dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat Institute of Administrative Studies University of Wrocław

1. The essence of organizational structure dr. hab. Jerzy SupernatInstitute of Administrative StudiesUniversity of Wrocław

2. The essence of organizational structure Definitions of organizational structure R.H. Hall, P.S. Tolbert: (…) organizational structure can be considered as the arrangement of organizational parts. [The six basic organizational (structural) elements that can be used to configure an organization are: designing jobs, grouping jobs, establishing reporting relationships, distributing authority, coordinating activities and differentiating between positions]. P.M. Blau: (…) the distributions, along various lines, of people among social positions that influence the role relations among these people. S. Ranson, B. Hinings, R. Greenwood: (…) a complex medium of control which is continually produced and recreated in interaction and yet shapes that interaction: structures are constituted and constitutive. dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

3. The essence of organizational structure • Functions of organizational structure • to guarantee effectiveness • to minimize or at least regulate the influence of indivi-dual variations on the organization (it is an individual that should conform to requirements of the organization, not the organization to requirements of an individual) • to make possible: • exercising power (organizational structure determi-nes which positions have power) • making decisions (organizational structure determi-nesthe flow of information into a decision) • carrying out organizational activities (organizational structure is the arena for organizational actions) dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

4. The essence of organizational structure • Plurality of structures • in an organization • it is a mistake to think that there is only one structure in an organization: there is intraorganizational variation, both across organizational units and up and down the hierarchy • structural differences are especially visible in multinational organizations (in chapters or divisions of international organizations located in different countries)

5. The essence of organizational structure • Types of organizational structure • ideal type of bureaucracy • real type of bureaucracy • mechanic/mechanistic organization • organic organization • adhocracy

6. The essence of organizational structure • Ideal type ofbureaucracy(designed for efficiency and reliability)as seen by Max Weber • Official functions are fulfilled on continuous basis. • Jurisdictional areas are clearly specified; activities are distributed as official duties. • Organization follows hierarchical principle. • Intentional, abstract rules govern decisions and actions. Rules are stable, exhaustive, and can be learned. • Decisions are recorded in permanent files. • Means of production or administration belong to office. Personal property isseparated from office property. • Officials are selected on basis of technical qualifications, appoin-ted not elected, and compensated by salary. • Employment by the organization is a career. The official is a full-time employee and looks forward to a life-long career. After a trial period they get tenure of position and are protected from arbitrary dismissal. dr hab. Jerzy Supernat

7. The essence of organizational structure • Real type of bureaucracy 1: deviations from ideas and principles • of ideal type of bureaucracy • lack of the continuous fulfillment of official tasks (lack of the continuity of administration) • delay in the fulfillment of tasks • making decisions on determinants other than legal or not accepted by law • ignorance of law and/or wrong interpretation of law • non precisely defined competences and/or abuse of competences • nepotism • cronyism • corruption • employing on the basis of non meritorial grounds • lack of proper systematic control • lack of documentation and/or errors in documentation dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

8. The essence of organizational structure • Real type of bureaucracy 2: wrong application of ideas and principles of ideal type of bureaucracy • excessive specialization • rigidity, inertia and autonomization of procedures • non-elasticity of organization • groupthink • making mutually contradictory provisions • conservatism and resistance against innovations • tendency towards oligarchization dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

9. The essence of organizational structure • Tom Burns: A mechanistic system is appropriate to stable conditions. It is characterized by: • The specialized differentiation of functional tasks into which the problems and tasks facing the concern as a whole are broken down. • The abstract nature of each individual task, which is pursued with techniques and purposes more or less distinct from those of the concern as a whole. • The reconciliation, for each level in the hierarchy, of these distinct performances by the immediate superiors. • The precise definition of rights and obligations and technical methods attached to each functional role. • The translation of rights and obligations and methods into the responsibilities of a functional position. • Hierarchic structure of control, authority, and communication. • A reinforcement of the hierarchic structure by the location of knowledge of actualities exclusively at the top of the hierarchy. • A tendency for vertical interaction between members of the concern, i.e. between superior and subordinate. • A tendency for operations and working behaviour to be governed by superiors. • Insistence on loyalty to the concern and obedience to superiors as a condition of mem-bership. • A greater importance and prestige attaching to internal (local) then to general (cosmo-politan) knowledge, experience and skill. dr hab. Jerzy Supernat

10. The essence of organizational structure • Tom Burns: The organic form is appropriate to changing conditions, which give rise con-stantly to fresh problems and unforeseen requirements for action which cannot be bro-ken down or distributed automatically arising from the functional roles defined within a hierarchic structure. It is characterized by: • The contributive nature of special knowledge and experience to the common task of the concern. • The realistic nature of the individual task, which is seen as set by the total situation of the concern. • The adjustment and continual redefinition of individual tasks through interaction with others. • The shedding of responsibilities as a limited field of rights, obligations, and methods. • The spread of commitment to the concern beyond any technical definition. • A network structure of control, authority, and communication. • Omniscience no longer imputed to the head of the concern; knowledge may be located anywhere in the network; this location becoming the centre of authority. • A lateral rather than a vertical direction of communication through the organization. • A content of communication which consists of information and advice rather than instructions and decisions. • Commitment to the concern’s tasks and to the ‘technological ethos’ of material progress and expansion is more highly valued than loyalty. • Importance and prestige attach to affiliations and expertise valid in the industrial and technical and commercial milieux external to the firm. dr hab. Jerzy Supernat

