Organizational Structure and Workplace Communication Presented by: Maggie Nelson

2 Situation Attitudes that led to the research question Why we need to know this

3 Research Question Does the Organizational Structure of a Company Influence the Perceived Freedom of Communication Within That Company?

4 Organizational Structures Functional – centrally coordinated specialization Divisional – independent divisions Matrix – cross-functional teams Network – links independent firms Cellular – self-managing teams

5 The Research Study Research tool – survey – 102 total distributed Sample – local advertising agencies – ABC Company – Haworth Marketing & Media – Waters Molitor

6 The Results 52% response rate overall – 6 men – 43 women – Results representative of large female agency population – ABC Company results used with caution due to low response rate of 30%

7 Organizational Structure Haworth Work together regardless of job title Work in teams Information flows top- down Closely supervised Waters Molitor Work together regardless of job title Work in teams Information flows top- down Loosely supervised

8 Organizational Structure Haworth Marketing & Media and Waters Molitor have a team based structure No boundaries between employees with top- down communication

9 Organizational Structure ABC Company Work together regardless of job titles Don’t work in teams Loosely supervised Information flow undetermined

10 Organizational Structure ABC Company has a non-team based structure Independent and loosely supervised

11 Communication Criteria Freedom of communication determined by – Choice – Loyalty – Recognition – Independence – Lack of restrictions – Self-determination

12 The Results – Haworth & Waters Molitor Majority responded: – Can freely express their ideas – Opinions are valued – Feel a strong loyalty to their company – Company encourages communication between all employees regardless of job title

13 The Results – ABC Company Majority responded: – Company would withhold important information from them – Company does not offer rewards/recognition – Do not work in a politically charged atmosphere – Feelings of strong loyalty to the company were neutral

14 What is the Answer to the Question? There seems to be a correlation between organizational structure and freedom of communication Cannot say structure influences communication based on results

15 Recommended Next Steps Follow-up survey after 6 months – Include additional agencies to get larger sample

16 Questions