Managers select and manage various dimensions and components Essay Example

and bottom. The goal of a flat structure is to motivate and care for employees at a closer level. However, this approach also has its drawbacks and its effectiveness in achieving organizational goals may be questioned. With fewer levels of management, those in charge may become overwhelmed and stressed, potentially diverting them from achieving the organization's goals.

The concept of Span of Control refers to the number of people a manager is responsible for overseeing and leading towards the goals of the organization. In a tall structure, managers have fewer individuals to oversee, allowing them to focus more on their objectives. Conversely, in a flat structure, managers are responsible for a larger number of people, which can lead to feeling overwhelmed and less productive. The ideal span of control has been a topic of ongoing debate, with different organizations adapting to fulfill business needs effectively. Researchers and academics have yet to determine an exact ideal span of control; instead, they suggest that it should align with the nature of the task being supervised and prioritize the achievement of organizational goals, complexity, precision, need for consistency (rather than diversity), and operational speed.

In general, complex work typically requires a narrow span of control, while simpler tasks can be overseen by a larger number of workers (a wide span). Another important factor is the quality of lower-level staff. Inexperienced staff often need close supervision, making a narrow span of control appropriate. This is also true in cases of ineffective performance. On the other hand, well-trained and experienced workers can operate within a wide span of control.

Differentiation: Grouping Organizational Activities

Differentiation refers to the grouping of people and tasks into functions

and divisions in order to produce goods and services. A function is a group of people who collaborate and perform similar tasks or hold similar positions within an organization.

As organizations expand and divide their labor into different functions, they often further divide into divisions. Campbell Soup, for example, created separate merchandise divisions when it began producing different types of products. Each division had its own functions such as food research, quality control, and manufacturing. A division is a group of functions created to enable an organization to produce and distribute its goods and services to customers. When developing an organizational structure, managers must decide how to differentiate and group an organization's activities by function and division in order to effectively achieve organizational goals. This process is most clearly represented in an organizational chart that illustrates the relationship between an organization's functions and divisions. A functional structure groups individuals together based on shared positions in the organization, similar tasks, or the use of similar skills.

This division of labor and specialization enables an organization to become more efficient. The advantages of a functional structure include coordination benefits such as easy communication among specialists and the ability to make quick decisions based on similar perspectives. It also facilitates learning from each other's experiences, allowing employees to improve their skills and enhance both individual and organizational performance. Motivation advantages include a clear connection between performance and rewards, as well as the ability to evaluate and reward individual divisions and managers based on their performance. This structure also allows corporate directors to compare and share ideas between different regions, ultimately finding ways to enhance overall performance.

of regional directors and employees to their clients allows for the development of personal relationships, which can motivate them to perform well.

Disadvantages of a Divisional Structure:

• High operating and managing costs - each division has its own set of functions, resulting in increased operating costs. The organization also needs to support additional managers at the divisional and corporate levels.
• Poor communication between divisions - the presence of more managers and levels in divisional structures can create communication challenges as they try to coordinate activities.
• Conflicts among divisions - divisions may compete for resources and prioritize their own goals over organizational ones.The use of a complex signifier of distinction in some organizations leads to the matrix structure, which groups people based on their function and the product team they are currently working on. This has several coordination advantages, including facilitating rapid merchandise development, maximizing communication and cooperation between team members, encouraging innovation and creativity, facilitating problem-solving through teams, providing a work setting for collaboration between managers with different expertise, and allowing for frequent changes in product team membership.