Organizational Structures

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Organizational Structures
Introduction
Organizational structures and design will play a significant role in charting the future of the organization. When the structure and design are in perspective, there are chances that all will be well and that things are likely to move in the direction of the company’s goals and objectives. Customer attraction and retention will be determined by the structure of the firm and its design. The design deals with how the environment of the workplace looks like and plays a role in how the employees relate with one another. If the design is a good one, many employees will be comfortable working for the firm and hence a lower employee turnover rate. The structure of an organization determines how well a company relates with its employees, how leadership is done, and how customers are treated, and, therefore, plays a vital role in the success of the business.
Discussion
The way an organization is structured can have significant effects on its employees. The effects that it will have on employees will determine the level of production in the said firm (Buher, 2011). Among the many effects is that it will determine the pecking order in an organisation. The pecking order refers to the order of hierarchy. It shows who is superior to whom and who should report to whom. Once this is clearly spelt out, chances of there being collisions at the workplace will be eliminated (Buher, 2011). Another effect will be that it will determine how to measure the production of employees. Performance measurement may either be done on a team or individual basis. There are situations when employees can have their output measured as a team while, in other instances, it requires individual measurement of the output. Organization structure can, therefore, largely affect what is expected from each employee, how they are treated and how they react to their superiors.
Organizational structure will also play a significant role in determining who plays a particular role (Buher, 2011). People are given job descriptions of what is expected of them and the necessary tools of carrying out their duties. A clear chain of supervisory activities is also outlined and helps in identifying and resolving issues in the firm. In so doing, elements of redundancy in the workplace are reduced. People know what is expected of them and their roles are also known to them. If people do not know what is expected of them, then they may seek guidance from their superiors.
Some employees work remotely while others work in house. It means that the structures must have mechanisms that will ensure that there are ways of ensuring that people who work in-house or remotely have their input measured. In so doing, every employee’s input in the organization will be measured. It is based on this fact that it can be seen that organizational structure will play a significant role in organizations. The structure of an organization dictates how employees contributing to the organization through different methods are regarded and compensated and how their work in the organization is measured.
Organizational designs will have several implications on the behaviour of employees. One of the designs that is worth looking at is the Quicken Loans design (Puffer, 2004). Under this design, employees put a lot of emphasis on serving the clients. They handle the clients in the best way possible and there is an air of happiness in the organization. The happy environment is what motivates the employees to be dedicated in their work of serving clients. Under this design, clients are treated like small gods, and every employee strives hard to ensure that he attracts the clients to his side of sales as much as possible. This design is also called the pragmatic culture (Puffer, 2004). Another organizational design is the normative design. Under this design, there are rules that employees must follow to the latter when dealing with clients. The laws of the firm state the rules of engagement and at no point are they supposed to be broken in any way. Employees who work outside these laws may be sacked or disciplinary action taken against them.
Two types of organizational structure exist. They are the simple structure and the divisional structure. In the simple structure, there is one overall leader with several people who report to him. In the divisional structure, there are many divisions of the organization that operate autonomously. Each division reports to the CEO of the firm. The best structure is the divisional structure since each division will carry out its functions depending on the needs of the local people it serves (Puffer, 2004). It is, therefore, able to personalise its functions to meet the needs of the clients. In so doing, there is an element of customer satisfaction that may be developed. Once customer satisfaction is developed, there are chances of there being customer loyalty that will be created.
Conclusion
It can therefore be seen that organizational structure plays a significant role in the overall development of the firm. It tells who is to perform given tasks at given times. It is also good when it comes to measuring employee achievements in the organization. Each firm can choose a design that it feels would lead to the achievement of its objectives. In so doing, measures that are tailored-made are developed and implemented to ensure that all is well in the organization. The structure that an organization chooses will also play a role in determining the type of environment that is created in that firm. Therefore, organizations must have structures that are likely to propagate the ideals of the firm.

References
Buher, P.M. (2011) “Changing Organizational Structures and their Impact on Managers.”
Supervisor 72 (2) 24-26
Puffer, S. (2004) “Changing Organizational Structures: An Interview with Rosabeth Moss
Kanter .” Academy of Management Executive 18 (2)