Organisational Structure

Organisational structure refers to the levels of management

and division of responsibilities within a business. They can be
represented on organisational charts (left).

Advantages:

●​ All employees are aware of which communication

channel is used to reach them with messages
●​ Everyone knows their position in the business. They
know who they are accountable to and who they are
accountable for
●​ It shows the links and relationship between the
different departments
 ●​ Gives everyone a sense of belonging as they appear on
the organisational chart

The span of control is the number of subordinates working

directly under a manager in the organisational structure. In
the above figure, the managing director’s span of control is
four. The marketing director’s span of control is the number of
marketing managers working under him (it is not specified
how many, in the figure).

The chain of command is the structure of an organisation

that allows instructions to be passed on from senior
managers to lower levels of management. In the above
figure, there is a short chain of command since there are only
four levels of management shown.

Now, if you look closely,there is a link between the span of

control and chain of command. The wider the span of
control the shorter the chain of command since more
people will appear horizontally aligned on the chart than
vertically. A short span of control often leads to a long chain of
command. (If you don’t understand, try visualising it on an
organisational chart).

Advantages of a short chain of command (these are also the

disadvantages of a long chain of command):

●​ Communication is quicker and more accurate

●​ Top managers are less remote from lower employees,
so employees will be more motivated and top managers
can always stay in touch with the employees
 ●​ Spans of control will be wider, This means managers
have more people to control This is beneficial because it
will encourage them to delegate responsibility (give
work to subordinates) and so the subordinates will be
more motivated and feel trusted. However there is the
risk that managers may lose control over the tasks.

Line Managers have authority over people directly below

them in the organisational structure. Traditional
marketing/operations/sales managers are good examples.

Staff Managers are specialists who provide support,

information and assistance to line managers. The IT
department managers in most organisations act as staff
managers.

Management

What role do managers really have in an organisation? Here

are their five primary roles:

●​ Planning: setting aims and targets for the

organisations/department to achieve. It will give the
department and it’s employees a clear sense of purpose
and direction. Managers should also plan for resources
required to achieve these targets – the number of people
required, the finance needed etc.
 ●​ Organising: managers should then organise the
resources. This will include allocating responsibilities to
employees, possibly delegating.
●​ Coordinating: managers should ensure that each
department is coordinating with one another to
achieve the organisation’s aims. This will involve effective
communication between departments and managers
and decision making. For example, the sales department
will need to tell the operations dept. how much they
should produce in order to reach the target sales level.
The operations dept. will in turn tell the finance dept.
how much money they need for production of those
goods. They need to come together regularly and make
decisions that will help achieve each department’s aims
as well as the organisation’s.
●​ Commanding: managers need to guide, lead and
supervise their employees in the tasks they do and
make sure they are keeping to their deadlines and
achieving targets.
●​ Controlling: managers must try to assess and evaluate
the performance of each of their employees. If some
employees fail to achieve their target, the manager must
see why it has occurred and what he can do to correct it-
maybe some training will be required or better
equipment.

​
Delegation is giving a subordinate the authority to perform
some tasks.

Advantages to managers:
 ●​ managers cannot do all work by themselves
●​ managers can measure the efficiency and effectiveness
of their subordinates’ work

However, managers may be reluctant to delegate as they may

lose their control over the work.

Advantages to subordinates:

●​ the work becomes more interesting and rewarding-

increased job satisfaction
●​ employees feel more important and feel trusted–
increasing loyalty to firm
●​ can act as a method of training and opportunities for
promotions, if they do a good job.

Leadership Styles

Leadership styles refer to the different approaches used

when dealing with people when in a position of authority.
There are mainly three styles you need to learn: the autocratic,
democratic and laissez-faire styles.

Autocratic style is where the managers expect to be in

charge of the business and have their orders followed. They do
all the decision-making, not involving employees at all.
Communication is thus, mainly one way- from top to bottom.
This is standard in police and armed forces organisations.
Democratic style is where managers involve employees in
the decision-making and communication is two-way from top
to bottom as well as bottom to top. Information about future
plans is openly communicated and discussed with employees
and a final decision is made by the manager.

Laissez-faire (French phrase for ‘leave to do') style makes the

broad objectives of the business known to employees and
leaves them to do their own decision-making and organise
tasks. Communication is rather difficult since a clear direction
is not given. The manager has a very limited role to play.
Trade Unions

A trade union is a group of workers who have joined

together to ensure their interests are protected. They
negotiate with the employer (firm) for better conditions and
treatment and can threaten to take industrial action if their
requests are denied. Industrial action can include an overtime
ban (refusing to work overtime), going slow (working at the
slowest speed as is required by the employment contract),
strike (refusing to work at all and protesting instead) etc. Trade
unions can also seek to put forward their views to the media
and influence government decisions relating to employment.

Benefits to workers of joining a trade union:

●​ strength in number- a sense of belonging and unity

●​ improved conditions of employment, for example,
better pay, holidays, hours of work etc
●​ improved working conditions, for example, health and
safety
●​ improved benefits for workers who are not working,
because they’re sick, retired or made redundant
(dismissed not because of any fault of their own)
●​ financial support if a member thinks he/she has been
unfairly dismissed or treated
●​ benefits that have been negotiated for union members
such as discounts on firm’s products, provision of health
services.
Disadvantages to workers of joining a trade unions:

●​ costs money to be member- a membership fee will be

required
●​ may be asked to take industrial action even if they don’t
agree with the union- they may not get paid during a
strike, for example.