Many of us who work in a company or organization, whether public or private, do not know how it is formed inside (organizational structure). Perhaps we have seen the organization chart but we have asked ourselves why is it structured in that way? What role does each department or area have?
E. Guerra cites that the organizational structure refers to the way in which the activities of the company are divided, grouped and coordinated, in terms of the relationships between managers, between managers and employees and between them. (E. Guerra, 2002).
If we analyzed the organizational structure in detail, we would know how the structure of each department or work area is defined, as well as the functions that each employee must fulfill within the organization through the procedure manuals.
One of the greatest challenges that organizational design presents is creating the ideal structure for our organization, with the best employee in that position and with the appropriate areas, to achieve the expected productivity or profitability.
However, without our realizing it, technology has taken on a very important role in the company, because in some way it has come to reduce work areas or departments, even workers, since technology has replaced that workforce, those long processes, which has contributed to the performance of the areas to be more efficient, but…. Could it be then that technology, in addition to the above, can also influence the design of the organizational structure?
In this work we will analyze technology within the organization, and its influence on the creation or modification of the organizational structure.
At present, technology constitutes the other independent variable that has a powerful influence on organizational characteristics (dependent variables). In addition to the environmental impact, there is the technological impact of organizations.
All organizations in some way use technology to run their operations and perform their tasks. The technology adopted may be crude and rudimentary (bathroom cleaning) as well as sophisticated (data processing on a computer server). (Capecchi Martínez, 2002)
The design of the organizational structure or simply the organizational design, consists of determining the structure of the organization that is more convenient for the implementation of the strategy and the objectives of the company, the administration of the personnel, the technology used and the tasks of the organization. (E. Guerra, 2002)
The matrix structure is the newest and most complex organizational structure. Its starting point is a multiple command system, in which an individual reports to more than one superior at the same time. It is a structure that combines vertical and horizontal lines of authority.
Two definitions of organizational structure: (Champagnat, 2002)
- Strategor: (1988) Organizational structure is the set of functions and relationships that formally determine the functions that each unit must fulfill and the mode of communication between each unit.Mintzberg: (1984) Organizational structure is the set of all forms in which the work is divided into different tasks and the subsequent coordination of them.
- Size: large company: + complexity + bureaucracy / more complex organizational structure + specialization Technology: technology conditions human behavior as well as the organizational structure itself Sectoral and social environment: a company that is in the agricultural sector is not the same as in the industrial sector If the company is in a simpler sector, the structure is simpler.
Marcic mentions that technology includes the knowledge, tools and activities that are used to transform organizational inputs into products. Technology includes machinery, employee skills, and work procedures. A useful way to think about technology is to think of it as production activities. Production activities can be producing steel mills, television programs, or computer programs. (Marcic, 2007)
The technology of production is significant because it has a direct influence on the organizational structure. The structure must be designed in such a way as to match the technology as well as to adjust to the external environment. Technologies vary between manufacturing and service organizations. In addition, the new digital technology also has an impact on the structure.
The production technology is divided into 3: (Marcic, 2007) a) Small batch and unit technology, b) Mass production and c) Continuous process production. The difference between the three manufacturing technologies is called technical complexity. Complexity refers to the degree to which machinery is involved in production, resulting in the exclusion of people. With complex technology, employees are rarely required except to control the machines.
Martínez mentions that technology: is a socially organized, planned activity that pursues consciously chosen objectives and essentially practical characteristics. Technology not only invades all industrial activity, but also deeply participates in any type of human activity, in all fields of action. (Capecchi Martinez, 2002)
Marcic, in his book tells us that Joan Wood Ward found that manufacturing companies could be cataloged into 3 basic types of production: batch production, large-batch or mass production, and continuous-process production. (Marcic, 2007)
The difference between the three manufacturing technologies is called technical complexity. Technical complexity refers to the degree to which machinery is involved in production, which results in the exclusion of people. With complex technology, employees are rarely required except to control machines. (Marcic, 2007)
It is his book also the author mentions that… above all, companies that are based on small batch production and by continuous processes have somewhat ambiguous and flexible structures and companies that are based on large or mass batch production they have vertical and rigid structures. (Marcic, 2007)
Technology has the property of determining the nature of the organizational structure and organizational behavior of companies. We speak of a technological imperative when it refers to the fact that it is technology that determines (and does not simply influence) the structure of the organization and its behavior. Despite the exaggeration of this statement, there is no doubt that there is a strong impact of technology on the life, nature and functioning of organizations. (Capecchi Martinez, 2002)
conclusion
Currently there is no company or organization that does not use technology, it influences the development of the processes and activities carried out by each employee, in the reduction of production times, administrative processes and work flow, since some tasks nowadays they are faster, more effective and efficient, throughout this work the reader can observe how different authors see technology. They not only see it as modern technology or machine but also as knowledge or resource, innovations and procedures.
If technology influences processes and functions, it also influences the organizational structure, remember what I mentioned (Marcic, 2007), the more technology we needed fewer employees, and even when there is little or a large degree of technology, we need someone to do it. operate. Due to this, it will determine the number of employees that are required within the structure and the creation or not of departments or areas.
Technology is a factor that determines the organizational structure, because technology conditions human behavior as the organizational structure itself. (Champagnat, 2002).
The technology used by the organization conditions the organizational structure and behavior. To deal with the environment, the organization uses technologies that will condition its organizational structure and operation. From the theory of contingency, the technology variable assumed an important role in administrative theory.
Organizational design is deeply affected by the technology used by the organization.
