Simple Organizational Structure

The simple organization structure is primarily for small businesses.

In today's economy where change is the only constant, organizations must be organized and structured to react and make decisions quickly. For this reason, the proper organizational structure is crucial to this reaction time. The simple organization structure is the simplest organizational option.

Identification

The simple organizational structure is the organizational structure most often used by small businesses. Generally, you have the business owner or boss and the employees. There are no departments, department heads or middle level managers. It's a simple, flat configuration.

Function

Because the organization is small, employees provide all of the necessary functions, such as human resources, customers service, accounting and IT. All employees report to the business owner.

Benefits

This simple organizational structure is highly effective for small organizations. All employees report to the owner and the owner makes the necessary decisions to run the company. Because there is no middleman, decisions are made quickly and the business can run smoothly.

Considerations

As small businesses grow and bring on new employees, the simple organizational structure is no longer adequate. The business owners must start delegating management and decision-making responsibility to other individuals or team members. From this point, the simple organizational structure will evolve into a traditional hierarchical organization structure, matrix, networked, virtual or another format, depending what's required to maximize productivity.

References

• BusinessMate.org: What is a Simple Organizational Structure?