Organization and organizational structure

1. Organizing and organizational structure
Organization: An organization is a group of people who together
work to achieve a common goal.
Organizing; Organizing is a systematic process of structuring,
integrating, coordinating task goals, and activities to resource in order to
attain objectives.
Purpose
(1) Help to achieve organizational goals.
(2) Optimum use of resources
(3) To perform managerial function
(4) Human treatment of employees
Organizational Structure;
Organizational structure defines how tasks are divided, grouped and
coordinate in organization.
Every organization has a structure that clarifies the roles that
organizational members perform, so that everyone understands their
responsibilities to the group.

2. Six Elements of OrganizationalStructure;
(1) Work Specialization; the first element that affects the
structure of an organization is how tasks are subdivided into
separate jobs.
(2) Departmentalization; which establish how jobs are grouped
together. Jobs can be grouped in many ways, including by
Functional, product, Geographic process, Customer.
(3) Chain of Command; which provides a line of authority that
reaches from the top of the organization to the bottom and spells
out who reports to whom in the organization.
(4) Span of Control; the structure of every organization must
also dictate how many managers are required to direct their
employees. This is known as the Span of control and determines
how many individuals a manager can efficiently and effectively
manage.
(5) Centralization and Decentralization; Which determines
‘where does decision making authority lie ?
If top management makes all the organizational decisions with
no input from lower level personnel, the organization is
considered to be centralized.
The more that lower level managers involves in the decision
making process, the greater the degree of decentralization that
exist in the organization.
(6) Formulation; which determines to what degree the jobs in
the organization are standardized. A highly formulized job has
clearly defined procedures and leaves organizational members
little freedom their tasks. A low degree of formulization, on the

3. other hands, allows employees a high degree of flexibility in
how they get their jobs done.
Features of Organizational Structure;
(1) Determines the number and extent to which roles, power and
responsibility are delegated.
(2) Depends on objectives and strategies.
(3) Acts as a perspective through which individuals can see their
organization and its environment.
Importance on Organizational Structure;
(1) Impacts effectiveness and efficiency.
(2) Reduces redundant actions.
(3) Promotes team work.
(4) Improves communication.
(5) Contributes to success or failure.
Types of Organizational Structure
There are four types of organizational structure,
(1) Tall organizational structure
(2) Flat organizational structure
(3) Virtual Organizational Structure
(4) Boundary less organizational structure

4. (1) Tall Organizational Structure
 Large, complex organizations often require a taller hierarchy.
 In its simplest form, a tall structure results in one long chain of
command similar to the military.
 As an organization grows, the numbers of management levels
increase and the structure grows taller. In a tall structure,
managers form many ranks and have a small area of control.
(2) Flat Organizational Structure;
 Flat Structure have fewer management levels, with each
level controlling a broad area or group.
 Flat organization focus on empowering employees rather
than adhering to the chain of command.
 By encouraging autonomy and self-direction, flat
structures attempt to tap into employees creative talents
and solve problems by collaboration.
(3) Virtual Organizational Structure
 Virtual organization can be thought of as a way in which
an organization uses information and communication
technologies to replace or augment some aspect of the
organization.
 People who are virtually organized primarily interact by
electronic means.
 For example, many costumer help desks link customers
and consultants together via telephone or the internet and

5. problems may be solved without ever bringing people
together face-to-face.
(4) Boundary less OrganizationalStructure
 A boundary less organizational structure is a
contemporary approach in organizational design.
It is an organization that is not defined by, or limited to the
horizontal, vertical or external boundaries imposed by a
pre-defined structure.
 It behaves more like an organism encouraging better
integration among employees and closer partnership with
stakeholders.
Its highly flexible and responsive and draws on talent
wherever its found.