ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
By J.J
Objectives
• Understand about the concept of organization and organization
structure
• Understand types of organizational structures, their advantages and
disadvantages
• Understand the evaluation pattern and major points to be covered in
OST
Organization and Organization structure
Group of individuals(large or small) working together in order to
achieve a common goal
Systematic arrangement of people working with an organization
Formal organization structure catagories
1. Line Structure(also known as simple, vertical or hierarchical
organization)
2. Functional structure
3. Divisional Structure
4. Matrix structure
5. Project structure
1. Simple organization structure( Line/hierarchical)
• Organizations have only direct, vertical relationships
• Departments directly involved in accomplishing primary goals
• Authority flows from top to bottom
Simple/Line structure can be further divided into two
Pure line organization Departmental line
organization
Advantage and disadvantages of line structure
• Simple to work • Can suffer from a lack of
• Promotes the unity of command. specialization at levels and
• Fixed responsibility and tasks at • Can overburden few levels to
each level their breaking points
• Stable form of organization • Division of work is not based on
any scientific plan but on the
whims of the manager
Useful in small scale business, continuous process industries
2. Functional organization structure
• Organizations groups employees according to a specialized or similar set of roles
• One of the most commonly used structure
• Operates well in stable environment
Advantage and disadvantages of Functional structure
• The team is managed by an • The functional organization may
experienced person with a have unhealthy competition
high ability and skills working with the other areas
• The team members work with • Another disadvantage of
other people in the field and it functional organization structure
allows sharing of thoughts and is that these functional groups
knowledge may not be able to communicate
more often which decreases
flexibility and innovation.
3. Divisional organization structure
• Grouping of
activities or
departmentation
on the basis of
product, market
or geography
Advantage and disadvantages of Divisional structure
• An advantage of a divisional • On the other hand, a divisional
structure is that each division can structure may result in too great of
operate as a separate, self- a sense of autonomy among each
sufficient unit division.
• Another advantage of a divisional • Another potential disadvantage of
structure is that it allows for a high a divisional organizational structure
degree of specialization. is that it may be more expensive to
operate. Because each division
operates as a separate entity
4. Matrix organization structure
• Organization designed to achieve specific results by using team of
specialists from different functional areas in the organization
C
Advantage and disadvantages of Matrix structure
• Allows team members to share • Confusion over authority and
information more readily across responsibility
task boundaries • High prospect of conflict
• Strong coordination between • Administration cost
product/project
• Fast response to change
4. Virtual organization structure
• Organization designed to achieve specific results by using team of
specialists from different functional areas in the organization
Advantage and disadvantages of Virtual structure
• Lower Overhead Costs • Reputational Risks
• Improved Employee Satisfaction. • Security and Compliance Issues.
• Larger Talent Pool • Lack of sociability
• Improved Employee Retention