Leadership – Organizational and Mechanistic Organizational Structures
McShane and Von Glinow define organizations as “groups of people who work interdependently towards some purpose” (McShane, Von Glinow, 2012, p.5). For these groups of people to successfully achieve their shared goals and purposes, there must be some level of strategic coordination between them that facilitates a degree of collaboration that is both efficient and effective. This necessary coordination reflects the organizational structure, which can be broadly classified as mechanistic or organic (McShane, Von Glinow, 2012).
Characteristics of mechanical and organic structures.
The mechanistic structure is characterized by a narrow control space, indicating a tall, vertical structure with many hierarchical layers. Authority in mechanistic structures is centralized and power remains at the top of the organization. They generally have a high degree of formalization, with many standardizations, rules, and procedures. Communication flow is like structure, vertical as opposed to horizontal. The organic structure is the exact opposite. It has a wide control range, which makes the structure horizontal and flatter.
Decision making is decentralized down the organization. Instead of standardization, organizational structures are much more informal and flexible, with a greater flow of horizontal communication (McShane, Von Glinow, 2012).
Choose the best organizational structure
To some extent, both types of structures are necessary in every organization. It is the internal and external environmental dynamics of the organization that determine the degree of mechanical or organic characteristics most suitable at any given stage of organizational life. Most organizations start out very simple and become more complex as they grow and expand. Having fewer customers, employees, and product lines creates a relatively stable environment during which the mechanistic structure works best.
Stability is the ideal season to standardize procedures and establish operational rules and policies that create a basic framework for the organization to function. With fewer employees, the range of control can be narrower and higher, providing closer supervision while assigning employees to more specialized roles during these crucial startup periods that could last several years. This higher hierarchical structure also facilitates centralized decision making, which is appropriate during the time when organizations are developing culture and establishing their position within their respective industries.
As organizations grow, Daft and Marcic (2011) describe two major changes that occur that create the need for a more organic structure. The first occurrence is the result of a larger customer base, product lines, and / or the number of services offered, which means that the organization must hire more employees. Increasing customer demands also requires more specialized customer service, which means more departments. New departments will need the creation of new roles for those departments. New product lines will create the need for a greater understanding of the environment and legal regulations regarding those products. All of these new challenges may require changes in standardized procedures to accommodate new demands, increasingly disrupting carefully planned routine procedures and policies of the mechanistic structure (Daft, Marcic, 2011).
Organizational growth is typically characterized by rapid change, creating the need for a higher level of coordination throughout the organization. This coordination refers to the quality of collaboration between employees and departments, which is better facilitated with a flatter organizational structure and consistent with the organizational structure. It means organizing with teams and networks of people, and increasing horizontal communication capacity, fostering information sharing, inevitably empowering employees in lower positions to make quick, quality decisions in those rapidly changing environments. It does not totally alleviate the need for the vertical dimension, but creates the requirement for a larger horizontal dimension (Daft, Marcic, 2011).
How both structures work together
National American University (NAU) is an excellent example of why organizations need both vertical and horizontal dimensions. Its vertical dimension consists of its board of directors and those who oversee the executive functions of the organization and report to shareholders. This dimension also encompasses operational departments that have responsibilities for environmental elements such as federal regulations. Because the university has both physical and virtual facilities, they must follow state and local regulations, in addition to complying with Internet safety regulations. These are all the areas that are encompassed by the vertical sphere of your structure. Its horizontal dimension is more applicable to its ability to provide personalized services to its students and staff members. Managing the financial and academic needs of students and staff requires high-quality collaboration between departments.
Conclution
Although organizations may favor one structure over the other, both mechanical and organic structures are necessary for organizations to achieve their goals. As organizations grow and change to meet rapidly changing environmental factors, they must be able to adapt their structure to their changing environment. Adaptation may require expanding your scope of control to increase the quality of collaboration; It may involve lowering the level of formalization by aborting or modifying established policies and procedures and other routine functions that no longer function in the more complex environment; and it can include empowering employees at the grassroots, through a willingness to openly share information and power.
References
Daft, RL, Marcic D. (2011). Understanding management 7th edition. Southwestern Cengage Learning. Mason, OH 45040.
McShane, SL, Von Glinow, MA (2012). Organizational behavior. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. New York, NY. 10020