This document provides an overview of the topics and activities for a management course. It discusses organizing as a function of management, including defining organizing and exploring organizational structure elements. It outlines an activity analyzing the organizational structure of a case study company called LRN. Students are asked to develop answers and justify their responses to questions about LRN's structure. The document also includes an exam preparation section where students answer short questions about contingency factors in organizational design and factors influencing centralization vs decentralization.

1. Week 6:
Functions of Management (O):
Organising
Monash
Business &
Economics

2. 2
 1. Draw a mind map of week 5’s topic
– Characteristics of well-defined goals
– Elements of planning (4 elements)
– Decision making process (8 steps)
– Contingency Factors (3 factors) that influence planning
– Managers’ role in decision making
– Types of problems and decisions
 2. Grade Week 5’s self-reflections
 3. Any Qs?
Block 1. Mind map, self-reflections and
inquiries

3. • Define planning and the purpose of planning
• Explore the role of goals and plans in planning
• Discuss criticisms related to planning
• Explore the decision making process
• Understand the manager’s role as a decision maker
• Explore factors that managers needs to be aware of
when making decisions in the 21st century
Last week: Functions of Management (P)

4. – Define organising
– Explore the various elements of organisational structure
and design
– Understand the difference between organic and
mechanistic organisations
– Identify contingency factors affecting organisational
design choices
– Explore common organisational designs
This week: Functions of management: Organising

5. 5
 “Self-governance at LRN” pp. 438-439
 In groups of 3-4, develop & justify your answers for:
1. Explain the organisational structure at LRN using the six organisational design elements
discussed in the lecture;
2. Is the current organisational structure at LRN reflective of a mechanistic or organic
design?
3. What contingency factors have influenced the current organisational structure at LRN?
4. Is the current organisational design at LRN reflective of a traditional or contemporary
organisational design?
5. Do employee skill levels and degree of professionalism influence managerial decision-
making on introducing a self-governing structure?
6. What are the challenges in introducing a new organisational structure and way of
operating like LRN has done? Could you see yourself working in such an organisation?
Block 2. Illustrative case study

6. 6
 Part A: Developing an organisational chart (15mins)
 Purpose: to apply the six elements of organisational design covered in lecture
 Part B: Think critically about ethics: are organisations exploiting “non-
employees” (P. 433)
1. Are organisations that use casual/temporary workers exploiting them?
2. Are organisations acting unethically by employing large numbers of casual/temporary
workers?
3. More than 50% pf all academic staff employed in the Australian higher education
sector is employed on a casual/temporary basis. What implications do this raise for
academic staff, students, and the Australian higher education sector?
4. Should the Australian government pass legislation that mandates minimum
entitlements for casual/temporary workers?
Block 3. Class activity

7. 7
 Short Answer Question (5 marks each)
1. List and briefly explain four contingency variables managers should
consider when engaging in organisational design;
2. List and briefly discuss four factors that influence the amount of
centralisation and decentralisation found within an organisation.
Block 4: Exam preparation

8. 8
List and briefly explain four contingency variables managers should consider when engaging in organisational design;[p. 424]
(1). Strategy and structure
One of the contingency variables that influence organisational design is the organisation’s strategy.
Alfred Chandler did the original work on the strategy-structure relationship. His finding that structure follows strategy indicates that as
organisations change their strategies, they must change their structure to support that strategy. Most current strategy-structure
framework focus on three strategy dimensions
 Innovation—needs the flexibility and free flow of information of the organic organisation
 Cost minimisation—needs the efficiency, stability and tight controls of the mechanistic organisation
 Imitation—uses some characteristics of both mechanistic and organic organisations
(2). Size and structure
There is conside4rable historical evidence that an organisation’s size significantly affects its structure. Larger organisations tend to
have more specialisation, departmentalisation, centralisation and formalisation, although the size-structure relationship is not linear.
(3). Technology and structure
Technology also has been shown to affect an organisation’s choice of structure.
 Every organisation uses some form of technology to transform inputs into outputs
 Joan Woodard’s study of structure and technology found that organisations adapted to their technology. She found that three
distinct technologies had increasing levels of complexity and sophistication.
 Unit production is the production of items in units or small batches
 Mass production is the production of items in large batches
 Process production is the production of items in continuous processes
Woodward found in her study of these three groups that distinct relationships existed between these technologies, the
subsequent structure of the organisation and the effectiveness of the organisation. Table 12.4 in the textbook provides a
summary of these findings.
Marking template for Q1

9. 9
(4). Environmental uncertainty and structure
The final contingency factor that has been shown to affect organisational structure is
environmental uncertainty. One way to manage environmental uncertainty is through
adjustments in the organisation’s structure. The more uncertain the environment, the
more flexible and responsive the organisation needs to be (i.e. organic)
Marking template for Q1
Listing four contingency variables Briefly explaining why managers
should consider each variable when
engaging in organisational design
Overall quality
0.5 mark (0.125 marks per
characteristic)
4 marks (1 mark per
characteristic)
0.5 mark

10. 10
List and briefly discuss four factors that influence the amount of centralisation and
decentralisation found within an organisation. [p.419]
Factors that influence greater centralisation include stable environments; when lower-level
managers are not as capable or experienced at making decisions as upper-level managers;
when lower-level managers do not want to have a say in decisions; when decisions are
significant, when the organisation is facing a crisis or the risk of company failure, when the
company is large and when effective implementation of company strategies depends on
managers retaining a say over what happens.
Factors that influence greater decentralisation include when the environment is complex and
uncertain; when lower-managers are capable and experienced at making decisions and want a
voice in decisions; when decisions are relatively minor, when corporate culture is open to
allowing managers to have a say in what happens, when the company is geographically
dispersed, and when effective implementation of company strategies depends on managers
having involvement and the flexibility to have decisions.
Marking template for Q2
Listing four factors Briefly explaining how these
factors influence the amount of
centralisation/decentralisation
Overall quality
0.5 marks (0.125*4) Up to 4 marks 0.5 mark

11. 11
1. Complete MCQ for week 7;
2. Complete the weekly self-reflection for Week 6: Functions of
management (O): organising.
3. Read the “Radical leadership” case on pages 682 in the textbook.
This case will be used in the Block 2 of next week’s tutorial.
Assignment reminder for NEXT WEEK