Summary John R. Schemerhorn Management - Chapter 11 - Fundamentals of Organizing

Chapter 11 Fundamentals of Organizing


Organizing as a Management Function

What is organization structure?
 Organizing – arranges people and resource to accomplish a goal
 Organization structure - the system of tasks, reporting relationships, and
communication linkages
 Structures should
 Allocate tasks through division of labor
 Provide for the coordination of performance results
 Formal structure – official structure of an organization

Informal structures
 Informal structures- the set of unofficial relationships between an
organization’s members
 Social network analysis - Identifies informal structures and social
relationships in the organization
 Are necessary! Will always occur no matter what
 Disadvantages include;
 Rumors
 Resistance to change
 Diversion of work efforts

Traditional Organizational Structures
Functional structures
 Functional structures - People with similar skills and performing similar
tasks are grouped together into formal work units
 Members work in their functional areas of expertise
 Works well for small organizations producing few products or services
 Advantages: expertise, skill development, career path withing function
 Disadvantages: pinpointing responsibilities, chimney problem
 When the chimney problem occurs this is due to too little
communication across functions and too many problems being
solved by higher management
Divisional structures
 Divisional structures - Group together people who work on the same
product or process, serve similar customers, and/or are located in the
same area or geographical region
 Common in complex organizations