Management

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Matrix organizational structures are so named because reporting relationships

resemble a grid (or matrix) rather than the typical hierarchy. This structure can
be thought of as a combination of the functional and projectized approaches . A
matrix organisation is a structure in which there is more than one line of
Departmentation is the grouping of jobs under the authority of a reporting managers. Effectively, it means that the employees of the organisation
single manager, according to some rational basis, for the have more than one boss! Employees at these companies are generally divided
purposes of planning, coordination and control. The number of into different departments but often work with other teams to complete specific
departments in an organization depends on the number of projects. The matrix organisation structure is complex but helps in achieving the
different jobs, i.e., the size and complexity of the business. ultimate goal.

Authority is legitimized power. Power is the ability to influence others. Departmentalization is the basis on which work or
Organization structure is concerned with relationships Delegation is distribution of authority. Delegation frees the manager from the individuals are grouped into manageable units. Enhances Formal Lateral Communication: The matrix
among tasks and the authority to do the tasks. Eight tyranny of urgency. Delegation frees the manager to use his or her time on There are five traditional methods for grouping 8- Matrix Departmentation structure promotes progressive interaction among the
kinds of relationships can be captured in an high priority activities. However, delegation of authority does not free the work activities. individuals at the same corporate level.
organization chart: manager from accountability for the actions and decisions of subordinates.

