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. 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 organizations (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 • mechanistic organization • organic organization • adhocracy

6. The essence of organizational structure • Real type of bureaucracy • (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

7. The essence of organizational structure • Real type of bureaucracy • (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

8. 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 IT as a key resource dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

9. 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

10. The essence of organizational structure • Complexity • Complexity of an organization has major effects on the beha-vior of its members, on other structural conditions (formaliza-tion and centralization), on processes within the organization, and on relationships between the organization and its environ-ment. • Components of complexity: • horizontal differentiation • vertical (hierarchical) differentiation • geographicaldifferentiation (dispersion) • Most organizations are more or less complex. One of really highly complex organizations is of course public administration. dr. hab. Jerzy Supernat

11. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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