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Flashcards in week 7 - foundations of organising Deck (22)
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1
Q

6 key elements in organisational design

A
  1. Work specilisation
  2. Departmentalization
  3. Authority and responsibility (and accountability)
  4. Span of control
  5. Cenrealisation v Decentralisation
  6. Formalization
2
Q

what is work specilisation

A

Economies and Diseconomies of work

e.g. surged hands over to different members who are specialised in a field to boost productivity and makes a more efficient uses of resources

3
Q

explain 5 types of departmentalisation

A

functional - groups employees based on work performed (e.g. hr, finance)

Product - grou[s empties based on major product areas in organisation (e.g mens and womans)

Consumer - Groups employees based on customers’ problems and needs (e.g.retail wholesale )

Geographic - groups employees based on location served (e.g. vic, nsw)

Process - Groups employees based on the basis of work or customer flow (e.g. testing, payment)

Cross functional teams also included

4
Q

explain authority and unity of command

A

o An employee who has to report to 2 or more bosses might have to cope with conflicting demands and priorities. Accordingly, the early writers believed that each employee should report to only one manager, a term called Unity of command.
o Why is this often called ask mummy then daddy rule?

5
Q

what is the difference between power and managerial authoruty

A

Authority: a right whose legitimacy is based on an authority figure’s position in the organisation

Power: An individual’s capacity to influence decisions

6
Q

5 types of power?

A

coercive power - power based on fear

Reward power - power based on the ability to distribute something that others value

Legitimate power - power based on ones position in a formal hierarchy

Expert power - power based on one’s expertise, special skills or knowledge

Referent Power - Power based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits

7
Q

Span of Control – How many people can be effectively and efficiently managed?
Depends on contingency factors such as:

A

o Employee expierence and training
o Similarity of employee tasks
o Complexity of tasks
o Physical proximity of employees
o Amount and type of standardized procedures
o Sophistication of organisation’s MIS
o Strength of the organisation’s value system
o Preferred managing style of the manager

8
Q

explain difference between centralisation and decentralisation

A

Centralization = The degree to which decision making takes place at upper levels of the organisation

Decentralisation = The degree to which lower-level managers provide input or actually make decisions

9
Q

Define formalisation

A

Formalisation – refers to how standardized an organisations jobs are and the extent to which employee behavior is guided by rules and procedures
o Highly formalized organisations have explicit job descriptions, numerous organisational rule and clearly defined procedures covering work procedures

10
Q

Identify the contingency factors that favour either mechanistic model or the organic model of organisational design (pg.127-134

A
mechanistic:
rigid hierarchal relationships
fixed duties
many rules
formalised communication channels
centralised decision authority 
taller structures
Organic:
Collaboration (both vertical and horizontal)
Adaptive duties
few roles
informal communccation
decentralised decision authority
flater structures
11
Q
Structural contingency (situational Factors)
The most appropriate structure to use depends on 5 contingency factors:
A
o	Strategy
o	Size 
o	Culture
o	Technology 
o	Environmental uncertainty
12
Q

how do strategies affect structure

A

Stratergies = determine structure because changes in cooperate stratergy lead to changes in an organisation’s structure that support the new stratergy

Organic:
o Free flowing information works well when an organisation is pursuing meaningful and unique innovations

Mechanistic:
o Efficiency, stability and tight controls works best for companies wanting to tightly control costs

13
Q

Describe the key components of the human resource management procedure and the important influences on that process

A

Him = right people, right place, right time

look at the arm process pics

14
Q

Discuss techniques for simulating innovation:

A

Creativity: The ability to produce novel and useful ideas

Innovation: The process of taking a creative idea and turning it into a useful product, service or method of operation

15
Q

innovation process

A
  1. Perception
  2. Incubation
  3. Inspiration
  4. innovation
    e. g. crowd funding
16
Q

Innovation variables

A
stratal variables:
organs structure
abdunant resources
high inter-unit communication
minimal time pressure
work and non-work support

Human resource variables:
high commitment to training and development
high job security creative people

Cultural variables:
Acceptance of ambiguity
tolerance of the impractical
low external controls
tolerance of conflict
focus on ends
open-system focus
positive feedback
17
Q

Define organisational change and compare and contrast views on the change process:

Categories of organisational change

A

Structure:
authority relationships coordinating mechanisms job design span of control

Technology:
work processes work methods and equipment

People:
Attitudes, expectations, perceptions and behaviour

18
Q

what drives organisational change

A
External factors:
o	Marketplace
o	Government laws and regulations
o	Technology
o	Labour markets
o	Economic conditions

Internal Factors:
o strategy
o Composition of workforce
o Employee situation

19
Q

initiating change

A

Organisational change needs a catalyst. People who act as catalysts are called change catalysts.

Change metaphor of ‘calm waters’

20
Q

explain the 3 step change process

A

unfreezing
changing
refreezing

21
Q

implementing change, explain otgantional development

A
Organisational development (OD):
Efforts that assist organisational members with a planned change by focusing on their attitudes and values. 

This includes:

  1. Survey feedback
  2. Process consultation
  3. Team-building
  4. Intergroup development
22
Q

What are the factors that drives organisational change?

A

o Provide one external factor and one internal factor that could drive change. Explain in detail how managers could respond to that change using either its structure, technology, or people