Organizational Design and Structure Essay

People are interested in great stories of great success. Lincoln Electric uses such practices as Intensive employee involvement (Advisory committee, Suggestions plan); Job security; Compensation (Piece-rate system, Bonuses, Report cards); Points for process improvements; Strong management control; No paid sick days; No paid training. General Electric is committed to equal employment opportunity, a basic of a free society. By continuing to extend equal opportunity and provide fair treatment to all employees on the basis of merit, we will improve GE’s success while enhancing the progress of individuals and the communities where our businesses are located. These two companies have different structures. But they are both successful. A narrow span of control consists of only a few employees; a wide span of control includes many employees. The tendency nowadays is to flatten organizations by widening the span of control and decreasing the layers of management (hierarchy), and by relying more on employee teams to take on many of the roles formerly performed only by managers. There is a limit to number of employees any one manager can properly supervise. If a supervisor has a wide span-of-control she is supervising activities of many people. If span-of-control is narrow few subordinates report to her. Wide span-of-control is possible in most assembly line situations where each employee has only a few repetitive tasks to perform. Wide span-of-control is possible in situations where subordinates are highly educated. Narrow span-of-control is advisable when cost of making an error or wrong decision is high. History indicates that a wide span-of-control is more productive in long-run. While different, Gen X and Gen Y have some similarities. Both will demand a more innovative workplace, with flexible hours, state-of-the-art resources, cooperative scheduling and supervisors who listen. One of the reasons Gen X and Y will be so valuable is that there will be a shortage of skilled managers to replace the retiring Traditionalists and Boomers. Developing experienced and skilled young managers will become vital to any organization hoping to compete in the future. The Apprentice. I will advice for women and men to improve the following features: Leadership takes courage and initiative. (Initiative is a critical component of good leadership. ); Self-awareness and self-correcting leadership; High energy. (A great leadership rule: if you want it, model it); No direction (clarity of roles and expectations), protection or order. A successful leader with a new team needs to set the stage for success by facilitating an initial session (order) to determine how the team will work together most effectively to achieve their task or goal. A leader should inspire confidence by creating a safe container (protection) for the team to elicit the highest of collaboration, creativity and effective strategy. All components of organisational design and structure were taken up. Organizational Redesign is structuring an organization, division or department to optimize how it supplies products and services to its clients and customers. The process of organization design matches people, information, and technology to the purpose, vision, and strategy of the organization. Structure is designed to enhance communication and information flow among people. Systems are designed to encourage individual responsibility and decision making. Technology is used to enhance human capabilities to accomplish meaningful work. The end product is an integrated system of people and resources, tailored to the specific direction of the organization.