What Influences the Structure of an Organization?
A strong organizational structure can make your company more efficient. Organizational structure is the way in which your company allocates personnel resources in order to perform the job tasks needed, according to the Reference for Business website. There are factors with the way your company does business and with the business plan you use to run your company that influence the structure of your organization.
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Responsibility
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The way in which your company assigns responsibility will influence the look of your corporate structure, according to the Reference for Business website. If you have a select few managers making all company decisions, then you wind up with large groups reporting to that small group of managers. If you choose a more specialized approach to decision-making that allows departmental managers and project leaders to make daily decisions, then your organizational structure would tend to be more spread out because your business units are more autonomous.
Function
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Departments and groups that rely heavily on each other to get regular job tasks done tend to group together in the company framework, according to the HRM Guide website. For example, if the engineering group is offering regular support to the manufacturing department, then those two groups will develop their own culture that will allow them to get their jobs done more effectively. The reliance of groups on each other is a deciding factor in how your company structures itself.
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Growth Patterns
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When you work on your company's business plan, one of the focuses is planning for growth. The future needs of the company as it grows are major influences on the structure of the organization, according to the Inc.com website. Changes in the marketplace can often require the creation of new divisions within departments that can alter how your company functions. For example, the effectiveness of your company may require you to break up the sales department into specialized divisions to address the changes in your industry. By segmenting a department for future growth, you are affecting your company's structure.
Dynamics
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In the technology industry, the marketplace needs can change quickly. Companies that are involved in dynamic industries adopt dynamic structures. Departments are prepared to handle a variety of job tasks, managers are hired based on the versatility of their backgrounds, and the company is in a constant state of change. This is different from planned growth because a dynamic company makes changes in an instant rather than over an extended period of time. Some of these structural changes are reactive, and some are proactive. There is a plan for growth in place, but the organization is structured based on how it can best survive in the marketplace.
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