Advantages of Matrix Exchange of Information: A vertical and horizontal


1-Departmentalization by function organizes by the functions to be
Delegation of authority is guided by several interaction provides for a streamlined flow of the
performed. The functions reflect the nature of the business. The Organizational Structure
key principles and concepts: constructive ideas in the organization.
1. . Division of work advantage of this type of grouping is obtaining efficiencies from
consolidating similar specialties and people with common skills,
Exception principle - Someone must be in charge. A person higher in knowledge and orientations together in common units.
7-Departmentation Higher Motivation: It also boosts the morale of
1. Determining the activities to be performed to achieve the objectives of the 2 . Delegation of authority the organization handles exceptions to the usual. The most the employees as they are free to share their
organisation: Business organisations undertake economic activities with a view to exceptional, rare, or unusual decisions end up at the top management ideas and knowledge.
earning profit. They may perform manufacturing, trading or service activity. In a 4- Organizational Structure level because no one lower in the organization has the authority to 2-Departmentalization by product assembles all functions needed
manufacturing organisation, production and sales are the two major activities. In 3. Departmentation 6- Delegation of authority handle them. to make and market a particular product are placed under one
a trading organisation, purchases and sales are the two main activities. Service executive. For instance, major department stores are structured
organisations provide services such as transportation to their customers. In around product groups such as home accessories, appliances, Resource Sharing: It ensures efficient human
Management (7) carrying out these major activities, business units have to perform a number of Scalar chain of command - The exception principle functions in women's clothing, men's clothing, and children's clothing. resource management by adequately allocating
4. Span of control.
other activities such as producing, financing, marketing, accounting, recruiting concert with the concept of scalar chain of command - formal managerial responsibilities.
Organizing is establishing the internal organizational structure of the distribution of organizational authority is in a hierarchical
employees, etc.
business. The focus is on division, coordination, and control of tasks fashion. The higher one is in an organization, the more authority
and the flow of information within the organization. Managers 5. The levels of management. one has. 3-Departmentalization by geographical regions groups jobs
distribute responsibility and authority to job holders in this function of 2. Identification of major functions to which these activities relate: The next on the basis of territory or geography. Departmentalized by
Builds Cooperation: The interpersonal relations
management. step is to identify the major functions to which these activities relate. In a regions such as Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, improve when there is a matrix form of
manufacturing organisation, production, selling, finance and personnel are the 6. Coordination centres. and Northwest. communication in the organization. Thus,
Decentralization – Centralization is the degree to which decision making
3-Steps in the process of organising major functions. If the amount of work to be done in connection with each of takes place at upper levels of the organization. Decentralization refers to the employees also learn to cooperate.
Organizing define in a number of ways. In the study of management, it can refer to: these functions is large, separate departments may be created for each of extent to which decision-making power and authority is dispersed to lower
- The structure of relationships among individuals. these functions. Managerial positions will have to be created to supervise the 7. Formal communication channels. levels. It also refers to the degree of delegation of duties, power and authority
1- Introduction - Organizations are groups of people, with ideas and resources, working toward common goals. activities of these departments. At this stage, a list of activities relating to each 4-Departmentalization by process groups jobs on the basis of Higher Ambiguity or Confusion: The team
to lower levels of an organization. Centralization-decentralization is not an
- Organizing refers to the way in which the work of a group of people is arranged and distributed among group members. function must be prepared. product or customer flow. Each process requires particular members may not be apparent on whom to
either-or concept. Rather, it‘s a matter of degree. What we mean is that no
skills and offers a basis for homogeneous categorizing of report, whose orders to follow, and who will
organization is completely centralized or completely decentralized. Managers provide them guidance.
work activities.
The reasons of dividing and sub-dividing functions and activities are as often choose the amount of centralization or decentralization that will allow
The function of organising includes the determination of the activities to be 3. Grouping and sub-dividing the work within each function: In this step, it is 8. Decision responsibility.
follows them to best implement their decisions and achieve organizational goals.
performed; creation of departments, sections and positions to perform those decided how best the activities can be grouped on the basis of similarity or (i) The total work may be so large that it cannot be done by a Increases Workload and Accountability: When the managers are
activities; and establishing relationships among the various parts of an relatedness. The activities of a production department, for example, can be single individual or by a few persons. Organization charts display the organizational structure and overburdened with responsibilities, the employees have to bear
organisation. The purpose is to create a framework for the performance of the divided into a number of workshops where production will actually take place. (ii) If the work is divided into show job titles, lines of authority, and relationships between 5- Departmentalization by customer groups jobs on the basis of a with a higher amount of accountability, i.e., being answerable to
activities of an organisation in a systematic manner to make the best use of the Besides, separate sections may be created for such production related activities smaller units, it becomes easy to assign work to individuals who have departments. Organization charts have important common set of needs or problems of specific customers. For instance, a Disadvantages of Matrix both the managers.
organization's resources to achieve organizational goals. as quality control and repairs. The activities of other departments can similarly Parity principle - Delegated authority must equal
the necessary skill and knowledge to perform the work efficiently. weaknesses that should be of concern to managers firm may group its work according to whether it is serving private sector, Organizational Structure
be sub-divided. This division and subdivision of activities goes on till individual responsibility. With responsibility for a job must go the
developing and using them: public sector, government, or not-for-profit organizations. A current
authority to accomplish the job. Coordination Issue: The conflicts and
positions have been Organising created for performing all types of work in an 1. They may imply a formality that doesn't exist. departmentalization trend is to structure work according to customer. misunderstanding between the functional
