Organization Theory

Number of employees directly under you (wide > a lot - narrow > a few)

Top managers make decisions

Lower level employees are empowered to make decisions

Number of levels in the hierarchy of the firm

Many levels of authority

Few levels of authority

Mechanic Organization

Rules and procedures

Lack of rule

Lots of managers - narrow

Tall

High Degree

Few

Centralized

Formal

Functional

Divisional -> matrix

Organic Organizations

Few rules

Few managers - wide

Flat

Flexible - less specialized

Many

Decentralized

Informal

Team

Network

Boundaryless

Job design technique where jobs are broken up into relatively easy tasks. This work arrangement intends to achieve greater productivity through decreased application of physical and mental effort

Pros

Relatively easy

Quick process of training staff

Staff can be less difficult to supervise

Staff can be easier to replace

Cons

Lower staff job satisfaction

Greater potential for boredom among workers

Greater chance for accompanying issues of elevated error rates and absents

Job Rotation

Management approach where employees are shifted between two or more jobs or assignments in order to expose them to and teach them all aspects of an organization

Helps identify where employees work best

Encourages development

Reduces boredom

Can create anxiety and stress among workers

Can be costly

Can be time consuming

Possibility of ending up with disgruntled employees

Job Enrichment

Motivational technique used by organizations to give an employee greater satisfaction in his work by assigning them additional responsibilities previously reserved for their manager or other higher-ranking positions

Pros

Employees are motivated to produce top work

Company can operate more efficiently

Employees can learn more vertical skills that equip them for a higher level position

Reduces boredom

Cons

Poor performance

Increase in workload

Non-participant conflicts

Job Enlargement

Increasing the scope of a job through extending the range of its job responsibilities and duties generally within the same level

Pros

Learn new skills

Reduces boredom

Improves and remains motivation

Cons

Heavy workload

Can worsen job performance

Lack of expertise

Telecommuting

Work arrangement in which the employee works outside the office, instead working from home or a place close to home and making use of the internet, telephone, and email.

Pros

More freedom regarding employees work location and work hours

Gives employee more flexibility to balance work and personal obligations

Can make for a more productive employee, as they do not have the distraction of a typical office space

Cons

Have to find a productive place to work (this can be difficult for some)

Working from home can isolate the employee, as they are not around coworkers

Extremely self motivated

Condensed Working Week

Employee is working a full time job (35-40 hours), but they do not have to work every single day of the week, as they just need to fill in all of their hours. The employee has the opportunity of getting one or two days off.

Pros

You can have a full day off during each workweek while still making full time income

Increased productivity from having uninterrupted and focused time at your workplace

Reduced commuting time and gas expenses

Enhances company image as a family-friendly place to work

Cons

Higher fatigue

Can cause understaffing during some periods

Less leisure time

Physically and mentally draining

Employees could be working unauthorized overtime

Flextime

Flexible system where employees get alter their work hours with certain limits, giving them the opportunity to choose their start and finish times

Pros

Increases productivity

Attracts more qualified employees

Increased feeling of personal control

Schedule employee hours to fit peak demand times of company

Cons

Can be confusing and time consuming

Employees can abuse the policy

May complicate daily operations

May lose sense of family

Job Sharing

When two employees cooperatively share the same job. Involves two people who each work part time to fill one full-time position.

Pros

Easier workload, less stress and more work satisfaction which can lead to:

Increased motivation

Positive customer service

Effective coworker relationships

Easier coverage for missing work because of things like family matters, being ill and scheduled vacations or days off

Learning new ways of working together

Cons

May be asked to pay for a cross-over day which increases employment costs

Cost of benefits might rise

Different ways that each employee has of doing things can lead to conflict

Functional structure

Organized by key business skills

Pros

Clear lines of authority specialized

Cons

Communication issues with other departments

Divisional structure

Organized into departments by customer, product, geographic process

Pros

Leads to potentially better service more focused on service/efficient production

Cons

Duplication (more employees) of roles in departments

Example: Rogers - personal customers and business customers

Matrix structure

Organize into cross functional teams (2 bosses)

Pros

Clarity of Reporting Structure, this is because, every group of employees have a clear boss.

Improve communication through the company

employees are loyal to their department

Cons

Double workload

Double deadlines which leads to stress

Team structure

Organize into independent teams

Pros

simplicity

Improves teamwork and generates ideas/creativity

flexibility

Cons

lack of job specifications

Not as well organized and can lead to inefficiencies

lack of coordination in the business

Network structure

Outsource to contractors, which is a key responsibility

Pros

teamwork, which leads to innovative ideas.

Saves money and is more specialized

opportunities to develop

Cons

Extra administration needed

Contractor may lack loyalty to the business

needs excessive policies and procedures

Boundariless

Removes all traditional barriers

Pros

flexible rules

Freedom and creativity

quicker when solving problems

Cons

Difficult to manage

No clear authority

Lazze fair