Organizational Design, Term Paper Example

Introduction

Organizational design is a formal and guided process meant for integrating people, information and technology of an organization. Or it can be defined as the manner in which an organization achieves the correct mixture of integration and differentiation of the operations of the organization (Mintzberg, 1992). It involves subdividing the functional units of an organization or departmental units of an organization whose focus is on different aspects of the organization. Further, it concerns itself to linking of differentiated units to bring about harmony /unity of efforts towards achieving the organizations goals. Organizational design is vital for any organization and is a must have for organization management and success.

During the times of uncertainty, greater effectiveness of an organization is achieved through differentiation and integration of functional units and vice versa. Collective efforts of the members of an organization are achieved through organizational design (Mintzberg, 1992). In general, organizational design combines people, technology and information and focuses them towards the organizations goal, purpose, vision and the strategy of an organization. it enhances formation of structures that enhance communication and information flow among people, enhances formation of systems that are meant for encouraging individual responsibility and making of decisions, and lastly promotes technology which is use to enhance human capabilities to finish specific works. The ultimate goal of organizational design is to have an integrated syatem of human capital and recourses, focused toward a particular direction of the organization (Mintzberg, 1992).

This paper is going to elucidate the detailed, specific recommendations for organizational design for machine bureaucracy from professional bureaucracy. it will also provide specific recommendations for divisional form of structure implementation as a form of more balanced form of structure when managed correctly. Lastly, it will detail the adhocracy as the most flexible and organic form of five structures and provider recommendation for action and provide rationale how it should be implemented in an organization.

Contrast the detailed, specific recommendations or strategies for organizational design for machine bureaucracy from professional bureaucracy

Organizations, in which, the operation is routine, repetitive, and the work is highly standardized, behaves like a machine or bring about machine bureaucracy in our society. Machine bureaucracy was first described by Max Weber as a structure with standardized responsibilities, qualifications, communication channels, work rules and clearly defined hierarchy of authority. Machine bureaucracy can be described as highly specialized, routine operating tasks, with much formalized procedures in the operating centre. It has a proliferation of rules, regulations, and formalized communication throughout the organization. The structure has large sized units at the operating level, relies on the functional basis of the grouping tasks, relatively centralized power for decision making and elaborated administrative structure with sharp distinction between the line and staff (Mintzberg, 1992).

Machine bureaucracy puts emphasis on standardization which extends beyond the operating core. Precisely, rules and regulations permeate the entire machine beauracracy structure. Standardization favors formal communication at all levels and decision making tends to follow formal chain of authority. All over the machine bureaucracy there is a sharp division of labor. There is a very distinct division between line and staff as well as clear job specialization in the operating centre. The operating core is highly differentiated from the administrative structure.

In the machine bureaucracy, considerable power rests on the mangers of the strategic apex. Formal power clearly rests at the top and hierarchy and chain authority are paramount concepts. Middle level managers are very weak while the workers at the operation core have no power. The only individuals authorized to share informal power with the top management are techno-structure analyst due to their position and role in standardizing every ones work. This organizational structure is centralized in the vertical dimension and decentralized in horizontal dimension only to a limited extent (Mintzberg, 1992). Machine bureaucracy is found in environments that are simple and stable. With machine bureaucracy, the works of complex environments can not be rationalized into simple tasks. The work of dynamic environment is unpredictable, cannot be made repetitive and so standardized.

Typically, machine bureaucracy is majorly found in manufacture organization which is large enough to have amount of work needed for repetition and standardization (Mintzberg, 1992). Machine bureaucracy is characterized by regulation of technical systems that routinilize the work and enables it to be formalized. Those systems are moderate and not sophisticated and complicated.

Organizations with mass production are best known to have machine bureaucracies. The horizontal operating chains of the organization with machine bureaucracy are segmented into links, each forming functional department that gives reports to vertical chain authority.

Machine bureaucracy is designed for one purpose only since it is an inflexible configuration. This type of organizational design is efficient in its limited domain and cannot adapt to any other system. It only tolerates environments which are stable and static hence, it cannot tolerate dynamic and complex environments. It is excellent I simple and static environments (Mintzberg, 1992).

