Analyze the existing structure of your organization to find out its drawbacks and propose how would you like to

redesign it to make it more effective and efficient.

Introduction

Any operating organization should have its own structure in order to operate efficiently. For an organization, the organizational structure is a hierarchy of people and its functions.

The organizational structure of an organization tells you the character of an organization and the values it believes in. Therefore, when you do business with an organization or getting into a new job in an organization, it is always a great idea to get to know and understand their organizational structure.

Depending on the organizational values and the nature of the business, organizations tend to adopt one of the following structures for management purposes.

Although the organization follows a particular structure, there can be departments and teams following some other organizational structure in exceptional cases.

Sometimes, some organizations may follow a combination of the following organizational structures as well.

Definition

An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization and its environment

An organization can be structured in many different ways, depending on their objectives. The structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it operates and performs.

Organizational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different functions and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and individual.

Organizational structure affects organizational action in two big ways. First, it provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest. Second, it determines which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what extent their views shape the organization’s actions.

Type of Organization

Bureaucratic Structures

Bureaucratic structures maintain strict hierarchies when it comes to people management. There are three types of bureaucratic structures:

1 - Pre-bureaucratic structures

This type of organizations lacks the standards. Usually this type of structure can be observed in small scale, start-up companies. Usually the structure is centralized and there is only one key decision maker.

The communication is done in one-on-one conversations. This type of structures is quite helpful for small organizations due to the fact that the founder has the full control over all the decisions and operations.

2 - Bureaucratic structures

These structures have a certain degree of standardization. When the organizations grow complex and large, bureaucratic structures are required for management. These structures are quite suitable for tall organizations.

3 - Post-bureaucratic Structures

The organizations that follow post-bureaucratic structures still inherit the strict hierarchies, but open to more modern ideas and methodologies. They follow techniques such as total quality management (TQM), culture management, etc.

Functional Structure

The organization is divided into segments based on the functions when managing. This allows the organization to enhance the efficiencies of these functional groups. As an example, take a software company.

Functional structures appear to be successful in large organization that produces high volumes of products at low costs. The low cost can be achieved by such companies due to the efficiencies within functional groups.

A functional organizational structure is a structure that consists of activities such as coordination, supervision and task allocation. The organizational structure determines how the organization performs or operates. The term organizational structure refers to how the people in an organization are grouped and to whom they report. One traditional way of organizing people is by function. Some common functions within an organization include production, marketing, human resources, and accounting.

This organizing of specialization leads to operational efficiency where employees become specialists within their own realm of expertise

In addition to such advantages, there can be disadvantage from an organizational perspective if the communication between the functional groups is not effective. In this case, organization may find it difficult to achieve some organizational objectives at the end.

Divisional Structure

These types of organizations divide the functional areas of the organization to divisions. Each division is equipped with its own resources in order to function independently. There can be many bases to define divisions.

The divisional structure or product structure consists of self-contained divisions. A division is a collection of functions which produce a product. It also utilizes a plan to compete and operate as a separate business or profit center. According to Zainbooks.com, divisional structure in America is seen as the second most common structure for organization today.

Employees who are responsible for certain market services or types of products are placed in divisional structure in order to increase their flexibility. The divisions may also have their own departments such as marketing, sales, and engineering.

The advantage of divisional structure is that it uses delegated authority so the performance can be directly measured with each group. This results in managers performing better and high employee morale. Another advantage of using divisional structure is that it is more efficient in coordinating work between different divisions, and there is more flexibility to respond when there is a change in the market. Also, a company will have a simpler process if they need to change the size of the business by either adding or removing divisions. When divisional structure is utilized more specialization can occur within the groups.

Matrix Structure

When it comes to matrix structure, the organization places the employees based on the function and the product.

The matrix structure gives the best of the both worlds of functional and divisional structures.

In this type of an organization, the company uses teams to complete tasks. The teams are formed based on the functions they belong to (ex: software engineers) and product they are involved in (ex: Project A).

