Analyze the existing structure of your organization to find

out its drawbacks and propose how would you like to

redesign it to make it more effective and efficient.

Introduction
Any operating organization should have its own structure in order to operate efficiently. For
an organization, the organizational structure is a hierarchy of people and its functions.
The organizational structure of an organization tells you the character of an organization and
the values it believes in. Therefore, when you do business with an organization or getting into
a new job in an organization, it is always a great idea to get to know and understand their
organizational structure.
Depending on the organizational values and the nature of the business, organizations tend to
adopt one of the following structures for management purposes.
Although the organization follows a particular structure, there can be departments and teams
following some other organizational structure in exceptional cases.
Sometimes, some organizations may follow a combination of the following organizational
structures as well.

Definition
An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination and
supervision are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be
considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their
organization and its environment
An organization can be structured in many different ways, depending on their objectives. The
structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it operates and performs.
Organizational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different
functions and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and
individual.
Organizational structure affects organizational action in two big ways. First, it provides the
foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest. Second, it determines
which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what
extent their views shape the organizations actions.

Type of Organization
Bureaucratic Structures
Bureaucratic structures maintain strict hierarchies when it comes to people management.
There are three types of bureaucratic structures:

1 - Pre-bureaucratic structures
This type of organizations lacks the standards. Usually this type of structure can be observed
in small scale, start-up companies. Usually the structure is centralized and there is only one
key decision maker.
The communication is done in one-on-one conversations. This type of structures is quite
helpful for small organizations due to the fact that the founder has the full control over all the
decisions and operations.

2 - Bureaucratic structures
These structures have a certain degree of standardization. When the organizations grow
complex and large, bureaucratic structures are required for management. These structures are
quite suitable for tall organizations.

3 - Post-bureaucratic Structures
The organizations that follow post-bureaucratic structures still inherit the strict hierarchies,
but open to more modern ideas and methodologies. They follow techniques such as total
quality management (TQM), culture management, etc.

Functional Structure
The organization is divided into segments based on the functions when managing. This
allows the organization to enhance the efficiencies of these functional groups. As an example,
take a software company.
Functional structures appear to be successful in large organization that produces high
volumes of products at low costs. The low cost can be achieved by such companies due to the
efficiencies within functional groups.
A functional organizational structure is a structure that consists of activities such as
coordination, supervision and task allocation. The organizational structure determines how
the organization performs or operates. The term organizational structure refers to how the
people in an organization are grouped and to whom they report. One traditional way of
organizing people is by function. Some common functions within an organization include
production, marketing, human resources, and accounting.

This organizing of specialization leads to operational efficiency where employees become

specialists within their own realm of expertise
In addition to such advantages, there can be disadvantage from an organizational perspective
if the communication between the functional groups is not effective. In this case, organization
may find it difficult to achieve some organizational objectives at the end.

Divisional Structure
These types of organizations divide the functional areas of the organization to divisions. Each
division is equipped with its own resources in order to function independently. There can be
many bases to define divisions.
The divisional structure or product structure consists of self-contained divisions. A division is
a collection of functions which produce a product. It also utilizes a plan to compete and
operate as a separate business or profit center. According to Zainbooks.com, divisional
structure in America is seen as the second most common structure for organization today.
Employees who are responsible for certain market services or types of products are placed in
divisional structure in order to increase their flexibility. The divisions may also have their
own departments such as marketing, sales, and engineering.
The advantage of divisional structure is that it uses delegated authority so the performance
can be directly measured with each group. This results in managers performing better and
high employee morale. Another advantage of using divisional structure is that it is more
efficient in coordinating work between different divisions, and there is more flexibility to
respond when there is a change in the market. Also, a company will have a simpler process if
they need to change the size of the business by either adding or removing divisions. When
divisional structure is utilized more specialization can occur within the groups.

Matrix Structure
When it comes to matrix structure, the organization places the employees based on the
function and the product.
The matrix structure gives the best of the both worlds of functional and divisional structures.
In this type of an organization, the company uses teams to complete tasks. The teams are
formed based on the functions they belong to (ex: software engineers) and product they are
involved in (ex: Project A).
This way, there are many teams in this organization such as software engineers of project A,
software engineers of project B, QA engineers of project A, etc.

