Role of Organizational Design in Employee Relationship Management
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Organizational Design & Relationship
Dr.S.Yogananthan
Content
• • • • • • Relationship framework HR acuity recommendations FLSA recommendations Nestle case Exxon Mobil case Summary
Organization structure – the pattern
of jobs and groups of jobs in an organization.
It is an important cause of individual and group behavior.
The Concept of Organization Structure
Structure as an influence on behavior
Structure as recurring activities
Organization design – management
decisions and actions that result in a specific organization structure.
Organizational Design Decisions
1. Managers decide how to divide the overall task into successively smaller jobs 2. Managers decide the bases by which to group the jobs 3. Managers decide the appropriate size of the group reporting to each superior 4. Managers distribute authority among the jobs
The Four Key Design Decisions
Division of Labor:
High
Specialization
Low
Basis
Departmentalization:
Homogeneous
Number
Heterogeneous
Span of Control:
Few
Many
Delegation
Authority:
High
Low
Division of Labor
• Division of labor – concerns the extent to which jobs are specialized • It is the process of dividing work into relatively specialized jobs to achieve advantages of specialization
Division of Labor Occurs in Three Different Ways:
1. Personal specialties
– e.g., accountants, software engineers, graphic designers, scientists, etc.
2. Natural sequence of work
– e.g., dividing work in a manufacturing plant into fabricating and assembly (horizontal specialization)
3. Vertical plane
– e.g., hierarchy of authority from lowest-level manager to highest-level manager
Delegation of Authority
• Managers decide how much authority should be delegated to each job and to each jobholder • Delegation of authority – process of distributing authority downward in an organization
Reasons to Decentralize Authority
1. 2. 3. Relatively high delegation of authority encourages the development of professional managers High delegation of authority can lead to a competitive climate within the organization Managers who have relatively high authority can exercise more autonomy, and thus satisfy their desires to participate in problem solving
Reasons to Centralize Authority (1
of 2)
1. Managers must be trained to make the decisions that go with delegated authority 2. Many managers are accustomed to making decisions and resist delegating authority to their subordinates
Reasons to Centralize Authority (2
of 2)
3. Administrative costs are incurred because new control systems must be developed to provide top management with information about the effects of subordinates’ decisions
4. Decentralization means duplication of functions
Delegation Decision Guidelines (1
of 2)
• How routine and straightforward are the job’s or unit’s required decisions?
– The authority for routine decisions can be centralized
• Are individuals competent to make the decision?
– Even if the decision is non-routine, if the local manager is not capable, then the decision should be centralized – Delegation of authority can differ among individuals depending upon each one’s ability to make the decision
Delegation Decision Guidelines (2
of 2)
• Are individuals motivated to make the decision?
– Capable individuals are not always motivated individuals – Motivation must accompany competency to create conducive conditions for decentralization
• Do the benefits of decentralization outweigh its costs?
Departmentalization – process in
which an organization is structurally divided by combining jobs in departments according to some shared characteristic or basis.
Departmentalization Bases
Functional
Geographic
Product
Customer
Departmental Bases: Functional Departmentalization
• Jobs are combined according to the functions of the organization • The principal advantage is efficiency
– By having departments of specialists, management creates efficient units
• A major disadvantage is that organizational goals may be sacrificed in favor of departmental goals
Functional Departmentalization Structure
OBM Company
Engineering
Reliability
Finance
Public Relations Purchasing
Manufacturing
Distribution
Human Resources
Departmental Bases: Geographic Departmentalization
• Establish groups according to geographic area • The logic is that all activities in a given region should be assigned to a manager • Advantageous in large organizations because physical separation of activities makes centralized coordination difficult • Provides a training ground for managerial personnel
Geographic Departmentalization Structure OBM
Company
Northeast
Midwest
Southeast
Southwest
Pacific
Departmental Bases: Product Departmentalization
• All jobs associated with producing and selling a product or product line will be placed under the direction of one manager • Product becomes the preferred basis as a firm grows by increasing the number of products it markets • Concentrating authority, responsibility, and accountability in a specific product department allows top management to coordinate actions
Product Departmentalization Structure
OBM Company
Small Household Appliances
Large Household Appliances
Commercial Appliances
Building Materials and Products
Lawn and Garden Products
Automotive Products
Departmental Bases: Customer Departmentalization
• The importance of customer satisfaction has stimulated firms to search for creative ways to serve people better • Organizations with customer-based departments are better able to satisfy customer-identified needs than organizations that base departments on noncustomer factors
Customer Departmentalization Structure OBM
Company
Retail Stores
Mail Order
On-Line Sales
Institutional Sales
Government Contracts
Span of Control (1 of 2)
• Number of individuals who report to a specific manager
– Narrow span – Wide span
• The frequency and intensity of actual relationships is the critical consideration in determining the manager’s span of control
Span of Control (2 of 2)
• If we shift our attention from potential to actual relationships as the bases for determiningContact Required optimum span of control, three factors appear to Degree of be important:
Specialization Ability to Communicate
Key Factors
Dimensions of Structure
• Formalization – the extent to which expectations regarding the means and ends of work are specified, written, and enforced • Centralization – the location of decisionmaking authority in the hierarchy • Complexity – the direct outgrowth of dividing work and creating departments
Organization Design Models
The Mechanistic Model • Emphasizes importance of achieving high levels of production and efficiency through:
– Extensive use of rules and procedures – Centralized authority – High specialization of labor
The Organic Model • Emphasizes importance of achieving high levels of production and efficiency through:
– Limited use of rules and procedures – Decentralized authority – Relatively low degrees of specialization
Process
Comparison of Mechanistic and Organic Structures (1 of 3)
Mechanistic Structure
Includes no perceived confidence and trust between superiors and subordinates. Taps only physical, security, and economic motives, through use of fear and sanctions. Information flows downward and tends to be distorted, inaccurate, and viewed with suspicion by subordinates.
