Managing Resources

• Powerful individual or small group that is the source of all authoriy- controls and coordinates everything and often chages rules at they go.
• Essential qualities for those not part of the power strucutre: Loyalty, hard working, doing as asked. Promots a set of values and sentiments that enable people to work and survive in this structure.
• Found in small entreprenuerial firms- can be found in divisions of larger companies.
• Judged by achievement rather than the method
• Few rules and bureaucracy 

Advantages:

• Quick decision making
• Clear lines of communication

Disadvantages

• Lack of consultation mean no new ideas skills 
• Lead to demotivation

Success depends on strength and ability of the decision makers

• Typifies the bureaucracy or mechanisation of organisations in which duties, responsibilities and authority are attached to roles that are tightly specified, controlled and coordinated by senior managers. 
• Power resides in a persons position
• Strength of organisation is in the pillars or departments
• Designed for stability and continuity
• Not adaptive to change
• Leads to a blinkered approach- subjective and limited in viewpoint or perception.

Advantages

• Enables large organisations to spread tasks and ensure no duplication
• Particularly in specialist roles and project management as it should increase productivity as employees are completing tasks they are fully trained and experienced to do.

Disadvantages

• Unsuitable for firm with a small number of people 
• May find it difficult to adapt to change if staff are controlled by procedures and systems

• The organisational idea is of a team of talents or resources able to respond to a specific project, or task 
• Few rules and procedures, getting things done is more important than how they are done.
• Status comes from expertise and adaptability in achieving results.
• Achieved by giving individuals a considerable degree of autonomy.
• Refers to the use of teams to complete tasks in a secific period of time and budget
• Found in problem solving organisations, uses resources extrvagantly

Advantages

• Motivation through empowerment, valued through selection for team
• Sense of achievement through completion and allows creativity
• Mix and range of skills, abbilities and ideas.

Disadvantages

• Conflicts and personal relationships
• Unfair spread in work, individual performance and intitiative not recognised
• Lack of motivation from some members

• Exists to serve its staff and is often brought into existence by those who staff it. 
• Allows members to collectively persue aims.
• Focuses on the people and their specialist knowledge
• Found in organiations where staff are able to develop their skills and carreer
• No coordination or control but high levels of respect
• Power and influence shared

Advantages

• Good employee relations
• High motivation, low labour turnover
• Strong values

Disadvantages

• Self interests
• Difficult to manage
• Often mixed with another culture as firm begins to take on own identity.

Fundamental and relatively unchaging features of an organisation which are officially sanctioned by those who control it and consist of the way activities and components parts are grouped, controlled and coordinated in order to acheive specific aims and outcomes.

Structure divides the whole organisation into manageable subtasks and allocates them to organisational units that are held responsible  for their completiong. Ensures subtasks are coordinated and controlled in way that helps the organisation achieve its aims.

Importance- an appropriate structure should ensure:

• Tasks occur in correct sequence
• Activites are monitored so that coordination and control occur
• Decisions can be and are taken at appropriate points to ensure that adjustments which may be necessary to achieve goals are made.
• Responsibility and authority for completing certain task is assigned to individuals and a groups and also that they accept accountability. 
• Resources are used effectiely and efficiently so that the level of resource utlisation matches the level of activity and resources are only deploued on what needs to be done.

• Combines the traditional departments of function structure with project teams. A project team will include a range of skills and abilities in order to get the project done effectively.
• Each member can end up with two line managers.
• Can be temporary or permanent depending on the tasks they are asked to complete.
• Attempts to gain the advantages of both financial and product groupings but minimise the potential drawbavks of each one. 
• Basic principle is to superimpose a horizontal, product based structure on to a conventional function arrangment.
• The aim is to provide the different products or projects with the specialised function expertise they require but without incurring the duplication of resources.

• Improved coordination of diverse activities which does not rely upon cooperation between separate functional heads but is undertaken by the project manager. 
• Multiple perspectives of different functions are brought to bear on problems- fast, highly innovated solutions. 
• Efficient utilisation of resources and improved lateral communications
• Breaks down traditional department barriers, improving communications across the entire organisation. 
• Allow individuals to use particular skills within a variety of contexts.
• Avoids the need for several departments to meet regularly, reducing costs.
• Encourages cross fertilisation of ideas across departments
• Good way of sharing resources across departments

• People never have fewer than two bosses- loyalty problems
• Power struggle often occurs about use of resources and decision making perogatives.
• Cooperation between specialists with different viewpoints is not always easy to achieve
• Highly complex matirx structures with many specialisms can be hard to determine authroity. 
• Decision making time consuming as made by teams rather than individuals.

• Used by small organisations because it centralises on decision making for the owner.
• Doesn't have formal departments and layers of management
• Simple, flat structure, clear lines of communication
• A simple structure usually consists of an owner delegating tasks. 
• As it grows, this structure will be no longer suitable as the firm will have to develop functions.

• Controls early growth and development
• Tight control over employees
• No hesitation from employees as orders come from the top
• Faster decision making due to lack of layers of management

• Owner may lack specialist knowledge
• Appropriate only to a given size
• Employess must wait for approval despite having the skills to make decisions
• Work over load, manager hesistant to delegate
• If owner is off sick, company can become 'paralysed'

• Most common structure
• Groups employees according to a specialised or similar set of roles or tasks.
• Operate well in a stable environment where business strategies are less inclined to changes or dynamism, the level of bureaucracy makes it difficult for organisations to respond to changes in the market quickly.

• Similar knowledge skills are grouped together, makes employees become specialists
• Requires a performance management system that allows for the promotion, development and visibility of individual skills within their area. Helps bring about in-depth knowledge and skill development among employees which can help achieve corporate objectives.
• Enhances productivity, complete tasks quickly due to knowledge, more confidence, less mistakes. 
• Clear nature of career path, high motviation to advance careers
• Ideal for small businesss focusing on one good.
• Maximise performance by encouraging peer cooperation among different units at different levels of management through supervision and coordination. 

• Rigid communication, standardised ways of operations and high degree of formalisation. 
• Slow decision making and inflexibility.
• Bureaucratic, functional units are not accountable, poor horizontal coordination
• Lack of innovation and restricted views of organisation goals, too much focus can lead to demotivation
• Groups may be territorial/unwilling to cooperate, delays, reduced commitment, time wasting, reduced production levels and overall company committment.