Organization and Design

I. TERMS

1. Chain of command

2. Division of labor
- Job specialization

3. Span of Control
- flat (horizontal)
- tall (vertical)
I. TERMS (cont’d)

4. Line vs. Staff

5. Centralized vs. Decentralized Authority

6. Organization Chart

7. Bureaucracy

8. Mechanistic versus Organic

II. Organization Structure

1. Contingency theory – Type of structure should reflect

environmental conditions
a. types of structure:

i. mechanistic – rigid hierarchy, many rules, formalized

communication, centralized authority, taller structures

ii. Organic – collaboration, few rules, informal

communication, decentralized authority, flatter structures
1. Contingency theory (cont’d.)

b. environmental conditions

i. technology (routine or innovative)

ii. size

iii. environmental stability/uncertainty

1. Contingency theory (cont’d.)

c. Routine technology, large size, stable/certain

environment suggests a mechanistic structure

d. Innovative technology, smaller size,

unstable/uncertain environments suggest an organic
structure
II. Organization Structure (cont’d)
2. Departmentalization (structure)
a. functional
b. product
c. customer
d. geographic
e. matrix – combines functional and
product forms
f. divisional
g. horizontal team organization
h. network/virtual organization
i. learning organization
III. Job design
1. Job simplification (specialization)

2. Job expansion (less specialization)

a. job rotation – Boeing?

b. job enlargement - horizontal

h integration of a job by
increasing perception of ownership. Sony did
this in their manufacturing plant. “At a plant
here, men are dismantling conveyor belts on
which as many as 50 people assembled
camcorders. Nearby, Sony has set up tables
to form a snail-shaped shop for four people.
Walking through this “spiral line,” workers
assemble an entire camera themselves,
doing everything from soldering to testing.
Output per worker is 10% higher! WSJ
 c. Job enrichment - vertical
v integration of a job by
adding responsibility/motivators.

3. Other job expansion methods - job sharing, flextime,

homework, shift scheduling, compressed workweek.

4. Work teams – cross-functional (integrated)

autonomous, self-managed, leaderless etc.
5. The Job characteristics model is a description of the
job!!!!

Job characteristics  critical Psy states  outcomes

a. How do you find out if job has characteristics?

MPS = (skill var + task ID + task sig) x Aut x Feedback

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b. Equation is moderated by growth need strength.

c. Implication? Design jobs with intrinsic rewards to

substantially increase morale and performance.
AETNA uses this model to design jobs.