Organizational Structure

in the context of international management

Dr. Bartjan W. Pennink

The start of a new course

Car manufacturing in the past

Car manufacturing now.

How to organize the production processWhat do you need?Machines, People, BuildingsMoney, Land, Legal System etcWhich combination is the most profitabele? * | *

Stephen RobbinsNeil Barnwell0Organisation TheoryCONCEPTS AND CASES5eThe book

Organizational theory is the study of organizational structure.

organizational theory is the process of creating knowledge to understand organizational structure so that we can predict and control organizational effectiveness or productivity by designing organizations.

Organizational theory is the study of organizational structure.

organizational theory is the process of creating knowledge to understand organizational structure so that we can predict and control organizational effectiveness or productivity by designing organizations.

How and why are organisations structured the way they are? Do organisations choose their structure? What is the proper fit between the structure of an organisation and its environment? Is there such a thing as an optimal fit? Do companies that find the proper fit actually perform better?What is an organization?

*Main questions for this course:

Organizational StructureLecturesTutorialsHome studyGroupwork

Who is who?

The course instruction book:

And the nestor site for: The latest infoGradesExam caseetc

Objectives (first three):

Recognize and memorize an overview of theories on organizations.Identify the consequences of organization theories concerning organizations in an international context.Construct appropriate questions in small teams to theorize about organizations and the way things are organized.

Objectives (last three):

Analyze a company with the help of the concepts introduced in the literature.Evaluate fellow students performance and formulate constructive feedback Reflect on the effectiveness of their own presentation skills and identify steps to further develop these skills

What to do for this course:Compulsory:Group assignmentsIntermediate exams (two) Exam case analysis Attending the tutorials Attending the lectures

The final grade will be the mean of the four grades: Weights:0.3grade of group assignments0.2 grade of the first intermediate exam (multiple choice, individual)0.3 grade of the second intermediate exam (multiple choice, individual)0.2grade of exam case analysis

Lectures: 1.we will go shortly through the chapters themselves but much more important 2. we will show how the theories offered can be criticized and 3. In which way they can be used for thinking about structuring organizations.

Tutorials:

First part: Focusing on two chapters of the bookSecond part: Applying the theory to a case

From the perspective of organizational theory:

We create a structure for working in teams(Roles of the team, content for each tutorial etc). It will result in a specific pattern of working together.

Tutorials: Teams will do the jobEach student will be part of a teamEach team has to prepare an assignment (see course instruction book) During the tutorial each team will have a specific role Each tutorial has two parts

Team roles for the tutorials:

The presentation team has to prepare a good and interesting presentationThe dialogue creator team has to take care of a good dialogueThe moderator team has to prepare the conditions for a good tutorial and must do the case analysisThe summary team has to make a summary of the selected chapters.

First tutorial

See page 13 Course instruction book!

Before each tutorial: 1. Read the two chapters as indicated in the coursebook on page 14

2. Prepare the work to be done for the tutorial

During the tutorial:1. we learn to realize what the theory is: presenting in an attractive way what are the main themes of the chapters and why these chapters are important

2.Applying the theory in a case analysis: setting up a dialogue on an organizational question

criticisms*

No criticsm But constructive feedback

This is good because.This is wrong because of..

and it can be improved by.

Exam case (group work): . Imagine that you as a team of young professionals are chosen by the board to give them a fresh perspective on the company

Exam case (group work): For this the board will ask you : To make an analysis of the company and its organizational structure Based on this analysis to give an advise on how a possible new strategy could look likeWhich improvement could be suggested for the organizational structure (come up with at least three points)

Exam case: * | *

Robbins, Barnwell: Organisation Theory 5e 2007 Pearson Education Australia

0Chapter three and four: Organisational effectivenessDimensions of organisation structure

What is an organization?

*Greek Organon: meaning a tool or instrument. So, organizations are tools or instruments to meet goals, objectives, to carry out tasks.

This definition is the base for questions like:

What kind of tools are available?How can these tools be combined? Are the objectives realized?

Another definition or theory:

An organization is defined as two or more people working together, cooperatively within identifiable boundaries, to accomplish a common goal or objective.

This definition is the base for different questions like:

How to choose the people?How do people work together? Are the objectives realized? What are common goals?

Organisational effectivenes

InputsActivitiesOutputseffectiveness??????organisation

Goal-attainment approachFocus on the output: Effectiveness can be measured in terms of the accomplishment of the goals of the firm

The systems approachFocusing on all the elements of input -output: Effectiveness looks at how a firm acquires inputs, processes them and channels the outputs

Grafiek1

Net sales by region

Blad1

Verkoop

North America (39%)39

South America (26%)26

Asia Pacific (11%)11

Europe (24%)24

Als u de afmetingen van het gegevensbereik van de grafiek wilt wijzigen, versleept u de rechterbenedenhoek van het bereik.

The stakeholder approachFocusing in who is involved in process of input output Effectiveness takes the stakeholders of the organization in account, even at the cost of profits.Example of stakeholders of Coca Cola

Grafiek1

Net sales by region

Blad1

Verkoop

North America (39%)39

South America (26%)26

Asia Pacific (11%)11

Europe (24%)24

Als u de afmetingen van het gegevensbereik van de grafiek wilt wijzigen, versleept u de rechterbenedenhoek van het bereik.

The Balanced Scorecard Approach Focus on output, relations between input and output and on stakeholders: An attempt to integrate all of the approaches

For part one of the tutorial: no summary but.

Explain in an attractive way the four approaches to organisational effectiveness or choose one or two approachesApply the approaches to one of companies from the exam case list Identify the key problems with each approachDiscuss why organisational effectiveness is important

For discussing the chaptersMake use of the for review and discussion part.However a discussion in a standard way is most of the time boaring.Be creative on the content and on the format of the discussion.For example focus on the conceptslack and relates this to the four approaches .

Fundamentals of Organizational Structure:Org. charts

Functional StructureWhat is an Organizational Chart?*The visual representation of an organizations structure.

What is an Organizational Chart?Boxes show how work and responsibilities are clustered into units such as divisions, departments, sections, and teams.Lines show the management structure: Who reports to whom, how the boxes relate to each other in the hierarchy.*

Think of an Organizations structure having two dimensions:Vertical dimension (From tall to flat )Horizontal dimension (From wide to narrow)

Flat structure

Flat organisations have few levels of hierarchy. Lines of communication are short, making the firm responsive to change. A wide span of control means that tasks must be delegated and managers can feel overstretched.

Tall structureTall organisations have many levels of hierarchy. The span of control is narrow. Lines of communication are long, making the firm unresponsive to change.

*Charts are about formal hierarchy and the flow of information

Charts do not tell us anything about the daily activities and what people do on a day to day description*

Limitations of an organizational chart

It only shows 'formal relationships' and tells nothing of the pattern of human (social) relationships which develop. It shows nothing about the managerial style adopted (e.g. autocratic or democratic) It very quickly becomes out-of-date, especially in large organizations which change their staff regularly.

The questions we have on structuring an organization are dependend on the theory we use!

Use of a metaphor It is about theory, questions and management situations

How to combine these three In order to be able to manage situations and to develop (scientific) knowledge The quest for you as a student in international business! (I hope you will learn a lot , work hard and enjoy it)

See you next week.

*This will be the start of scientific thinking and will be needed to fulfill the assignments for the tutorials and the exam case

*The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation,*******