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The essence of
organizational structure
dr. hab. Jerzy SupernatInstitute of
Administrative StudiesUniversity of Wroclaw
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The essence of organizational structure
Definitions of organizational structure R.H.
Hall, P.S. Tolbert organizational structure
can be considered as the arrangement of
organizational parts. P.M. Blau the
distributions, along various lines, of people
among social positions that influence the role
relations among these people. S. Ranson, B.
Hinings, R. Greenwood a complex medium of
control which is continually produced and
recreated in interaction and yet shapes that
interaction structures are constituted and
constitutive.
dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Functions of organizational structure
• to guarantee effectiveness
• to minimize or at least regulate the influence
  of indivi-dual variations on the organizations
  (it is an individual that should conform to
  requirements of the organization, not the
  organization to requirements of an individual)
• to make possible
• exercising power (organizational structure
  determi-nes which positions have power)
• making decisions (organizational structure
  determi-nes the flow of information into a
  decision)
• carrying out organizational activities
  (organizational structure is the arena for
  organizational actions)

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Plurality of structures
• in an organization
• it is a mistake to think that there is only one
  structure in an organization there is
  intraorganizational variation, both across
  organizational units and up and down the
  hierarchy
• structural differences are especially visible in
  multinational organizations (in chapters or
  divisions of international organizations located
  in different countries)

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The essence of organizational structure

• Types of organizational structure
• ideal type of bureaucracy
• real type of bureaucracy
• mechanistic organization
• organic organization
• adhocracy

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The essence of organizational structure

• Real type of bureaucracy
• (deviations from ideas and principles of ideal
  type of bureaucracy)
• lack of the continuous fulfillment of official
  tasks (lack of the continuity of administration)
• delay in the fulfillment of tasks
• making decisions on determinants other than
  legal or not accepted by law
• ignorance of law and/or wrong interpretation of
  law
• non precisely defined competences and/or abuse
  of competences
• nepotism
• cronyism
• corruption
• employing on the basis of non meritorial grounds
  
• lack of proper systematic control
• lack of documentation and/or errors in
  documentation

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Real type of bureaucracy
• (wrong application of ideas and principles of
  ideal type of bureaucracy)
• excessive specialization
• rigidity, inertia and autonomization of
  procedures
• non-elasticity of organization
• groupthink
• making mutually contradictory provisions
• conservatism and resistance against innovations
• tendency towards oligarchization

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Adhocracy
• Adhocracy describes an organization which is the
  diametric opposite of Webers bureaucracy.
  According to Stuart Crainer adhocracy or the new
  organization disregards the accepted, classical
  principles of management under which each and
  every one has a carefully defined and permanent
  role
• the new organization is flexible and free
  flowing
• the new organization is non-hierarchical
• the new organization is based on participation
• the new organization is creative and
  entrepreneurial
• the new organization is based round networks
• the new organization is driven by
  organizational goals rather than
  narrowly-defined functional ones
• the new organization utilizes IT as a key
  resource

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Structural features of an organizations
• complexity
• formalization
• centralization
• Complexity, formalization and centralization may
  change within one organization they are
  multidimensional pheno-mena (they vary from high
  to low).

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Complexity
• Complexity of an organization has major effects
  on the beha-vior of its members, on other
  structural conditions (formaliza-tion and
  centralization), on processes within the
  organization, and on relationships between the
  organization and its environ-ment.
• Components of complexity
• horizontal differentiation
• vertical (hierarchical) differentiation
• geographical differentiation (dispersion)
• Most organizations are more or less complex. One
  of really highly complex organizations is of
  course public administration.

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Formalization
• formalization is not an abstraction (the degree
  to which an organization is formalized is an
  indication of the perspectives of its decision
  makers in regard to organizational members!)
• formalization is not a neutral concept
• it might be helpful, since formalized procedures
  assist people in accomplishing their work
• it is coercive as people are forced into
  compliance (forma-lization involves
  organizational control over the individual the
  amount of individual discretion is inversely
  related to the amount of preprogramming of
  behavior by the organi-zation)
• The above allows to say that formalization has an
  ethical and a political meaning in addition to
  being a structural component.

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Centralization
• Centralization is commonly referred to the
  distribution of power within an organization If
  most decision making occurs at the top, the
  organization is centralized.
• The matter is not that simple. Centralization is
  not only a matter of who makes decisions
• if employees at lower levels in the organization
  are making many decisions but the decisions are
  programmed by organi-zational policies, a high
  degree of centralization remains
• if evaluation is carried out by people at the
  top of the organization, there is centralization,
  regardless of the level at which decisions are
  made

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure
Centrality It is important to distinguish
centralization from centrality. Centrality refers
to a persons or a social roles position in
workflow, communications, or friendship networks.
It is related to peoples being perceived as
influential by both supervisors and
nonsupervisors.
dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• The degree of centralization in an organization
• the degree of centralization says a great deal
  about a society a society in which the majority
  of organizations are highly centralized is one in
  which the workers have little to say about their
  work
• the degree of centralization is an indication of
  what the organization assumes about its members
• high centralization implies an assumption that
  the members need tight control
• low centralization suggests that the members can
  govern themselves

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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The essence of organizational structure

• Varying degrees of centralization have the major
  outcome for the organization itself.
• High levels of centralization mean
• greater coordination, but less flexibility
• consistent organization-wide policies, but
  possibly in-appropriate policies for local
  conditions
• potential for rapid decision making during
  emergencies, but overloaded communications
  channels during normal operations as
  communications flow up and down the hierarchy

dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat
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Stand with anybody that stands RIGHT. Stand
with him while he is right and PART with him
when he goes wrong, The Collected Works of
Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, volume
II, "Speech at Peoria, Illinois" (October 16,
1854), p. 273.
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Concluding remark
The only things that evolve by themselves in an
organization are disorder, friction, and
malperfor-mance. Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005)
dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat