week 8 - organisational behaviour-Organisation, Structure & Design

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  • Created by: jf00632
  • Created on: 04-04-19 08:39
Mainstream approaches - classical
attempts to identify universally applicable principles of organizing
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Mainstream approaches- model
highlights importance of adapting organizational design to the contingencies of the context
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critical approaches
Challenge assumptions around impartiality and rationality – View structure and design as cultural and political – Attentive to issues of power, inequality etc. – Assumes conflicts are endemic to organizations – Aims to illuminate and question con
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mainstream approaches - organisation structure
the sum total of the ways in which it divides its labour into distinct tasks and then achieves coordination between them” (Mintzberg, 1979
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mainstream approaches - components of structure
Grouping of people into teams or departments – Allocation of activities and responsibilities – Reporting lines and the number of subordinates that report to a boss – Lines of communication – Monitoring of performance and design of reward systems
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Importance of the right structure
• Structure must support strategy • Structure must be appropriate – reflecting the goals and environment of the organisation • Structure must remain flexible • Structure must enable communication • The formal and informal need to be in line
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Classical theories
• View organizations as machines • Attempt to develop a systematic and rational approach • Development of universal principles to guide management practice E.g. Fayol’s basic principles of administration – Functional division of work
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classical theories - continued
Hierarchical relationships – Bureaucratic forms of control – Narrow supervisory span – Closely prescribed roles
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What are the limitations of this
Excessive emphasis on vertical reporting hinders communication across functions – Matrix structure attempts to resolve this
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functional based structure (also look at notes)
within each function you have different catwrgoies. for example yu can categorise them by each product. e.g finnce and marketing – have a reporting function when it comes to products
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Chaniging organisation structures (also look at notes)
– globalisation – a more open system rather than a closed system • external – globalisation, tech e.c.t. (eqal partner technique network)
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Matrix structure - also look at notes
cross reporting relationships limitations – the different people you report to may have different responses you don’t know whos interest should be the priority
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product or service based structure
the product is of importance and what goes in the product team is the most importance thing- most business have ditched this structure for the matrix structure.
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geography based structure
gain control. the location is the most important
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Max Weber and rationality- concept of rationality
Formal: best (most rational) means to a given end • Substantive: the end itself is rational
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Max Weber and rationality- 3 types of authority
Legal-rational • Traditional • Charismatic
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Max Weber and rationality- Ideal-type Bureaucracy
Official duties Paid, full-time, career structure Authority from office Hierarchy and reporting structure Division of labour Qualifications and experience Uniformity and impersonality
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Classical management- henri fayol (6)
• Fayol’s ideas referred to as ‘classical management theory’/ scientific administration • One ‘best’ organisation structure • Logic of efficiency: • Functional division of work • Hierarchical relationships – Bureaucratic control • Narrow supervis
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Fayol’s six managerial activities
• forecasting • plannig • organising • commanding • coordinating • controlling
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criticsm of classical maangmemt
• Standardised organisational design as ‘best way’ misleading • Encourages formation of militaristic, mechanistic structure • Lack of consideration of drawbacks of tight control / narrow task specialization • Emphasis on formal structure
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criticsm of classical maangmemt (continued)
• Ignores the individual and interactions
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continued
Bureaucracy: (government) • - dehumanising • - Ignores morality• - Unintended consequences
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modern thinking
Abandons search for universal principles
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What are the bet designs and structures (modern thinking)
those that have a good ‘fit’ with the environment E.g. systems thinking:
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what does modern thinking analyse?
– Analyses activities in terms of inputs, process and outputs
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What does modern thinknig focus on?
Focus on interdependence between parts E.g. contingency theory
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what does modern thinking account for?
Accounts for changing environmental demands and opportunities
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what do both classical and modern approaches do?
• Both approaches emphasise the formal aspects of organizations and largely exclude the informal
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what was the contigency approach based on?
Contingency writers challenged Webers and Fayols view that there was one best way to structure an organisation
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what did webers and fayols beleive?
Optimum structures would differ between firms
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what do Contingencies of organisational structure include
Technology e.g. production process used – Environment e.g. the market of the business – Size e.g. the number of employees – Diversification e.g. different businesses run – Internationalisation e.g. different countries of operation
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what structures did Burns & Stalker (1961) come up with?
Mechanistic structure and organic structure
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mechanistic structure (6)
• Functional Division of Labour; • Focus on part not whole; • Hierarchy; • Knowledge at top of hierarchy; • Vertical interaction; • Formal rule structure.
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organic structure
• Common task; • Focus on individual capabilities; • Horizontal interaction; • Network not hierarchy; • Knowledge dispersed; • Informal systems. • Different – neither model is superior
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mechanistic
• Formal • High specialisation/ rigid departmentalisation • Centralized • Clear chain of command • Suited to large routine environments • Best in relatively stable environments • Focus on control • Low trust
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organic
• Flexible • Adaptive • Low complexity • Decentralized • Low levels of formality • Cross-functional / cross-hierarchical teams • Free flow of information • High trust • Quick to respond to change • Suitable for uncertain environments
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What did Frederick Windsor Tylor say about scienitific manangment?
in the past the man has been first: in the future the system must be first”
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The principle of rationality in contemporary organisations
