Question: Analyzing Organizational Structure For this chapter, you will analyze the structure of a real organization such as a department store, restaurant, hospital, fire station, or police department. In the next chapter, you will identify the contingencies that have influenced the development of the organization's culture. Objective Your objective is to gain experience in analyzing and diagnosing an organization. Procedure The class divides into groups of from three to five people. Group members discuss the kind of organization the group will analyze and then explore the possibility of gaining access to the organization by using a personal contact or by calling and going to see the manager in charge of the organization. After the group gains access to the organization, each member of the group interviews one or more members of the organization. Use the following questions listed to develop an interview schedule to guide your interview of the organization's employees, but be sure to ask additional questions to probe more deeply into issues that you think are interesting and reveal how the organization's structure works. After all of the groups complete the assignment, the instructor either will allocate class time for each group to make a presentation of its findings to the whole class, or he or she will request a written report.
1. Draw an organizational chart showing the major roles and functions in your organization.
2. What kind of structure does your organization use? Why does it use this structure? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this structure?
3. How does your organization integrate and coordinate its activities?
a. Describe the organization's hierarchy of authority. Is it tall or flat? Is it centralized or decentralized? How wide a span of control does the top manager have?
b. What integrating mechanisms does the organization use to coordinate its activities?
c. To what degree does the organization standardize its activities, and how does it do this?
4. Summarizing this information, would you say the organization operates with a mechanistic or organic structure? Are there elements of both?