An organizational structure is a visual diagram of a organisation. 2. They may be inconsistent with reality. manager and the project manager can result in
company that describes what employees do, whom 3. Their usual top down perspective often minimizes the role their poor coordination.
they report to, and how decisions are made across This method is one of the oldest forms of departmentation
of customers, front-line managers and employees without Span of control - The span of control is the number of people a manager and is used at the lower levels of management. It involves
the organization. management responsibilities.
4. Establishing relationship among individuals and groups: Managers divide supervises. The organizational structure decision to be made is the number of the grouping of activities on the basis of the time of their
activities to increase efficiency and to ensure that work is properly done. 4. They fail to capture the informal structure and informal performance. Overlooks Functional Responsibilities: In most of the matrix
subordinates a manager can effectively lead. The typical guideline is a span organizations, the project manager overtakes the charge of handling
The activities which are performed by persons holding different positions communication. of control of no more than 5-6 people. However, a larger span of control is Departmentation
Organizational structure is the formal 5. They often imply that a pyramidal structure is the best or the team, thus underestimating the functional roles or
must be related. The responsibility, authority and accountability of each possible depending on the complexity, variety and proximity of jobs. by Time:
decision-making framework by which job tasks are only way to organize. Generally, this type of the responsibilities of the employees.
person must be well defined. This is necessary to avoid conflict and
divided, grouped, and coordinated. 6. They fail to address the potential power and authority of departmentation is found in the
confusion and to ensure that work is performed as planned. Establishing
staff positions compared with line positions. production function of the enterprise.
2- Organizational structure relationships among individuals and groups is, therefore, an important Provokes Workplace Politics and Conflicts: In a matrix
aspect of the organising process. Unity principle - Ideally, no one in an organization reports to
Formalization is an important aspect of structure. It is the extent structure, as we know that there are two bosses. If anyone of
more than one supervisor. Employees should not have to
to which the units of the organization are explicitly defined and its This basis of departmentation can be advantageously applied by them turns out to be dominant, there will be a negative work
decide which of their supervisors to make unhappy because firms which cannot cope with the volume of work within the normal environment full of conflicts.
policies, procedures, and goals are clearly stated. It is the official
Responsibility: Responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to of the impossibility of following all the instructions given working hours. But the disadvantage of this system is that there is
organizational structure conceived and built by top management.
perform the assigned duties. When a subordinate accepts duties, he has them. the problem of co-ordination among the workers of different shifts.
Division of labour is captured in an organization
to perform those duties in the manner desired by the superior. Duties Delay in Decision-making: When there are two managers
5- Division of work chart, a pictorial representation of an
are assigned to subordinates when a manager has to share the work involved in decision-making, it is undeniable that they may
The formal organization can be seen and represented in chart organization's formal structure.
with them. not agree on each others opinion, delaying the
form. An organization chart displays the organizational structure manager with line authority gives instructions to the subordinate or other
Line and staff authority - Line authority gives the right of the decisionmaking process.
and shows job titles, lines of authority, and relationships between managers to perform the task. Staff authority is "the right to advise, but not
manager to issue orders. The line authority has the power to issue
departments. Authority: When a person is given certain duties to perform, he must be given command, others who are not subordinates in the chain of command" Staff
orders to subordinates or employees within an organization. For
necessary authority also. Otherwise, he will not be able to do the work. authority is based primarily on expert power. Staffs offer line managers planning Bureaucracy and Complexity: It is a complicated
example, production and sales managers have empowered with line
Authority includes the right to take decision, right to issue orders and the right advice through research, analysis and options development. Staff can also assist network where each employee needs to report and
authority. Line authority is based primarily on legitimate power.
The informal organization is the network, unrelated to the firm's formal authority to take action if orders are not carried out. An engineer responsible for the in policy implementation, monitoring and control in legal and financial matters; and follow the orders of two bosses.
structure, of social interactions among its employees. It is the personal and social construction of a bridge has the authority to command his subordinates, in the design and operation of data processing systems.
relationships that arise spontaneously as people associate with one another in the procure the needed material, seek assistance of architects and other experts
Expensive: The organization has to employ more
work environment. The supervisor must realize that the informal organization in the completion of the project. No person should be given any authority
managers than required, ultimately increasing the
affects the formal organization. The informal organization can pressure group unless certain duties have been assigned to him. Authority should always
managerial salary overheads.
members to conform to the expectations of the informal group that conflict with follow responsibility
those of the formal organization. This can result in the generation of false
information or rumors and resistance to change desired by management. The
supervisor should recognize the existence of information groups, identify the roles
member play within these groups, and use knowledge of the groups to work
effectively with them. The informal organization can make the formal organization
more effective by providing support to management, stability to the environment,
Accountability is a situation in which someone is responsible for things that
and useful communication channels.
happen and can give a satisfactory reason for them. Accountability is an
assurance that an individual or an organization will be evaluated on their
performance or behavior related to something for which they are
responsible.
Another important element of a company‘s structure is the number of levels it has in the hierarchy.
Tall structures have several layers of management between frontline employees and the top level,
while flat structures consist of few layers.

The main difference between responsibility and accountability is that


responsibility can be shared while accountability cannot. Being
accountable not only means being responsible for something but also
ultimately being answerable for your actions. Also, accountability is
something you hold a person to only after a task is done or not done.
Responsibility can be before and/or after a task.

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