Topic2_Organisations组织结构

Topic2_Organisations组织结构

Topic 2: Organisations

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This Topic asks you to read important material from the set text book as well as a notes in this work book designed to providea basic understanding of organisation theory.

You are asked to undertake an exercise at the beginning and the end of the Topic that is de-signed to help you relate thetheoretical ideas to your work situation in a meaningful way.

2.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

To gain a basic knowledge of the organisational forms that exists.

To become aware of how organisations and people interact.To enhance professional reflection on how you and your organisation relate.2.3 EXERCISE 1

In order to get you thinking about organisations please gather the following materials and reflect on them:

The organisation chart for your company or organisation.

The organisation chart for the business unit within which you work.The organisation chart for the division and/or department in which you work.The organisation chart for the project team(s) in which you work.When you have these materials reflect on how they relate to each other in terms of:

Risk management

Decision processes

Communications routesDisciplines (e.g. various engineering disciplines)Human resources management

Budgets and financial management

Interaction (and transactions) with client(s)

Interaction (and transactions) with sub-contractors and service providersEducation and training provisionWhen you reflect on these things consider whether there are any communication, reporting

or authority issues or problems which become apparent.

2.4 ORGANISATIONAL FORMS

In order to analyse an organisation it is first necessary to understand the structure of the or-ganisation. There follows a briefdiscussion on the shape of organisations (tall or flat) and their type – power, task, matrix and person.

2.4.1 Tall or Flat

Span of Control

A manager’s span of control means the number (span) of people that manager actually di-rectly manages. It is generallyrecognised that 7 or 8 is the most it should be. More than this means that a manager’s work is very fragmented and toostressful.

Tall organisations are those with many layers. Spans of control are relatively small but these organisations are said to berelatively less enjoyable to work in compared with flat organisa-tions where spans of control are greater but where there arefar fewer layers.

Figure 1: Layers and Forms of Organisations

Tall Organisations

Tall organisations have good and bad points. Advantages and disadvantages must be consid-ered in the context of thepurpose of the organisation and the nature of the people in the or-ganisation.

Advantages

Close supervision and control of performance is possible due to small spans of control. Rela-tively fast communications arepossible if communication lines are well maintained. How-ever, the many layers of the organisation can cause problems inthis regard.

Disadvantages

Supervisors can become too involved and fail to delegate enough. The many levels of man-agement can make decisionsvery slow and problematic. This type of organisation is costly due to the many levels. There is a great distance between topmanagement and middle and lower levels. This is not good for morale and team spirit.

Flat Organisations

The trend is towards flat organisations. There are obvious advantages over tall organisations but there are disadvantagestoo.

Advantages

Supervisors are forced to delegate. Clear policies are required to support the activities of delegated authority. Carefulselection of employees is essential. They need to be well edu-cated and have the potential to function well in this type oforganisation.

Disadvantages

Overloading and resultant stress in supervisors is not uncommon. Loss of control can occur due to high span of control.There is a requirement for high quality managers. These are very expensive and may be difficult to recruit. The cost ofrecruiting is also relatively high due to the need to offset risk by careful recruitment.

One organisation’s advantage may be another’s disadvantage.

2.3.2 Structure of OrganisationsHandy (1993) refers to Harrison’s “ideal types” of organisational culture or organisation structures. It is highly unlikely thatthese will be found in their pure form. Organisations will usually display a dominant form and aspects of one or more otherforms. Departments and project teams can display aspects of these ideal types.

Power Culture

Role CultureTask Culture (PROJECT MATRIX)Person Culture

Figure 2: Power Culture

(After Handy (1999) p.183)

This type of organisation is rarely large. High levels of control and personal contact are re-quired. This style of organisationrequires faith in the individual. The intersections between the concentric circles and spokes are the people in theorganisation. The concentric circles represent levels – the centre being the boss (or king). The spokes represent functions.This type of organisation has a high turnover of employees. Morale tends to be low. If the centre leaves the whole structurecan quite quickly collapse.