Machine bureaucracy and professional bureaucracy differ markedly from each other in this sense, machine bureaucracy, generates its own standards. For instance, it generates its own techno-structure designing the work standards for its operators and its lime mangers punting them into operation. On the other hand, professional bureaucracy standards originate largely from the self governing associations which are outside its own structure. Its operators combine with their colleagues from other professional bureaucracies.

Machine bureaucracy emphasizes the authority of the hierarchical nature /structure which can be called reliance on the power of office while professional bureaucracy emphasizes the authority of a profession or the power of expertise. (Mintzberg, 1992).

Unlike machine bureaucracy professional bureaucracy processes are complex and complicated in that standardization by the analyst becomes very difficult. It provides freedom of consulting peers and to respond to managerial orders. Professional bureaucracy structure is both functional and market-based this is because it categorizes client’s interns of their functional specialists.

In contrast to machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy is a highly decentralized structure both horizontally and vertically. A lot of power over the operating work lies at the base of the structure, with operating core professional. Professional power is derived from the work professions do which is complex to be supervised by other mangers or standardized by analysts. as well the services the professionals offer are on high demand to be standardized (Mintzberg,1992).

Professional bureaucracy allows the professionals to control their work, but also seek collective control of administrative decisions that affect them. This is centrally to machine bureaucracy structure where the workers have no control of their work. They are managed and power is concentrated on the top management only. in professional bureaucracy, there are parallel administrative hierarchies, such as one democratic and bottom up for professional and another one machine bureaucratic and top-down for support staff. Under professional hierarchy power resides with the expertise. Generally, a good volume of power resides at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Another outstanding contrast between professional bureaucracies with machine bureaucracy is workers competence. Professional bureaucracy finds it hard to work with professionals who are incompetent or unconscientiously. This is not the case with machine bureaucracy because the work is routinized and thus simple for every one competent and incompetent with or without professional knowledge (Mintzberg, 1992).

The divisional form of structure is the more balanced form of structure if designed and managed correctly.” Write detailed, specific recommendations for action, and, show how you would implement these in an organization.

Divisionalized form of organizations design is not an integrated organization like a set of autonomous entities couples together by central administration. But they are individual units with central administration, and the head quarters with the flow of power being top-down. Divisional form is mostly used in private sector of industrialized economy. Specialization of task is high in this system. Divisional zed form is different from other four configurations given that it does not constitute a complete structure from strategic apex to operation core. With it, each division constitute a structure and the whole system focuses on the relationship between the headquarter and each divisions. This system has a very good division of labour between the headquarter and the divisions (Mintzberg, 1992). With proper management indeed this is the best organizational design technique. Communication is circumscribed and largely formal. The divisions are given power to run their own businesses, control the operations and determine the strategies for the markets that they control.

The divisions determine the strategies for given product while the headquarters mange the strategic portfolio. The head quarters also allocates the overall financial resources. The divisions are authorized by the headquarters on the capital projects that are big enough to affect the overall budget of the organization. Performance control systems are set up by the headquarters. Managers with the help of techno-structure set up the systems. The headquarters replaces and appoints the mangers of divisions. This system is more organized that professional bureaucracy and machine bureaucracy. The headquarters monitor personal behavior the divisions (Mintzberg,1992).

Divisionalization that is pure remedies certain inefficiencies in capital markets but introduces its new ones in the market. This system trains managers but gives them limited autonomy than other businesses give. It spreads risks; however, it spreads risk consequences as well. This system provides protection to vulnerable operations during economic slumps. Divisional structure encourages systems steady improvement of financial performance although, it discourages entrepreneur innovations (Mintzberg, 1992).

Divisional form of structure can be implemented in an organization through proper management and design of management. An organization should be divided into distinct units each called a division and be allowed to be independent and autonomous from each other. However, their link with the head quarter should be maintained. The divisions will be allowed to do minor works independently but under scrutiny by the headquarters. The headquarter will only control the behaviours of the individual, in each division as well as control the capital investment in big projects which may affect the stability of the organization (Mintzberg,1992)..

