ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

An organization can be structured in many different ways, depending on their objectives. The structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it operates and performs.

Organizational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different functions and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and individual.

WHY SHOULD YOU DEVELOP A STRUCTURE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION?

• Structure gives members clear guidelines for how to proceed. A clearly-established structure gives the group a means to maintain order and resolve disagreements.
• Structure binds members together. It gives meaning and identity to the people who join the group, as well as to the group itself.
• Structure in any organization is inevitable -- an organization, by definition, implies a structure. Your group is going to have some structure whether it chooses to or not. It might as well be the structure which best matches up with what kind of organization you have, what kind of people are in it, and what you see yourself doing.

WHEN SHOULD YOU DEVELOP A STRUCTURE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION?

It is important to deal with structure early in the organization's development. Structural development can occur in proportion to other work the organization is doing, so that it does not crowd out that work. And it can occur in parallel with, at the same time as, your organization's growing accomplishments. This means that you should think about structure from the beginning of your organization's life. As your group grows and changes, so should your thinking on the group's structure.

 

COMMON ROLES

Every group is different, and so each will have slightly different terms for the roles individuals play in their organization, but below are some common terms, along with definitions and their typical functions.

1. An initial Steering Committee is the group of people who get things started. Often, this group will create plans for funding, and organizational and board development. It may also generate by-laws, and then dissolve. If they continue to meet after approximately the first six months, we might say they have metamorphosed into a coordinating council.

2. A Coordinating Council (also referred to as a coordinating committee, executive committee, andexecutive council), modifies broad, organization-wide objectives and strategies in response to input from individuals or committees.

3. Coordinating Council, or may serve as its head. Such a person may be known as the Executive Director, Project Coordinator, Program Director, orPresident. He or she sometimes has a paid position, and may coordinate, manage, inspire, supervise, and support the work of other members of the organization.

4. Task Forces are made up of members who work together around broad objectives. Task forces integrate the ideas set forward with the community work being done.

For example, from the director of a coalition to reduce violence in a medium-sized city: "Currently, we have three operational task forces. Members of each have an ongoing dialogue with members of the coordinating council, and also with their action committees. The oldest was formed with the goal of eliminating domestic violence about fifteen years ago, when a local woman was killed by her husband. Then, after several outbreaks of violence in the schools a few years back, our group offered to help, and a second task force sprung up around reducing youth violence. We've just started a third, with the goal of increasing gun safety.

5. Action Committees bring about specific changes in programs, policies, and practices in the sectors in which they work.

CHOOSING YOUR ORGANIZATION'S STRUCTURE

WHAT TYPE OF STRUCTURE SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?

First, decide upon the formality your organization will have. The following table, adapted from The Spirit of Coalition Building can help you make this first decision.

Conditions favoring more or less formality in organizational structures
Condition	A looser, less formal, less rule bound structure would be favored when...	A tighter, more formal, more rule-bound structure would be favored when...
Stage of organization development	The organization is just starting	The organization is in later stages of development
Prior relationships among members	Many such relationships already exist	Few such relationships already exist
Member motivation to be part of the organization	Motivation is high	Motivation is low
Organization size	The organization is small	The organization is large
Organization leadership	The leadership is experienced	The leadership is inexperienced
Urgency for action	There is no particular urgency to take action now	There is strong urgency to take action now

Organizational structure is something that is best decided upon internally, through a process of critical thinking and discussion by members of the group.

In your discussions, your answers to the following list of questions may guide your decisions.

• What is your common purpose? How broad is it? Groups with broader purposes often have more complicated structures, complete with many layers and parts, than do groups with more narrow purposes.
• Is your group advocacy oriented or service oriented? Service organizations use "top down," one-person-in-charge structure much more often than do advocacy based groups.
• Is your organization more centralized. A decentralized group might find a "top-down" structure inappropriate, as such a group often has several peers working together on an issue.
• How large is your organization? How large do you envision it becoming? A very small organization may wish to remain relatively informal, while a community-wide group might require a more formal structure. A related question, with similar consequences, is:
• How large is the community in which you work?
• How old is your organization? How long do you envision it lasting? A group formed to resolve a single issue might not need a formal structure at all, while an organization with long-term goals may want something more concrete, with clearer divisional responsibilities and authority.
• Should yours be a new organization, or part of an existing structure? Do you really need to form a new structure, or would it be better to work within existing structures? Sometimes, your goals may be better met if you are part of (or linked with) another organization.

IN SUMMARY

Structure is what ensures that your organization will function smoothly and as you intended. You should think about structure early in the development of your organization, but be aware that the type that fits best may change as your organization grows.

Organizational structure types

Functional structure

A functional organizational structure is a structure that consists of activities such as coordination, supervision and task allocation. The organizational structure determines how the organization performs or operates. The term organizational structure refers to how the people in an organization are grouped and to whom they report. 

Employees within the functional divisions of an organization tend to perform a specialized set of tasks, for instance the engineering department would be staffed only with software engineers. This leads to operational efficiencies within that group.

Divisional structure

The Divisional structure or product structure is a configuration of an organization, which breaks down the company into divisions that are self-contained. A division is self-contained and consists of a collections of functions which work to produce a product. It also utilizes a plan to compete and operate as a separate business or profit center.

Another example of divisional structure would be an automobile company which utilizes a divisional structure. The company would have one division for trucks, another for SUVS, and another for cars. The divisions may also have their own departments such as marketing, sales, and engineering.

Matrix structure

The matrix structure groups employees by both function and product. This structure can combine the best of both separate structures. A matrix organization frequently uses teams of employees to accomplish work, in order to take advantage of the strengths, as well as make up for the weaknesses, of functional and decentralized forms. An example would be a company that produces two products, "product a" and "product b".

Organizational circle: moving back to flat

The flat structure is common in small companies (entrepreneurial start-ups, university spin offs). As companies grow they tend to become more complex and hierarchical, which leads to an expanded structure, with more levels and departments.

Some experts also mention the multinational design, common in global companies, such as Procter & Gamble, Toyota and Unilever. This structure can be seen as a complex form of the matrix, as it maintains coordination among products, functions and geographic areas.

Team

One of the newest organizational structures developed in the 20th century is team. In small businesses, the team structure can define the entire organization. Teams can be both horizontal and vertical.

 For example, every one of the Whole Foods Market stores, the largest natural-foods grocer in the US developing a focused strategy, is an autonomous profit centre composed of an average of 10 self-managed teams, while team leaders in each store and each region are also a team.

Network

Another modern structure is network. While business giants risk becoming too clumsy to proact (such as), act and react efficiently, the new network organizations contract out any business function, that can be done better or more cheaply. In essence, managers in network structures spend most of their time coordinating and controlling external relations, usually by electronic means. H&M is outsourcing its clothing to a network of 700 suppliers, more than two-thirds of which are based in low-cost Asian countries.

Virtual

Virtual organization is defined as being closely coupled upstream with its suppliers and downstream with its customers such that where one begins and the other ends means little to those who manage the business processes within the entire organization. A special form of boundaryless organization is virtual.