Organizations operate and face a changing environment day by day, so they need certain tools that allow them to be open to these changes and be able to meet their needs. Starting from this need, we will talk about the structure that companies have as a mechanism for their growth and development.
In this research, the main ideas about how a good hierarchy system within the organization influences decision making and the achievement of objectives depending on the size of the companies and what is intended to be achieved are captured.
On the other hand we must know that each organization has a particular way of working and carrying out communication and functions, knowing how each one of them operates will be important to achieve a productive organization.
We will start by defining what is the organizational structure, followed by its main benefits, the importance of the structures in the organization, the different designs that can be adopted, some types of structures that depend on the characteristics of each organization and finally some will be addressed. types of graphic representations of the organizational structure.
DEVELOPING
The organization within a company is an important source of influence that directly impacts the behavior of individuals and the fulfillment of goals, for this reason it is important to thoroughly understand the conceptualization of the structure and the main characteristics to take into account for a design that allows a development in positive impacts.
What is the organizational structure?
It is the way in which the work of the activities is divided, grouped and coordinated based on the object of their creation translated and concretized in strategies.
When this organizational structure is represented graphically, it is called an organizational chart, being here where the different administrative areas, hierarchical levels, the relationship between each of them, formal communication channels, lines can be perceived in an orderly manner. of authority, supervision and advice.
Flowchart benefits
- They generate a formal image of the organization They provide an official source of consultation They facilitate the knowledge of organizations through hierarchical relationships They facilitate organizational analysis Each worker can be identified with the work they do and in the position to which they belong
Importance of creating a structure
Whatever the area in which we develop, we will always need a guide and certain guidelines to comply with, this in order for things to go smoothly. The same thing happens in organizations, so the design of a structure is very necessary.
One of the main reasons for creating it is that it gives the members of the company clear ideas on how to act in certain situations, and in case of uncertainty, it will give them certain security to solve the problems.
Another compelling reason is that it gives an identity to the members of the organization and keeps them together as well as it is inevitable that an organization does not have a structure as a base because in any case it will have to stick to some of them to be able to work in orderly and the way that best suits it. (University of Kansas, (sf))
Structure design
In order for CEOs to build a structure that provides them with the greatest opportunities for success, they need to take into account aspects such as job specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, extension of control, centralization and decentralization, and formalization.
Each of the previous elements of an organizational structure will be described below:
Key question: TO WHAT DEGREE ARE SEPARATE TASK ACTIVITIES SUBDIVIDED?
- Specialization of work: also known as division of labor, it allows each member of the company to perform a specific function for which they will be 100% trained, having the advantage that the functions are executed faster and with better quality.
This specialization is based on the fact that each individual has different aptitudes so a job can be performed better than another individual within the organization. A very important advantage of the division of labor lies in training, since it is less expensive since it is easier to find and train workers to carry out specific and repetitive tasks.
Key question: ON WHAT BASIS WILL THE WORKS BE GROUPED?
- Departmentalization: Grouping the posts into common tasks, achieving greater efficiency by having specialized people in each area. An example of departmentalization by functions can be seen in the structure of a hotel where they have departments such as reception, laundry, restaurant, housekeeper, finance, etc.
In some companies, a departmentalization by product can also be carried out, such as Procter & Gamble, where they are divided according to the line of products they handle such as Tide, Pampers, Charmin and Pringles and each one is under the responsibility of a executive and this may also apply to service lines.
In the same way, there is the grouping by geographic areas and as is done with the products, but there is another approach towards consumers; An example of the latter is in the licensing offices where they go through various departments before receiving the document.
Large companies tend to use all the forms of departmentalization mentioned above, being able to reach each niche more quickly and efficiently.
Key question: TO WHOM DO INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS REPORT?
- Chain of command: It goes from the highest command in the organization to the lowest, that is, it represents a hierarchical line through which it is observed who reports their functions to which person. Through the chain of command you know who to turn to when problems arise and to whom you are responsible. In order to better understand this concept, we will define two key words:
- -Rights to a managerial position to give orders hoping that they will be obeyed. Unit of command.- establishes that a person must have a superior before whom he is responsible
It is important to emphasize that today the existence of organizations that carry out this chain of command 100% is more difficult, because with information technologies it is already easier for any employee to obtain access to information that was previously only available from senior managers.
Key question: HOW MANY INDIVIDUALS CAN A MANAGER EFFECTIVELY AND EFFECTIVELY DIRECT?
- Extent of control.- This is where the number of managers or bosses that the organization has is defined, since the extent of these controls will largely depend on the efficiency of the organization.
Companies currently have a tendency to manage large extensions of control, since managers consider themselves capable of managing large numbers of employees as long as money is invested in their training, as this will give them an in-depth understanding of their functions.
Key question: WHERE ARE THE DECISIONS MADE?
- Centralization and decentralization.- The first refers when the decisions in the organization focus only on a single point, for example when they are made only by senior management and the second refers to the fact of making decisions based on the opinions of the levels Lower.
In a decentralized organization, decisions are made more quickly since there are more people who contribute to solving problems.