11. The essence of organizational structure • Adhocracy • Adhocracy describes an organization which is the diametric opposite of Weber’s bureaucracy. According to Stuart Crainer adhocracy or the new organization disregards the accepted, classical principles of management under which each and every one has a carefully defined and permanent role: • the new organization is flexible and free flowing • the new organization is non-hierarchical • the new organization is based on participation • the new organization is creative and entrepreneurial • the new organization is based round networks • the new organization is driven by organizational goals – rather than narrowly-defined functional ones • the new organization utilizes ICT as a key resource dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

12. The essence of organizational structure • Structural features of an organizations • complexity • formalization • centralization • Complexity, formalization and centralization may change within one organization: they are multidimensional pheno-mena (they vary from high to low). dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

13. The essence of organizational structure • Complexity • Complexity of an organization has major effects on the behavior of its members, on other structural conditions (formalization and centraliza-tion), on processes within the organization, and on relationships be-tween the organization and its environment. • Components of complexity: • horizontal differentiation (refers to the ways the tasks performed by the organization are subdivided) • vertical (hierarchical) differentiation • geographical differentiation (spatialdispersion); it can be a form of horizontal or vertical differentiation or it can be a separate element in the complexity concept when an organization performs the same functions with the same division of labor and hierarchical arrangements in multiple locations. • Most organizations are more or less complex (differentiated). One of really highly complex organizations (on all three axes) is of course public administration. dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

14. The essence of organizational structure Harry S. Truman The sign "The Buck Stops Here" was on USA President Harry S. Truman's(1884-1972) desk in his White House office. This was meant to indicate that he didn't "pass the buck" to anyone else but accepted personal responsibility for the way the country was governed. The saying "the buck stops here" derives from the slang expression "pass the buck" which means passing the responsibility on to someone else. The latter expression is said to have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter, frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn handle, was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buck," as the counter came to be called, to the next player. dr hab. Jerzy Supernat

15. The essence of organizational structure Good News Bible, Exodus; 18, 13-23: The next day Moses was settling disputes among the people, and he was kept busy from morning till night. When Jethro saw everything that Moses had to do, he asked, „What is all this that you are doing for the peo-ple? Why are you doing this all alone, with people standing here from morn-ing till night to consult you?”. Moses answered, „I must do this because the people come to me to learn God’s will. When two people have a dispute, they come to me, and I decide which one of them is right, and I tell them God’s commands and laws”. Then Jethro said, „You are not doing it the right way. You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone. Now let me give you some good advice […] you should choose some capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people: leaders of thousands, hun-dreds, fifties, and tens. They must be God-fearing men who can be trusted and who cannot be bribed. Let them serve as judges for the people on a permanent basis. They can bring all the difficult cases to you, but they them-selves can decide all the smaller disputes. This will make it easier for you, as they share your burden. If you do this, as God commands, you will not wear yourself out, and all these people can go home with their disputes settled”. dr hab. Jerzy Supernat

16. The essence of organizational structure Formalization: a process in which the organization sets the rules and procedures and the means of ensuring that they are followed. Jerald Hage,Michael Aiken: Formalization represents the use of rules in an organization. Job codification is a measure of how many rules define what the occupants of positions are to do, while rule observation is a measure of whether or not the rules are employed. In other words, the variable of job codification represents the degree to which the job descriptions are specified, and the variable, rule observation, refers to the degree to which job occupants are supervised in conforming to the standards established by job codification. Job codification represents the degree of work standardization while rule observation is a measure of the latitude of behavior that is tolerated from standards. In highly formalized situations, there is very little discretion available for members to operate on their own (formalization is designed to be a control mechanism over individuals). dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

17. The essence of organizational structure • Formalization • formalization is not an abstraction (the degree to which an organization is formalized is an indication of the perspectives of its decision makers in regard to organizational members) • formalization is not a neutral concept: • it might be helpful, since formalized procedures assist people in accomplishing their work • it is coercive as people are forced into compliance (forma-lization involves organizational control over the individual; the amount of individual discretion is inversely related to the amount of preprogramming of behavior by the organi-zation) • The above allows to say that formalization has an ethical and a political meaning in addition to being a structural component. dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

19. The essence of organizational structure • Centralization • Centralization is commonly referred to the distribution of power within an organization: If most decision making occurs at the top, the organization is centralized. • The matter is not that simple. Centralization is not only a matter of who makes decisions: • if employees at lower levels in the organization are making many decisions but the decisions are programmed by organi-zational policies, a high degree of centralization remains • if evaluation is carried out by people at the top of the organization, there is centralization, regardless of the level at which decisions are made dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

20. The essence of organizational structure Centrality It is important to distinguish centralization from centrality. Centrality refers to a person’s or a social role’s position in workflow, communications, or friendship networks. It is related to people’s being perceived as influential by both supervisors and nonsupervisors. dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

21. The essence of organizational structure • The degree of centralization in an organization • the degree of centralization says a great deal about a society: a society in which the majority of organizations are highly centralized is one in which the workers have little to say about their work • the degree of centralization is an indication of what the organization assumes about its members: • high centralization implies an assumption that the members need tight control • low centralization suggests that the members can govern themselves dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

22. The essence of organizational structure • Varying degrees of centralization have the major outcome for the organization itself. • High levels of centralization mean: • greater coordination, but less flexibility • consistent organization-wide policies, but possibly in-appropriate policies for local conditions • potential for rapid decision making during emergencies, but overloaded communications channels during normal operations as communications flow up and down the hierarchy dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

23. Stand with anybody that stands RIGHT. Stand with him while he is right and PART with him when he goes wrong, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, volume II, "Speech at Peoria, Illinois" (October 16, 1854), p. 273.

24. Concluding remark The only things that evolve by themselves in an organization are disorder, friction, and malperfor-mance. Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005) dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat