Organisational Behaviour Case

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Some of the various organisational structures include functional structures. The functional structure tends to define the tasks performed by the employees. Employees get provided with specialised tasks that increase the efficiency of the various operations within the group. The functional structure is well suited for the production firms dealing in specialised and standardised products and services at large volumes and limited production costs. Efficiency is also increased by the availability of a vertical hierarchical approach that facilitates the easy decision-making process and the sale of products and services (Writing 2015). An example of a company with a functional structure is Airtel International.

Divisional structure is also referred to as the product structure and uses different divisions within an organisation (University of Liverpool n.d p.3). In the divisional organisational structure, the entity can take various forms with distinctions in geographic or product service. Geographic divisions are essential to organisations in wide areas as they attract a competitive advantage by performing all the activities in a centralised place, and all activities are managed together. Large organisations with diversified products can group their structure according to the product where all activities necessary for the production of a specific product get grouped together. In these arrangements, the top managers act as the overall authority with considerable autonomy over all the operations taking place. The advantages of using the geographic and the product structures are that they can allow the personnel focus on the specific needs of the region or product and develop a competitive advantage over the other organisations. Some of the disadvantages of the divisional, geographic, and product organisational structures include the duplication of resources since all operation categories have to own its functional resources in terms of finance, production, and marketing (Elsaid 2013 p. 2). An example of a company with divisional structure is TATA Steel.

Matrix structures group the employees based on the products and the function of the organisation. The matrix structure combines the various aspects of the organisation and groups the people in a manner that attracts maximum outputs. The approach takes advantage of the various strengths of each individual while compensating for the different weaknesses within the personnel. The matrix organisational structure also groups the various authoritative personnel in charge of each sector and subsector. In a line matrix structure, there are various categories of functional matrices. The weak functional matrix has a manager with limited authority in charge of monitoring the aspects of the task and maintains control over the available resources (Elsaid 2013 p.3-4). The balanced functional matrix shares authority between the functional and the project manager while the strong project matrix has a manager who is primarily responsible for the project (Chand 2015). An example of a company with a matrix structure is Walmart.

The centralised organisational structure has several layers of management. The line and staff employees have limited authorities in issues regarding the decision-making process of the organisation. The organisational structure that is centralised tends to take the top-down approach of management where there are the senior most executives who communicate the needs of the organisation to the mid-level management. The mid-level management pass down the information to the first level managers who handle the subordinate staff. The subordinate staff are informed of the various requirements of the company and how they are required to perform the set tasks (Elsaid 2013 p.6-7). An example of a centralised entity is Dell Company.

The decentralised organisational structure eliminates the unwarranted levels of management and places considerable authority on the line managers. The decentralised approach incorporates the subordinate staff in the decision-making process to avoid the congestion of responsibilities on the line managers. In this structure, the information flows from the subordinate staff to the senior management before crucial decisions are made. The decentralised structure provides an efficient and immediate response to the various queries within the organisation. The structure eliminates most mid-level managers that reduces the costs of production and increases efficiency increasing the organisation’s revenue (Elsaid 2013 p.7). An example of a decentralised organisational structure is Samsung.

Organisational culture includes the entity’s values, norms, systems, language, vision, and habits. An organisational culture includes the various approaches the entity treats its employees and the various measures of socialisation. Organisational culture integrates with the organisational structure to determine the various approaches regarding the flow of power and information through the entity’s hierarchy. An organisational culture gives the business a sense of identity and also determines the measures in handling the daily activities (Business Dictionary 2015). The person culture as seen in M & S focuses on employees within an organization and facilitate personal growth for employees to increase productivity. The power culture as seen in Kees Christiaanse Architects & Planners is used by organisations with a high desire to maintain control with decisions being made by one or few individuals. Role culture as in the case of NISA local assigns different roles to various people to increase productivity. Task culture can be witnessed in football clubs such as Manchester and Chelsea and it refers to the usage of teams for the tasks identified where team members make their decisions.

2.2 Organisational structure and culture M&S and NISA local

Structure

Culture

M & S

Decentralised

There are no structural levels of management and line managers possess considerable powers. The flow of information is from the subordinates to the managers. M & S incorporates the views of the subordinate staff in their organization

Person culture

Characterised by consensus by involving all parties in decision making. The structure seeks to service the needs of all individuals and there is no defined formal hierarchy.

NISA local

Functional structure with specialisation in sale of products and services. NISA local defines tasks performed by employees in the sales and production