern themselves

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Varying degrees of centralization have the major
  outcome for the organization itself.
• High levels of centralization mean
• greater coordination, but less flexibility
• consistent organization-wide policies, but
  possibly in-appropriate policies for local
  conditions
• potential for rapid decision making during
  emergencies, but overloaded communications
  channels during normal operations as
  communications flow up and down the hierarchy

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Stand with anybody that stands RIGHT. Stand
with him while he is right and PART with him
when he goes wrong, The Collected Works of
Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, volume
II, "Speech at Peoria, Illinois" (October 16,
1854), p. 273.
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Concluding remark
The only things that evolve by themselves in an
organization are disorder, friction, and
malperfor-mance. Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005)
dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat