Discussion forum
Organizational Interventions (Org. Design)
Soring, 2021
21. April. 2020
Ebru Ipek, PhD
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Organizational design
What is organizational design?
Let’s watch this short video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppXbtMAafik
Key take away: Organization design provides the framework and shapes how a group of people gets the job done (0:35)
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Organizational design
“the creation of roles, processes and structures to ensure that the organization’s goals can be realized.”
Great! So now we know what org. design is, let’s watch a video about the most famous model of org. design = the Star Model (which is also described in the chapter 12)
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Different types of organizational structure
Listen to my audio explaining the slide click on the symbol
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Common organizational structures
Functional
Grouping jobs by functions
Unit
organized by the market, product, service, or geography served
Matrix
Combination of specialist and unit functions
Network
Focus on flexibility
Process
Cross-functional often self-managed teams
Listen to my audio explaining the next 3 slides (same audio on each of the next slides)
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Functional Structure
Departments organized by type of work
e.g., by functions such as marketing, finance, and manufacturing
Unit Structure
Departments organized by the market, product, service, or geography served
Grouping jobs by products
Grouping jobs geographically
Grouping jobs by customers
Pros: Dedicated focus, easier coordination within units
Cons: Duplication of work; inefficiencies in functional areas
Organizational Structure
There are some key elements of an organizational structure
Specialization
Formalization
Centralization
Hierarchy
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1. Specialization
Degree to which organizational tasks are subdivided into separate jobs
“Are jobs divided up into lots of specific pieces, or does everyone do a bit of everything?”
High specialization = narrow range of tasks (factory assembly)
Low specialization = wide range of tasks
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1. Specialization
Benefits
Efficient use of labor
Increase employee skills through use of repetition
Specialized training is more effective
Disadvantages
Overspecialization can result in “Human Diseconomies” from Boredom, poor quality, increased absenteeism among employees
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2. Formalization
Amount of written documentation in the organization
What we mean by documentation are things like procedures, job descriptions, regulations, and policy manuals.
Low to high
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10 - 12
Centralized
decision making
Decentralized
decision making
Coordination is paramount
Financial control & cost savings
Improves local responsiveness
Increases accountability
Centralization = The degree to which decision making is concentrated at a single point in the organization
Decentralization = The degree to which decision making is spread throughout the organization
3. Centralization
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Hierarchy of Authority
Describes who reports to whom and the span of control for each manager
Tall to short
Span of control: the number of employees reporting to a supervisor
Wide to narrow
Narrow span of control; tall hierarchy
Wide span of control; short hierarchy
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Why Restructure?
Organizations may need to change structure when . . .
Addition of a new line of business
Growth in size or complexity of operations
Change in strategy
Merger or acquisition of another organization
Departmental barriers restrict effectiveness or efficiency (Silos)
Rolling Out Large Scale Interventions
More stakeholders means more participation & buy-in needed
Steering committees, sub-groups, and town halls should involve all hierarchical levels
Complexity requires multiple activities over longer time frame (1 year +)
Project management tools (e.g., Gantt charts) can break down goals into smaller components
Scale and scope requires client ownership over the process
Consultant guides, encourages, and focuses the issues
For next week
Read chapter 12
(The first pages of chapter 12 discuss org. culture but you do not need to read it now, since we will discuss this later. You can also stop reading once the section "directional interventions" starts. This should give you a good overview on what Organizational design and structure is.)
Read the journal article on "The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Firms’ Organizational Designs”
Uploaded on iLearn
Answer questions in discussion forum
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