This way, there are many teams in this organization such as software engineers of project A, software engineers of project B, QA engineers of project A, etc.

Organizational structure of Dhaka City Corporation (North)

Dhaka City Corporation is an autonomous corporation that is associated with the task of running the affairs of the Dhaka city. Dhaka North City Corporation consists of 36 wards covering the thanas of Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Pallabi, Adabor, Kafrul, Dhaka Cantonment, Gulshan, Banani, Badda, Uttara & some others. More than 80 lac inhabitants live in this area. It is responsible for many things concerning the life and welfare of the inhabitant.

Mayor or Administrator is the supreme post in this corporation. Chief executive officer is responsible to make the work done and oversee the work of each department. The corporation is divided into several department Named Engineering, Health, Revenue, Solid waste management, urban planning, Estate, Store & Purchase, Accounts, Social Welfare & Slum improvement, Transport, Law, Public Relation.

The whole area is also divided into five (5) zones. Each office is chaired by the executive officer.

If we try to dissect the organizational structure of the DCC(North), we will see that it has bureaucratic or hierarchal structure. The organization is responsible to perform different functions for the inhabitants in this area.

The main job of DCC (South) is to provide civic amenities to its inhabitants. It provides health care services, repair and construct new roads, social welfare, waste management, collects revenues etc.

If we look at the organizational structure of the corporation, it has different functional wings. The goal of this organization is to provide services effectively and efficiently to the citizen.

However, in the existing organizational structure, it is very hard to deliver satisfactory service. Bureaucratic or hierarchical Structures have many levels of management ranging Mayor to the executive officer. Since there are many levels, decision-making authority has to pass through more layers than flatter organizations. Bureaucratic organization has rigid and tight procedures, policies and constraints.

This kind of structure is reluctant to adapt or change what they have been doing since the corporation started. Organizational charts exist for every department, and everyone understands who is in charge and what their responsibilities are for every situation. Decisions are made through an organized process, and a strict command and control structure is present at all times. In bureaucratic structures, the authority is at the top and information is then flowed from top to bottom.

As a result, people don’t get the service they needed. Organization also fails to manage its resources effectively. For this reason, we need to reengineer the organizational structure the DCC (North) to make it efficient and effective.

Redesigning the organizational structure:

Now we need to adapt an organizational structure that works effectively and efficiently to deliver service to the citizen. If we look into the organizational structure of DCC (North), we will see that it has different function and job. One function is totally different to others. In this scenario functional structure will be ideal for this organization.

As a whole, a functional organization is best suited as a producer of standardized services at large volume and low cost. Moreover, efficient can further be realized as functional organizations integrate their activities vertically so that services are delivered quickly and at low cost.

In a functional organization, each department will have a manager who will be responsible to supervise the work. Under his authority, there will be other staff. As result speed of the work will increase and services can be provided with efficiency. For example, there will be an engineering unit responsible to implement the engineering work in the field level. The unit will be chaired by chief engineer. Under his direct supervision, several engineers and staff will work. Other functional unit will do the same. In functional structure, each unit will be free to pursue its work. As a result, it will get rid of bureaucratic tangle and productivity will increase.

Consequently, DCC (North) will function smoothly and effectively. The goal of this organization can be achieved through functional organizational structure. Citizen will get better service promptly and organizational efficiency will be increase

Conclusion

Every organization needs a structure in order to operate systematically. The organizational structures can be used by any organization if the structure fits into the nature and the maturity of the organization. In most cases, organizations evolve through structures when they progress through and enhance their processes and manpower. One company may start as a pre-bureaucratic company and may evolve according to its job and responsibility.

Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka_North_City_Corporation

http://dncc.gov.bd/

http://www.dncc.gov.bd/dncc-setup/organogram-of-dncc.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_structure

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/management_concepts/organizational_structures.htm

Dessler, Gary .(2014) Human Resources Management; Prentice Hall