Difference between Hierarchical and flat businesses
- Created by: Mollie Allen
- Created on: 20-11-14 16:55
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- OrganisationalStructures
- Difference between Hierarchical and flat businesses
- Flat Strcutre
- Advantages
- Elevates employees level of responsibility
- Fewer levels of management
- Removes excess layers of managements improving coordination and communication
- Refers to an organisation structure with few/no levels of management between management and other staff.
- Disadvantages
- Employees lack a specific boss to report to, creating confusion and possibly power struggles.
- They tend to produce generalists, no specialists.
- Larger organisations struggle to adapt to flat structures.
- Advantages
- Hierarchical Structure
- It follows the layout of a pyramid. Every employee is usually subordinate to someone else within the organisation.
- Disadvantages
- Communication tends to be less effective than flat organisations.
- Rivalry between departments may inflame as each departments makes their own decisions.
- Advantages
- Employees become less loyal to their departments and look out for the best interest of their area.
- Opportunities for promotion motivate employees.
- Employees recognise defined levels of leadership within the organisation; authority and levels of responsibility are obvious
- Flat Strcutre
- Chain Of Command
- The chain of command within a structure is how instructions and decisions are passed down from one layer to another.
- From the top donwards
- Decisions passed down, problems passed up
- Matrix Strcture
- Advantages
- A good way of sharing resources across departments
- Likely to result in greater motivation
- Allows indivuduals to use particular skills in a range of context.
- Disadvantages
- Difficult to co-ordinate
- Members of project teams may have divided loyalties as they report to two line managers.
- It takes time for people to get used to working in this sort of structure
- Members may neglect their functional responsibliities
- Advantages
- Delegation
- Fits in to a strcture that is centralised meaning decisions are made at head office
- Span of Control
- Advantages - Narrow Span of Control
- Allows manager to communicate quickly with employees
- Feedback of ideas from workers is more effective
- Less management skill required as few employees required.
- Advantages - Wide Span Of Control
- Less layers of management to pass a message through. reaching employees faster
- Costs less
- Advantages - Narrow Span of Control
- Roles within a Business
- Directors
- Appointed by shareholders to control a business.
- Manage activities and affairs of the business.
- The tole is largely strategic as they have to identify opportunities and set corporate objectives for the business
- Manager
- Carries out variety of activities
- Activities grouped under 4 main functional headings
- Planning
- Organising
- Motivting
- Controlling
- Supervisours
- They provide links between manager, the operatives stagg and support staf.
- Classed as first line of management, taking on some management functions through delegation of authority.
- Responsibilities include
- Controlling day-to-day work of operational and support staff
- Monitoring the work they do to ensure targets are being met
- Advising management of problems that arise in the work of the business
- aking corrective action to get back on target if there are any shortcomings
- Operational and Support Staff
- The role can depend on the type of business they work in
- Operational staff have lower levels of authority than a supervisor.
- Operational Staff usually have a routine in nature.
- Support staff provide a specialist structure to staff at all levels in the business.
- The level of decision making and responsibility depends on the extent and nature of the role.
- Directors
- Difference between Hierarchical and flat businesses
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