Ogc chap 2

1. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE (4TH ED.)
Barbara Senior & Stephen Swailes
Chapter 3: Organizational structure,
design and change

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
 define what is meant by organizational design and
structure;
 explain the organizational forms that are commonly
found;
 discuss the relationship between strategy and
structure;
 evaluate the contingency relationships between
organizational structure, size, technology and the
external environment;
 assess the extent to which different structures can
cope with and adapt to a variety of change
processes.

3. THE DIMENSIONS OF STRUCTURE
(PUGH, HICKSON, HININGS & TURNER, 1969)
1. Specialization: Different specialist roles and how they are
distributed.
2. Standardization: The extent to which an organization uses
regularly occurring procedures that are supported by
bureaucratic procedures of invariable rules and processes.
3. Formalization: The extent to which written rules, procedures,
instructions and communications are set out for the
employees.
4. Centralization: The extent to which authority to make
decisions lies with the apex (top) of the organization
5. Configuration: The shape and pattern of authority
relationships; how many layers there are and the number of
people who typically report to a supervisor.
6. Traditionalism: How many procedures are ‘understood’ in
contrast to being written; how commonly accepted is the
notion of ‘the way things are done around this organization.’

4. THE DIMENSIONS OF STRUCTURE
(FOUR UNDERLYING DIMENSIONS)
1. Structure of activities: The extent to which there is
formal regulation of employee behavior through the
processes of specialization, standardization and
formalization.
2. Concentration of authority: The extent to which
decision making is centralized at the top of the
organization.
3. Line control of workforce: The extent to which control
of the work is exercised directly by line management
rather than through more impersonal procedures.
4. Support component: The relative size of the
administrative and other non-work-flow personnel
performing activities auxiliary to the main workflow.

5. MODELS OF STRUCTURE
 Bureaucratic structure (Weber, 1947)
What are the advantages and disadvantages
to the bureaucratic structure?
What is meant by “flatter structures” and how
would this be advantageous to the
organization?

6. Flatter Structures

7. Flatter Structures

8. MODELS OF STRUCTURE
 Horizontal differentiation - departmentalization
What factors influence decisions concerning the
way in which to departmentalize an
organization?
 Characteristics of the work to be done
 Size of the organization
 Physical locations of the activities
 Need to balance high-level strategic decisions
and low-level operational imperatives
What are multifunctional structures?
Examples: production, marketing, purchasing,
finance.

9. MODELS OF STRUCTURE
 Horizontal differentiation - departmentalization
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
functional structures?
What are “multidivisional structures”?
Built around outputs rather than inputs.
What are the advantages and disadvantages?

11. MODELS OF STRUCTURE
 Matrix organization
The essence of a matrix design is that a typical
vertical hierarchy is overlayed with a horizontal
structure commonly designed around big projects.
What are the potential advantages and
disadvantages with this type of structure?

12.  Model 1: The Rigid Bureaucracy

13.  Model 2: The Bureaucracy with a senior
“management” team

14.  Model 3: The Bureaucracy with Project Teams and
Task Forces

15.  Model 4: The Matrix Organization

16.  Model 5: The Project Organization

17.  Model 6: The Loosely coupled Organic Network

18. MODELS OF STRUCTURE
 New Organizational Structures
Internal networks

19. MODELS OF STRUCTURE
 New Organizational Structures
Vertical networks

20. MODELS OF STRUCTURE
 New Organizational Structures
Dynamic, loosely coupled networks

21. STRUCTURATION THEORY, ACTOR-NETWORKS
AND INSTITUTIONAL THEORY
 Structuration theory
 Actor-Network theory (ANT)
 Institutional theory
Figure 3.7 Actor Network

22. INFLUENCES ON STRUCTURE
The decision on how to structure is not
straightforward. There are various factors influencing
the decision:
 Stability/turbulence of PEST environment
 Strategy, Technology, Size
 Culture, Creativity, Politics, Leadership
How can deficient organizational structure affect the
organization?

23. INFLUENCES ON STRUCTURE
 Strategy-structure fit
 Chandler’s strategy-structure thesis

24. INFLUENCES ON STRUCTURE
 Mintzberg’s forces and forms: Seven forces
1. Force for direction
2. Force for efficiency
3. Force for proficiency
4. Force for concentration
5. Force for innovation
6. Forces for cooperation
7. Forces for competition

25. INFLUENCES ON STRUCTURE
 Mintzberg’s forces and forms: Five forms
1. Entrepreneurial form
2. Machine form
3. Professional form
4. The Adhocracy form
5. Diversified form

26. INFLUENCES ON STRUCTURE
 Mintzberg’s forces and forms

27. INFLUENCES ON STRUCTURE
 The influence of size on structure
 The influence of technology
ICT and structure
What did Day (1999) mean (or what you think
it means to say that “ICT is proving to be one
of the ‘levellers’ of hierachy”?

28. INFLUENCES ON STRUCTURE
 The influence of the external environment
Environmental stability and turbulence
Socio-cultural influences

29. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND CHANGE
 Structural inertia and population ecology
 What is meant by the idea that “organizations are
adapting to their environments using a form of
‘social Darwinism’”?
 What is meant by “structural inertia” and what are
some of the factors that create this inertia? (p. 119)

30. CONCLUSIONS

31. WEBSITES
 How to develop a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)