• Global chains e.g. McDonalds etc. • Based on the principle of rationality (acceptance of rules and efficiency as part of bureaucratic and formal organisation)
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What question does the de-skilling data base ask?
• Does rationality/ technology deskill or improve the skills of workers and the nature of jobs?
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Who was the creator of the deskilling debate and what is it about?
george rit• The logic and principles underpinning the fastfood chain are coming to dominate more and more sectors of society • Based on the principle of rationality (acceptance of rules and efficiency as part of bureaucratic and formal organisation)
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the 4 key prinicples of the de-skilling data base
• Efficiency • Predictability (control) • Calculability • Non-human technology
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organisations as open systems
Society changes all the time women have got different needs to men (also look at notes)
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formal aspects
• Planned, procedural • Officially sanctioned • Fixed and rigid • Based on authority • On the record • Reliant upon position
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informal aspects
• Emergent, pragmatic • Officially illegitimate • Dynamic and flexible • Based on trust or reciprocity • Off the record • Reliant upon personal affinity or political allegiance
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other mainstream approaches (6)
Institutional economics.Institutional theory,Resource dependency theory, Population ecology theory, Network theory, Virtual organization
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Institutional economics
• Focus on cost-effectiveness of organizations in relation to market-based ways of doing business
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Institutional theory
• Sees organizations structure as the product of historical and cultural relations rather than rational design
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Resource dependency theory
• Focus on the dependency of organizations on unpredictable supplies of resource
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Population ecology theory
• Structure dependent on the nature of the environment
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Network theory
• Emphasises interdependencies within and between organizations
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Virtual organization
• Made possible by electronic technologies
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What are the 2 Techniques for changing design?
Business process reengineering (BPR) and total quality managment (TQM)
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business process reingeering (bpr)
• Reorienting businesses around processes rather than function • Heavy emphasis on entrepreneurialism • Widespread use of information technology • this is a HARD approach
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total quality managment (tqm)
• Continuous improvement of internal processes • Creation of organizational culture with strong customer orientation • Teamworking • this is a SOFT approach
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Assessing mainstream approaches- contributions
– Recognize the critical importance of design because of the assumption that structure largely determines behaviour – Emphasize importance of organizations adapting to the environment
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Assesing mainstream approaches - limitations
– Reinforce an unrealistic technical rationality – Ignore the capacity of individuals to change structures – Assume a consensus amongst managers/employees which is unrealistic
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critical approaches
• Argue that systems thinking marginalises the human, political and process dimensions of organization and management • Even when the ‘informal’ is acknowledged, the mainstream tends to see this as something to be eliminated/constrained
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Challenge the meaning given to ‘structure’ in the mainstream
– highlight issues of power and inequality in organizational design – Expose how employees’ identities and insecurities are exploited to curtail their freedom even when claiming to extend it
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Share a belief that ‘structure’ becomes reified
– i.e. to regard it as having an independent existence rather than being a human creation
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Consensus/Conflict- Mainstream thinking assumes consensus as the norm
– Conflict an aberration that managers must resolve
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Consensus/Conflict-Critical approaches focus on conflict and domination
Argue that consensus is often forced • Shows the weak position of employees rather than harmony and – Structure sustains this forced consensus, especially when presented as the ‘one best way’ of organizing
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What does Mainstream thinking take for granted?
• Mainstream thinking takes for granted the presence and virtue of capitalist principles
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What does critical approaches explore?
• Critical approaches explore this context in detail
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What did Braverman argue?
– Argues that the structure and design of work under Taylorism alienates workers from their labour – Limitations: • Lack of regard for the subjectivity of labour
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What did Braverman argue? (continued)
– management seen as all-powerful yet managers routinely rely on employees for co-operating, generating knowledge • Fails to see that Taylorism is not necessarily the most effective way of organizing work
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What did Braverman argue? (continued)
• Implies that all managers agree with Taylorism and fails to acknowledge existence of hierarchies within management itself
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What is Self-discipline and the panopticon?
Direct control replaced by forms of surveillance and discipline that operate at a distance
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Self-discipline and the panopticon- 2 mechanisms
– Hierarchical observation – management exercise power through its surveillance of workers – Normalizing judgment – the punishment of those who stray from the norm – Examination – the combination of hierarchical observation and normalizing judgemen
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Self-discipline and the panopticon- Intent is to produce self-disciplining individuals
Discipline is enabling as well as constraining and may be welcomed by workers • Organization structures determined and maintained by disciplinary power
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Conclusion: Critical approaches- contributions
• Demonstrates how power and knowledge helps us understand structure and design • Focuses on the relationships between society and organization
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Conclusion: Critical approaches- contributions
• Resists legitimizing the status quo • Shows how ideas about organization and management help to shape the world that analysts of organization aspire to capture
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Conclusion: Critical approaches - limitation
• Can be too human-centred • May neglect the global nature of capitalism • May neglect the domination of financial power • Can be theoretical and idealistic rather than practical and pragmatic
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Mainstream approaches- model

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highlights importance of adapting organizational design to the contingencies of the context

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critical approaches

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Card 4

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mainstream approaches - organisation structure

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mainstream approaches - components of structure

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