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Summary Chapter 4
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Chapter 4 of Robbins' Organisation Theory, Concept and Cases, compulsory 2nd year course IBA
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Chapter 4: Dimensions of organizaton structureComplexity
o Refers to the degree of horizontal, vertial and spatal diierentaton within an
organizaton.
Horizontal diferentaton
o The degree to whiih an organizaton is separated into diierent units on the basis of
tasks performed by organizatonal members, their eduiaton and training, and their
administratve groupings.
o If there is a large number of oiiupatons requiring speiialized knowledge – iomplex
organizaton
o Job speiializaton reinfories diierenies – training is diierent, and people
have diierent ways of viewing the organizaton’s environment
o Why job speiializatonn
o No person ian perform all required tasks
o Limitatons of knowledge ait as ionstraint
o Efiieniy罦 repetton and ionientraton on a speiialized area
o Less iostly
o Usually done through departments, ian be ireated on the basis ofn
o Simple numbers
o Task or funiton
o Produit or serviie
o Client
o Geography or proiess
o Job speiializaton defnes areas of responsibility
o Promotes ioordinaton and iooperaton
o The more iomplex the organizaton, the more likely that responsibility is
highly defned for a partiular positon
Vertcal diferentaton
o The depth of the struiture of an organizaton罦 referred to as the number of layers of
management from the lowest level workers to CEO
o Tall organizatonn many layers of hierarihy
o Span of controln the number of subordinates that a manager ian supervise eieitvely
o Wide – large number of subordinates reportng to them
o Layers of management have usually 3 main areasn
o Top managementn setng strategii direiton
o Middle managementn implement the plans of senior managers, supervise
lower level managers, and provide input for deiisions of top management
o Lower managementn day-to-day tasks of supervising the produiton of goods
and serviies
o Informaton Teihnology (IT) aided the low of iommuniiaton, lessening the number
of managers aitng as iommuniiaton ihannels
o Lately, lower management gets more responsibility
, Spatal dispersion
o The degree to whiih the loiaton of an organizaton’s ofies, plant and personnel is
dispersed
o High when operatons are geographiially widely spread
o A lower level presents fewer problems, as fewer iommuniiaton issues arise and the
stai works in the same environment, ireatng similarity between behavior, attudes
and values.
o High level is iostly and tmely
Importance of complexity
A iomplex organizaton requires more eieitve iommuniiaton, organizaton and iontrol
deviies. It ireates diierent management tasks and inluenies tme use. This is ialled the
paradox in the analysis of organizatons. Management’s deiision to inirease diierentaton
is usually made to enhanie efiieniy. But it ireates pressure to faiilitate iontrol,
ioordinaton and management of ionliit.
Formalizaton
o The degree to whiih jobs and proiedures within the organizaton are standardized
o Highn ilear job desiriptons and many rules of proiesses
o Also less tangiblen prediitable approaihes to problem solving
o High formalizaton allows prediitability of behavior in non-routne situatons
o The range of formalizaton diiers between organizatons and within organizatons
o Betweenn jobs that are simple and repettve o en have high formalizaton
o Withinn low-level employees have repettve jobs and thus high formalizaton
Importance of formalizaton
Formalizaton allows the standardizing of behavior whiih reduies variability. It further
permits all members to antiipate how others will ait in iertain situatons, and lays down
guidelines to follow. Eionomiially it is benefiial, as repettve jobs do not require knowledge
for judgments to be made. Finally, it reduies management risks
Formalizaton teihniques
Not all formalizaton is internal to the organizaton – when employees are hired, they iome
with extensive formalizaton aiquired through their studies. Yet, most formalizaton oiiurs
as an aiton of management
1. Selectonn when hiring, looking for someone that fts in the organizaton and releits
values of the organizaton
2. Role requirementsn high formalizaton when the task requirements and expeitatons
of behavior are expliiit and defned in great detail
3. Rules, procedures and policiesn Rules – expliiit statements that tell an employee
what he/she ought or ought not to do. Procedures – speiifi standardized sequenies
of steps that result in a uniform output. Policies – statements that guide employees,
providing disireton within limited boundaries
4. Socializatonn an adaptaton proiess by whiih individuals learn the values, norms and
expeited behavior paterns for the job and the organizaton of whiih they will be a
part.
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