Describe Each of the Three Major Types of Organizational Structure |
Describe Each of the Three Major Types of Organizational Structure
by Renee O'Farrell
How a company is organized affects how efficient it is and how quickly it can respond to changes in the market. organizer image by Anton Gvozdikov
Companies come in all different shapes and sizes, and the same can be said of their organizational structures. Organizational structures can be &tall,& meaning they have many tiers between the common worker and the owner of the company, or they can be &flat,& meaning there are very few levels between the common worker and the owner. These structures also vary in how those strata are defined.
Functional A functional organizational structure, also called a bureaucratic organizational structure, divides the company based on specialty. For example, under this type of organizational structure, you would assign separate divisions for marketing, accounting and sales. On the one hand, this type of organizational structure benefits from having individuals entirely dedicated to one function. In some cases, there can be cost savings and efficiency gains in combining functions in this way. However, this type of organizational structure is prone to conflict. It can be difficult to facilitate strong lines of communication between fu if departments are in separate locations, actual communication can be difficult, as can understanding the needs of the other department. Divisional Companies also may be structured according to projects or products. This type of organizational structure is called divisional structure and is common in environments where projects, products or product lines are governed independently of each other. Examples of this include retailers such as Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic. These divisions operate as separate companies, but they are each part of the Gap brand and Gap Inc. A divisional structure can make it easier for a company to respond to market changes. Also, within the division, communication is easier and team identification is encouraged. On the downside, work can become inefficient as some efforts are duplicated. There also can be conflict between divisions, especially if one is more successful than another. Matrix The matrix organizational structure combines the functional and additional organizational structure types. There are project teams, bringing skilled individuals together from across the organization, but there are still divisions. As such, a person has two bosses: the division manager and the project manager. In this organizational structure, projects benefit from having cooperation across the company in that the best and the brightest in the company can weigh in on projects they otherwise may not have access to. Further, all departments can have a voice in the production process, from the actual fabrication of the product to its marketing and sales. However, they also can be confusing. Responsibility and jurisdiction are not clearly defined. Matrix organizations also tend toward the development of cliques, as all decisions generally fall to a select group. Considerations While a company may adopt any one of these three major types of organizational structure, companies often do not adhere strictly to one organizational structure, especially smaller companies. For example, a technology start-up with a handful of employees may have a secretary who handles accounting for all projects but have staff members who are dedicated to individual projects or product lines.
About the Author Renee O'Farrell is a freelance writer providing valuable tips and advice for people looking for ways to save money, as well as information on how to create, re-purpose and reinvent everyday items. Her articles offer money-saving tips and valuable insight on typically confusing topics. O'Farrell is a member of the National Press Club and holds advanced degrees in business, financial management, psychology and sociology.
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The Market as an Obj...
The Market as an Object of Attachment: Exploring Postsocial Relations in Financial Markets
Karin Knorr Cetina and Urs Bruegger
The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie
Vol. 25, No. 2 (Spring, 2000), pp. 141-168
Published by:
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3341821
Page Count: 28
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This paper rests on the assumption of an increased presence and relevance of object worlds in the social world. It holds that this influx of object worlds coincides with changing patterns of human relatedness that can be glossed by the notion postsocial forms. Postsocial forms include object-relationships where the objects are non-human entities. One characteristic of the present situation is that perhaps for the first time in recent history it appears unclear whether other persons are, for human beings, the most fascinating part of their environment. Objects may also be the risk winners of the relationship risks which many authors find inherent in contemporary human relations. Postsocial forms "step into the place" of social relations where these empty out, where they lose some of the meaningfulness they have had in earlier periods. A condition for understanding this role of objects is that we develop, in social theory, adequate concepts of objects that break with the tradition of seeing them merely as abstract technologies that promote alienation or as fetishized commodities that freeze and numb any human or political potential (Marx). In this paper, we use a different conception developed in an earlier paper. We also explore in some detail a notion of postsocial relatedness that is based on the idea of a dynamic of wantings and lacks of fulfilment. The paper explores this framework in the area of financial markets, where traders relate to the market as an object of attachment within an environment of reiterated lacks. /// Les auteurs constatent la présence et l'importance grandissantes de mondes d'objets au sein de l'univers social -- afflux qui refléterait une transformation des rapports humains, exprimée par la notion de "formes postsociales". Ces formes incluent des relations objectales au sein desquelles l'objet désigne une entité matérielle (c.-à-d. non humaine). Pour la première fois, dans l'histoire récente tout du moins, les autres êtres humains ne sont peut-être plus les éléments les plus fascinants de notre univers. Les objets seraient le pari gagnant d'un modèle de factorisation des risques inhérents aux relations humaines que relèvent de nombreux chercheurs. Les formes dites postsociales s'instaurent quand les relations sociales se vident du sens qu'elles avaient jusqu'alors. Pour mieux comprendre ce phénomène, il est impératif de repenser les concepts traditionnels, qui voient les objets comme des technologies abstraites aliénantes ou des commodités fétichisées, obnubilant tout potentiel humain ou politique (Marx). Nous développons ici un concept différent, ébauché dans une étude antérieure. Nous explorons également la notion de rapports postsociaux d'après une dynamique de désirs et de besoins inassouvis -- notamment dans l'univers boursier, où les agents entretiennent avec le marché des relations objectales fondées sur des manques réitérés.
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