Organisational Structure

Question 1

What is an organisational structure and why do businesses have them?

Answer 1

An organisational structure is a how a business runs internally and the responsibilities they have to delegate.

Business’ have them as they can show responsibility, weaknesses, evaluate business performance,authority ,communication

Question 2

What does : hierarchy, span of control, line manager, function, chain of command, subordinate, delegate mean?

Answer 2

Hierarchy = structure where authority and responsible staff are at the top.
Span of control = number of subordinates a manager is responsible for.
Line manager = a manager is directly responsible for subordinates’ work and what they are achieving.
Function = specific part of a business responsible for a key segment eg Finance.
Chain Of Command = Is the path of authority along which instructions are passed, from the CEO downwards.
Subordinate = An employee ranked below another employee in terms of authority or hierarchy.
Delegate = is when managers entrust tasks or decisions to subordinates.

Question 3

What is a tall and flat organisation structure like?

Describe the features:

Answer 3

Tall structure = when a company has many levels of hierarchy with many mangers resulting in narrow span of control and long chain of command

Narrow structure = when a company has less levels of hierarchy with lots of responsibilities on managers and many subordinates for a manager. This results in a wide span of control and short chain of command.

Question 4

Positives and negatives of a tall and flat organisational structure?

Answer 4

Tall : 
\+) close supervision
\+) clear lines of responsibility
-) Poor communication 
-) Higher costs, more hierarchy 

Flat :
+) Quick Communication
+) More Productivity (competition for promotion)
-) heavier workload for overseeing managers
-) poor staff retention

Question 5

Why does delegation occur?

Positives and Negatives of delegating (work)

Answer 5

Delegation occurs when managers want to give out work to subordinates to lessen their workload.
+ better employee relation / trust
+ less workload
- could show lack of commitment
- not done properly (bad standard,not enough trust)

Question 6

What is the difference centralised and decentralised organisational structures?

Answer 6

Centralised business = business that have a HQ in a main location where main decisions are made in this area only
Decentralised business = business that have a delegation of responsibilities between the managers in many locations

Question 7

Positives and Negatives of centralised and decentralised business?

Answer 7

Centralised:
\+ easier to manage and easier decisions
\+ all control
- not democratic decisions 
- doesn’t tailor to local area
Decentralised 
\+ Reduce stress on senior teams
\+ Personalised decisions for an area
- inconsistent approach for the business
- poor decisions harm the business