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Relationship Between Organizational Structure

Organizational structure determines organizational culture and influences how adaptable an organization is to change. Technology companies tend to have flatter, less hierarchical structures to allow flexibility, while manufacturing organizations require more hierarchy and differentiation between roles. Industry characteristics like repetitive work in manufacturing versus constant change in technology shape appropriate structures and cultures. Geography, founders' visions, and leadership also impact organizational design.

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Reuben Escarlan
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47 views

Relationship Between Organizational Structure

Organizational structure determines organizational culture and influences how adaptable an organization is to change. Technology companies tend to have flatter, less hierarchical structures to allow flexibility, while manufacturing organizations require more hierarchy and differentiation between roles. Industry characteristics like repetitive work in manufacturing versus constant change in technology shape appropriate structures and cultures. Geography, founders' visions, and leadership also impact organizational design.

Uploaded by

Reuben Escarlan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Relationship Between Organizational

Structure, Design & Change


Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Culture
Organizational structure determines the organizational behavior and influences the organizational culture.
In addition, design of the organizational structure often determines how flexible or adaptable it is to
change.

The linkages between the design of the organizational structure and its resistance or acceptance to
change are indeed deep. For instance, it is common for technology organizations to have a relatively flat
structure because of the nature of the industry that is rapidly changing.

Considering that technology companies ought to be flexible and adaptable to changes in their
environment that is fast paced and always in flux, such organizations design their structure with less
hierarchy and more openness.

Manufacturing Organizations
On the other hand, manufacturing organizations have well developed and deep hierarchies mainly
because they need the differentiation between blue collar workers and white collar executives.
These terms have come about because the shop floor workers often wear blue uniforms whereas the
executives and the engineers often wear white shirts. Having said that, it must be noted that this is not
always the case and since the terms have been in use throughout the history of organizational behavior,
they are used for convenience.

Manufacturing organizations also need hierarchies since they operate on a command and control mode
meaning that the decisions are made at the top and percolate to the bottom instead of the knowledge
organizations or the services sector wherein the employees often are more autonomous in addition to
their being creative and innovative.

Turning to the relationship between organizational structure and culture, we find that in manufacturing
organizations, the employees address each other with honorifics rather than on an informal or first name
basis as is the case with the services sector. This creates a culture that is more formal and governed by
rules and regulations covering all aspects of organizational culture.

Indeed, it is very common for manufacturing organizations to have separate canteens and lunch areas for
the workers and the engineers and the executives. One rarely finds a manufacturing organization that has
workers and executives mingling with each other except for business purposes.

Software and Technology Companies


On the other hand, most software companies and financial services companies have codes of conduct
that specify addressing each other on a first name basis in addition to having common public areas and
dining halls where there is no difference between the software engineers and the managers or for that
matter even senior management. Of course, some multinationals have executive dining halls mainly
because of the fact that external clients tend to visit for meetings and hence, the negotiations and
discussions are carried out over lunch and dinner as well.

Industry Characteristics Drives Organizational Structure


The reason for mentioning all these aspects of organizational culture is that each industry has different
environmental characteristics and drivers of growth and hence, the organizations in them have
their own sets of rules that determine the structure and design of job roles and responsibilities.
For instance, workers in manufacturing organizations just need to work as they are told and that too in a
routine and repetitive manner.

Further, the assembly line mode of manufacturing means that unless there is significant innovation and
improvement, the basic work remains the same. On the other hand, the technology companies have jobs
where each day is different and each project and parcel of work has to be handled differently and in a
new manner. This means that there is constant change and hence, the culture as well as the design of
the organizational structure has to be as adaptable and flexible as possible to encourage innovation and
stimulate creativity.

Geography and Type of Organizations Play a Role as well


Finally, the design of the organizational structure is also determined according to the geography, type of
organization, and the vision of the founders and the continuing vision of the CEOS. For instance, it is
common for western multinationals to be informal and flexible whereas Asian companies are
often rigid and strict and formal in their approach. Even the technology companies in Asia often have
different designs of organizational structure when compared to technology multinationals.

The design of the organizational structure depends to a great extent on how the original founders want
the organization to be and how well the same vision is either being carried forward or being changed by
the new incumbents. This can be seen in many family promoted/owned businesses which once the initial
founders retire often have major changes in the way the organizational structure is designed.

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