Member Article

Organizational Structure

Describe how Argyris and Aston have criticized Blau’s research related to organization size. Blau suggested that increasing organizational size generates differentiation along various lines at decelerating rates. Blau suggested that if the effect is non-linear, at one point in the organization growth the effect of size on the structure would start to decrease. (Maguire, 2003) Argyris on the other hand is saying that size may be correlated with, but not generate or cause, differentiation.

(Hall & Tolbert, 1991) The Aston Group sees that organizational size has great influence on the structure and the increasing size is correlated with increasing specialization and formalization. “An increased scale of operation increases the frequency of recurrent events and the repetition of decisions,” which makes standardization preferable. (Scott, 2001) Explain why organizational cultures tend to be relatively stable over time. Organizational culture helps employees to identify themselves with the company; it increases the commitment to the organization’s mission and provides behavioral directions.

Organizational culture is important for the organizational behavior. Although organizational culture is considered to be stable, it’s possible that it will change over time. There are different factors that are responsible for the change of the culture within an organization. Change of workforce forced through a merger or an acquisition, market conditions and competition or new technology. These factors can influence and alter the organizational culture. Is there any relationship between organizational culture and organizational structure? Explain.

Organizational structure and organizational culture are somewhat similar and that makes it complicated to differentiate the two. An organizational structure is part of the organizational culture, they are somehow intertwined. No effective organizational structure means that there will be no effective organizational culture. For example, if the organizational culture is the electricity, the structure is the cables and outlets. If the structure is old, not up-to-date and/or damaged, the culture will not function effectively (or at all) and thrive.

Describe some of the differences researchers have found that differentiate American from Japanese firms. North-American society and its organizations are heterogenic, mobile and individualistic oriented. The Japanese society, however, is rather homogeneous, stable, and collectivist. Japanese companies emphasize the soft “S, skills, staff, style while the American companies put the hard “S” structure, strategy, systems, in the foreground. (Oechsler, 2006) The relationship between size and organizational structure is a complex one. Your text suggests that size really is comprised of four components.

What are they? •Physical capacity of an organization •Personal available in an organization •Organizational inputs and outputs •Discretionary resources available to an organization Hall & Tolbert, 1991 Explain the contributions of Woodward (1958, 1965) toward our understanding of the impact of technology on organizational structure. Woodward focused her studies of manufacturing enterprises on organizational structure factors, such as size and number of hierarchical levels, and proved a connection with the manufacturing technology.

Three manufacturing techniques are going back to the technology classifications of Woodward: •Workshop production (low mechanization) •Production Line (high mechanization) •Automated production (automation) Woodward’s analysis proves a strong influence of manufacturing technology related to the organizational structure. However, if the manufacturing sector constitutes a large part of the whole organization a dominant influence on the structure is created. In reviewing Woodward’s sample, it was found that smaller companies predominate. The organization size apparently affects the corporate structure more than the production technology.

Which theoretical models on organizational theory do you find most adequate? Why? Which do you find least adequate? Why? I don’t think there is a most adequate organizational theory or model. The population-ecology and the resource-dependency organizational model focus mainly on the dependencies between organizations and their environment. Both do not consider the organization’s internal requirements but they explain the forms of behavior and decision making. The institutional model has its difficulties when assessing cause and its effects.

Objectives and routines come and go for no reason other than institutionalization. The model underestimates the role of technology and reasonable decisions The rational-contingency model on the other hand calls goals an important factor as well as the environment but creates issues like conflicting goals, i. e. the importance of market shares versus employee satisfaction. If the decision makers agree on the priorities of goals, the higher the organizational efficiency will be. Successful firms are the ones that are able to deal with an unknown and changing environment. Source: http://lawaspect.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Ewer .