Organizational structure of Dhaka City Corporation (North)

Dhaka City Corporation is an autonomous corporation that is associated with the task of
running the affairs of the Dhaka city. Dhaka North City Corporation consists of 36 wards
covering the thanas of Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Pallabi, Adabor,
Kafrul, Dhaka Cantonment, Gulshan, Banani, Badda, Uttara & some others. More than 80
lac inhabitants live in this area. It is responsible for many things concerning the life and
welfare of the inhabitant.

Mayor or Administrator is the supreme post in this corporation. Chief executive officer is
responsible to make the work done and oversee the work of each department. The corporation
is divided into several department Named Engineering, Health, Revenue, Solid waste
management, urban planning, Estate, Store & Purchase, Accounts, Social Welfare & Slum
improvement, Transport, Law, Public Relation.
The whole area is also divided into five (5) zones. Each office is chaired by the executive
officer.
If we try to dissect the organizational structure of the DCC(North), we will see that it has
bureaucratic or hierarchal structure. The organization is responsible to perform different
functions for the inhabitants in this area.
The main job of DCC (South) is to provide civic amenities to its inhabitants. It provides
health care services, repair and construct new roads, social welfare, waste management,
collects revenues etc.
If we look at the organizational structure of the corporation, it has different functional wings.
The goal of this organization is to provide services effectively and efficiently to the citizen.

However, in the existing organizational structure, it is very hard to deliver satisfactory

service. Bureaucratic or hierarchical Structures have many levels of management ranging
Mayor to the executive officer. Since there are many levels, decision-making authority has to
pass through more layers than flatter organizations. Bureaucratic organization has rigid and
tight procedures, policies and constraints.
This kind of structure is reluctant to adapt or change what they have been doing since the
corporation started. Organizational charts exist for every department, and everyone
understands who is in charge and what their responsibilities are for every situation. Decisions
are made through an organized process, and a strict command and control structure is present
at all times. In bureaucratic structures, the authority is at the top and information is then
flowed from top to bottom.
As a result, people dont get the service they needed. Organization also fails to manage its
resources effectively. For this reason, we need to reengineer the organizational structure the
DCC (North) to make it efficient and effective.

Redesigning the organizational structure:

Now we need to adapt an organizational structure that works effectively and efficiently to
deliver service to the citizen. If we look into the organizational structure of DCC (North), we
will see that it has different function and job. One function is totally different to others. In this
scenario functional structure will be ideal for this organization.
As a whole, a functional organization is best suited as a producer of standardized services at
large volume and low cost. Moreover, efficient can further be realized as functional
organizations integrate their activities vertically so that services are delivered quickly and at
low cost.
In a functional organization, each department will have a manager who will be responsible to
supervise the work. Under his authority, there will be other staff. As result speed of the work
will increase and services can be provided with efficiency. For example, there will be an
engineering unit responsible to implement the engineering work in the field level. The unit
will be chaired by chief engineer. Under his direct supervision, several engineers and staff
will work. Other functional unit will do the same. In functional structure, each unit will be
free to pursue its work. As a result, it will get rid of bureaucratic tangle and productivity will
increase.
Consequently, DCC (North) will function smoothly and effectively. The goal of this
organization can be achieved through functional organizational structure. Citizen will get
better service promptly and organizational efficiency will be increase

Conclusion
Every organization needs a structure in order to operate systematically. The organizational
structures can be used by any organization if the structure fits into the nature and the maturity
of the organization. In most cases, organizations evolve through structures when they
progress through and enhance their processes and manpower. One company may start as a
pre-bureaucratic company and may evolve according to its job and responsibility.

Reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka_North_City_Corporation
http://dncc.gov.bd/
http://www.dncc.gov.bd/dncc-setup/organogram-of-dncc.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_structure
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/management_concepts/organizational_structures.h
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Dessler, Gary .(2014) Human Resources Management; Prentice Hall