Adhocracy

Adhocracy is a form of an organization the basically operates in an opposite fashion to the bureaucracy organization. It deflects the normal bureaucratic methods to solve problems, capture opportunities as well get organizational results. According to Henry Mintzberg, adhocracy is a dynamic and complex form of organization. If well applied adhocracy can be an efficient method of innovating as well as solving problems as it can thrive in diverse environments. For its implementation, it needs automated technical and sophisticated systems for its development and for it to thrive.

An operational adhocracy

Adhocracy involves creative, project oriented organization which is most often characterized by dynamic as well as complex environment. It is a type of dynamic organization which incorporates horizontal organization design the have been faced by complex challenges which requires higher development solutions that are functional. Recently, increased numbers of companies and organizations that have embraced this form organization and have realized that it has greatly been effective towards creation of teams and work forces with the relevant knowledge and their recourses have attained the desired organizational goals which mean execution of the necessary tasks. In our era, adhocracy has proven to be the industrial organization configuration. Adhocracy is based on the aspect of controlling the environment as opposed to supporting of standardized mass production which is the opposite case in mechanical productions. Adhocracy performs faster than others in foreseeing the environmental influences of an organization. Functioning in adhocrative ways means ongoing organizational responses to the environmental conditions.

Adhocracy organization can be classified into two forms in dependence to the type of services it produces. These include;

• Administrative adhocracy. This form of adhocracy involves doing jobs according to the own needs of the organization which includes development of its own innovative actions.
• Operative adhocracy that does jobs according to the client’s needs with an aim of satisfying them.

If the operating core is isolated from the administrative component of the organization, most of the exceptional characteristics on the configuration of the administrative organization are brought into light. By implementing the function of the administrative adhocracy, the operative core of the organization becomes less important. A separation between the organizations’ operating core and its administrative part remains to be evident.

In the operative adhocracy, all the organizational have been developed which makes it a more flexible organizational configuration which has no obvious borders in some parts of the organization. The most elaborate feature of the operating adhocracy is that the operative and the administrative works are usually joined in a common effort of finding a creative solution that will assist in meeting the clients’ needs. Experts who are based in the operating core combine their efforts with supporting staff and act ingeniously in extemporized project teams. The main function of the operative adhocracy is to work and act according to the requests of the clients with a common aim of finding solutions that are in accordance to the needs of the clients. Because it is faced with the requests of the clients, operative adhocracy engages its experts by gathering them into multifunctional teams with an aim of solving the problem through more advances and newer ways.

Operative adhocracy and the professional organization are similar in their methods of organizing but a problem always occurs because solving the requests of the client’s requests always involves differentiated methods. A professional organization involves classification of client’s problems and solving them through a standard solution using standardized knowledge but the operative adhocracy finds a creative and a unique solution. It achieves this through grouping of experts into multifunctional teams and bases their coordination on mutual adjustments with a common aim of finding unique and innovative solutions for the clients.

It is extremely difficult to determine the deference between real doing and planning of a fob in the ad hoc project works. Mostly, the planning activity in the operative adhocracy is unending due to the reason that it does jobs belonging to others in a market that is usually very demanding as Max Weber indicated. It is usually very difficult for an operating adhocracy to determine the nature of the next project. Problems which are unforeseen during job execution do not allow a proper design of work in the manner that have been standardized and for this reason, it is always important that the project team constitutes of adaptable members who posses multidisciplinary skills as well as the relevant knowledge. It is only through this way that the operative adhocracy can stay alive in the business.

Mintzberg, (1992) emphasis that the ability of an organization to adapt to the environment by finding solutions that are innovative to help it to satisfy its clients and possibly find new tasks is the substance of organizational success that this model designs and effectively executes.

Reference

Mintzberg, H., (1992). Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations 1^st Ed. Prentice Hall.