ORGANISATION STRUCTURES

Apart from the very simplest form of enterprise in which one individual carries out all tasks and responsibilities, business organisations are characterised by a division of labour which allows employees to specialise in particular roles and to occupy designated positions in pursuit of the organisation's objectives. The resulting pattern of relationships between individuals and roles constitutes what is known as the organisations structure and represents the means by which the purpose and work of the enterprise is carried our. It also provides a framework through which communications can occur and within which the processes of management can be applied.

Responsibility for establishing the formal structure of the organisation lies with management and a variety of options is available. Whatever form is chosen, the basic need is to identify a structure which wilt best sustain the success of the enterprise and will permit the achievement of a number of important objectives. Through its structure an organisation should be able to:

·           achieve efficiency in the utilisation of resources;

·           provide opportunities for monitoring organisational performance;

·           ensure the accountability of individuals;

·           guarantee co-ordination between the different parts of the enterprise;

·           provide an efficient and effective means of organisational communication;

·           create iob satisfaction, including opportunities for progression; and

·           adapt to changing circumstances brought about by internal or external developments.

In short, structure is not an end in itself, but a means to an end and should ideally reflect the needs of the organisation within its existing context and taking into account its future requirements.

The essence of structure is the division of work between individuals and the formal organisational relationships that are created between them. These relationships will be reflected not only in individual job descriptions, but also in the overall organization chart which designates the formal pattern of role relationships and the interactions between roles and the individuals occupying those roles. Individual authority relationships can be classified as line, staff. functional and lateral and arise from the defined pattern of responsibilities, as follow's:

·      Line relationshipd occur when authority-flows vertically downward through  the structure from superior to subordinate (e.g. managers - section leader – staff).

·      Staff relationships are created when senior personnel appoint assistants who normally  have no authority over  other staff but act as an extension of their superior.

·      Functional relationship,s are those between specialists {or advisers) and line managers and their subordinatcs (e.g., when a specialist provides a common service throughout the organisation but has no authority over the users of the service). The personnel or computing function may be one such service that creates a functional relationship. (Note that specialists have line relationships with their own subordinates.)

·      lateral relationships exist across the organisation, particularly between individuals occupying equivalent positions within different departments or sections, (e.g. commitees, head of departments, section, leaders).

With regird to the division of work and the grouping of organisational activities, this can occur in a variety of ways. These include:

·      By function or major purpose, associated particularly with departmental structures.

·      By product or service, where individuals responsible for a particular product or service are grouped together.

·      By location, based on geographical criteria

·      By common processes (e.g. particular skills or merhods of operation)

·      By client group (e.g. children the disabled, the elderly).

In some organisations a particular method of grouping will predominate; in others there will tend to be a variety of types and each has its own particular advantages and disadvantages. In the discussion below, attention is focused on five main methods of grouping activities in business organisations. Students should attempt to discover what types of structure exist within their own educational institution and the logic (!) which underlies the choices made.