Organic Structure
Includes perceived confidence and trust between superiors and subordinates. Taps a full range of motives through participatory methods. Information flows freely: upward, downward, and laterally. The information is accurate and undistorted.
1. Leadership
2. Motivation
3. Communication
Comparison of Mechanistic and Organic Structures (2 of 3)
Process
4. Interaction
Mechanistic Structure
Closed and restricted. Subordinates have little effect on departmental goals, methods, and activities.
Organic Structure
Open and extensive. Both superiors and subordinates are able to affect departmental goals, methods, and activities.
5. Decision
Relatively centralized. Occurs only at the top of the organization.
Relatively decentralized. Occurs at all levels through group processes.
6. Goal setting
Located at the top of the Encourages group organization, discouraging participation in setting high, group participation. realistic objectives.
Comparison of Mechanistic and Organic Structures (3 of 3)
Process 7. Control Mechanistic Structure Centralized. Emphasizes fixing blame for mistakes. Organic Structure Dispersed throughout the organization. Emphasizes self-control and problem solving. High and actively sought by superiors, who recognize the need for full commitment to developing, through training, the organization’s human resources.
8. Performance goals
Low and passively sought by managers, who make no commitment to developing the organization’s human resources.
Organization Design Models: The Matrix Model
• Matrix organization – attempts to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of both the functional and product bases • Superimpose a horizontal structure of authority, influence, and communication on the vertical structure • Facilitates the utilization of highly specialized staff and equipment
Example of the Matrix Organization Model
Functions Projects, products
Project or product A Project or product B
Manufacturing
Marketing
Engineering
Finance
Project or product C
Project or product D Project or product E
Advantages of Matrix Organization
• • • • • • Efficient use of resources Flexibility in conditions of change and uncertainty Technical excellence Freeing top management for long-range planning Improving motivation and commitment Providing opportunities for personal development
Evolutionary Steps to the Matrix Model
Task Force
(1)
Teams
(2)
Product Managers
(3)
Product (4) Management Depts.
Multinational Structure and Design
• Multinational corporation – consists of a group of geographically dispersed organizations with different national subsidiaries • Multinational corporations frequently exist in very divergent environments • The most prevalent departmental basis is geographic
Multinational Corporations: Implications for Organizational Design (1 of 2)
1. National boundaries are an important force in defining organizational environments 2. Subsidiaries or affiliates of multinational corporations can act as conduits that introduce changes into the host country’s environment
Multinational Corporations: Implications for Organizational Design (2 of 2)
3. Subsidiaries of multinational corporations can act as conduits through which features of the host country culture are introduced throughout the multinational organization
Virtual Organizations
• Virtual organization – a collection of geographically distributed, functionally and/or culturally diverse aggregations of individuals that is linked by electronic forms of communication • Assembled and disassembled according to needs
Virtual Organizations: Factors in Design Considerations
• • • • • • Personnel distributed geographically Electronically connected Differences in expertise and function Culturally diverse Work schedule differences Horizontally arranged with little emphasis on command and control authority
Virtual Organizations: Design Implications
• • • • • Contractual relationships Constant change and reconfiguration No rigid boundaries Flexible Little or personal and social contact
Virtual Organizations: Consequences
• • • • Increase in overall communication and messages Relationships are tenuous Continual surety of roles, tasks, and assignments Caution needed in managing feedback, discussion, performance review, and reward systems • Greater equity of participation
Boundaryless Organizations
• Organizations in which:
– the hierarchy and chain of command are minimized – rigidly structured departments are eliminated
• Implemented to reduce barriers between people and constituencies