Key Question: TO WHAT DEGREE WILL THERE BE RULES AND REGULATIONS TO DIRECT EMPLOYEES AND MANAGERS?
- Formalization.- Refers to the standardization that is given to work functions, that is, the more formalized a function is, the more consistent and uniform it will be because employees will always carry out work in the same way with minimal freedom in order to make a change.
On the other hand, in an organization with little formalization, employees have great freedom to carry out their work, which is positive to a certain extent since they can change the way of working at any time that is required without affecting its efficiency. (Robbins & Judge, 2009)
Types of organizational structure
There are different approaches that can be given to the structure of an organization depending on the needs of each one of them as well as those of its clients. Among the most common are the following:
Functional structure
This type of structure is mainly used in small and medium-sized companies due to its ease of being interpreted. Among its main characteristics are that it has a centralized authority, little departmentalization and formalization, it is fast, flexible and not very expensive. It is generally implemented in companies that offer few products or services.
It is made up of the functions, activities, relationships of authority and dependency, responsibilities, objectives, manuals and procedures, job descriptions and the adequate allocation of resources, as well as people who share a similar position and functions within the company. (Palace, 2011)
Bureaucratic structure
Focused on specialization, this type of structure has coordination and control as its principles. As we saw previously, tasks are routine and formally regulated. One of the advantages of this structure is the efficiency that is achieved by carrying out the activities in a standardized way and, on the contrary, a disadvantage is the resistance to change that can occur when used to the rigidity of certain decision rules.
Matrix structure
This structure can be found mostly in advertising agencies, aerospace companies, construction companies, hospitals, universities, management consulting companies, among others. It combines the departmentalization by product and by function.
In this kind of structure, a better integration of specialized resources is sought, which is greatly assisted when developing already planned projects that have a defined time. The matrix structure is not applicable in all types of companies, since it is designed for those that, as mentioned, work on a project basis and require an orientation towards results and savings.
Types of organization charts
As mentioned in the beginning, organization charts are the graphic representation of organizational structures. These have different classifications that will be explained below.
Based on 4 criteria we conceive the organization charts:
- By its nature
- Micro-administrative: they contain information from a single organization Macro-administrative: they contain information from more than one organization. Micro-administrative: they are based on information from one or more organizations that are within the same sector of activity. It is generally used for the public sector although sometimes it is also used for the private sector.
- By its scope
- General: Contains important information from an organization down to a single hierarchical level, for example, down to the level of general management in the public sector or down to the level of some department in the private sector. Specific: As the name implies, they specifically show structure of an area of the organization.
- For its content
- Integral: they graphically represent all the administrative units of the organization and their hierarchical relationships. Functional: they represent the main functions assigned to them, the units and their interrelationships. Through this type of organization chart, staff can be trained and presented to the organization in a general way. Of positions, positions and units.- This type of organization diagram indicates the needs of the positions as well as the number of positions that exist for each unit recorded, showing with this the names of the people who occupy these places.
- For its presentation or geographical arrangement
- Verticals: represent the units from the headline in descending order. They are generally used in the administration for what they are recommended in the organization manuals. Horizontal: In this the units are deployed from left to right placing the holder on the far left. Mixed: It uses vertical and horizontal combinations and is recommended when organizations they have a large number of units in the base. Block: they are variants of the verticals and integrate a greater number of units in smaller spaces. They allow units located at the last hierarchical levels to appear.Circular: in this type of graphic representation the level with the highest hierarchy is located in the middle of a series of concentric circles that goes from the center to the ends,where the largest circle indicates the lowest level of authority hierarchy. (Thompson, 2009) (Franklin, 2009)
CONCLUSION
Organizational structures must be thought from the moment you want to start a company, however, in many cases these are not taken into account and go into the background.
As it was seen throughout the investigation they are of vital importance since they encompass and satisfy many main needs that as a company they come to have, such as communication, the achievement of objectives, the optimal performance of functions and without a doubt, satisfaction from customers.
Through the graphic representations of these structures, it is possible to search for what is best for a small, medium or large company and will allow achieving high standards of competence and quality regardless of the organization's direction. Hence the importance of forming organizational charts for successful management.
References
- Franklin, B. (2009). Business organization (Third ed.). Mc Graw Hill. Retrieved on November 20, 2015, from http://xlibros.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Organizacion-de-Empresas-Benjamin-3ed.pdfPalacio, E. (September 8, 2011). Create a company. Retrieved on November 20, 2015, from https://crearunaempresaya.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/58/Robbins, SP, & Judge, TA (2009). Organizational Behavior (Thirteenth ed.). Mexico: Pearson Education. Retrieved on November 20, 2015, from https://tuvntana.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/texto-comportamiento_organizacional-robbins-_13a-_ed-_nodrm-4.pdfThompson, I. (July 2009). Promonegocios. Retrieved on November 20, 2015, from http://www.promonegocios.net/organigramas/tipos-de-organigramas.htmlUniversidad de Kansas. ((sf)). Organizational structure:A general vision. Retrieved on November 20, 2015, from
