Organizing: Trends

Organizing Trends and Practices: Moving towards streamlining operations for cost efficiency, higher performance and increased worker participation

Customers First Upside Down Pyramid: Customers at the top, workers in the middle, supported by managers on bottom. Does not mean that this is the way orgs are structured but focus switches to marketplace and customer needs.

Chains of Command As organizations grow in size, they also get taller (longer chain of command) More management levels means increased overhead costs, decreased communication and access, slow decision making, lost contact with client/customer

TREND 1 Current Trend: Flatter, more horizontal org. structures, shorter chains of command. Organizations are being “streamlined” by cutting unnecessary levels of management  

Unity of Command Unity-of-command principle: each person in an organization should report to one and only one supervisor Supposed to help avoid confusion and make sure everyone understands their assignment and does not get conflicting instructions Classical, traditional model

TREND 2 Current Trend: more cross-functional teams, task forces, horizontal structures. LESS unity of command: employees work for more than one boss

Span of Control The number of subordinates reporting to a manager There is a limit to the number of people one manager may supervise effectively Flat structures have wider spans of control; tall structures have narrow spans of control More managers= more costly, less efficient, less flexible, less customer sensitive

Trend 3 Current Trend: Wider spans of control, fewer managers taking responsibility for larger numbers of subordinates Levels of management eliminated, more people report to one person Less direct supervision for employees we are EMPOWERING our staff and making them responsible for their own work and decisions –don’t need to ask management for everything and anything

Delegation and Empowerment Common management failure: Unwillingness to delegate- lack of trust, inflexibility Can be very damaging: overloads managers, does not give others the opportunity to use their talents

Trend 4 Current Trend: progressive managers are delegating more, find ways to empower people at ALL LEVELS to make more decision affecting their work People have the freedom to contribute ideas and do their jobs in the best possible way Increased job satisfaction, better performance

Decentralization and Centralization Traditional, highly centralized pyramid form vs. newer decentralized structures? Doesn’t have to be either/or choice

Trend 5 Current Trend: more decentralization due to delegation, empowerment and horizontal structures. At the same time, centralized control is retained (advances in information technology) High levels of internal communication and coordination: if something goes wrong, information systems promptly sound an alarm. Easy for high-level managers to stay informed about day-to-day matters

Use of Staff Types of staff: specialized staff, personal staff In some cases, staff grows to the point where it costs more than it is worth Conflicts in staff relationships cause difficulties (disagreements over staff authority –advisory vs. functional authority)

TREND 6 Current Trend: Organizations are reducing the size of staff, seeking lower costs and increased operating efficiency

Videos Google’s Structure http://www.tvlesson.com/video/176926_the-best-thing-about-google-is-its-flat-management-structure.html The new trend…holacracy: http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.1732239