Organizations are defined by McShane and Von Glinow 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 among 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 mechanical or organic (McShane, Von Glinow, 2012).
Characteristics of mechanistic and organic structures.
The mechanistic structure is characterized by a narrow span of control, indicating a tall, vertical structure with many hierarchical layers. Authority in mechanistic structures is centralized and power is held at the top of the organization. They tend to have a high degree of formalization, with many standardizations, rules and procedures. The flow of communication is like the structure, vertical as opposed to horizontal. The organic structure is exactly the opposite. It has a wide control range, which makes the structure horizontal and flatter.
Decision making is decentralized in the organization. Instead of standardization, organizational structures are much more informal and flexible, with a greater flow of horizontal communication (McShane, Von Glinow, 2012).
Choosing the best organizational structure
To some extent, both types of structures are necessary in any organization. It is the internal and external environmental dynamics of the organization that determine the degree of mechanical or organic characteristics that are most appropriate 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 time to standardize procedures and establish operational rules and policies that create a basic framework for the operation of the organization. With fewer employees, the span of control can be narrower and higher, providing closer supervision and assigning employees to more specialized roles during these crucial start-up periods that can last several years. This higher hierarchical structure also facilitates centralized decision making, which is appropriate at a time when organizations are developing a 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 trend structure. The first occurrence is the result of a larger customer base, product lines, and/or number of services offered, which means the organization must hire more employees. Growing customer demands also require more specialized customer service, which means more departments. New departments will require the creation of new roles for those departments. New product lines will create a need for greater awareness of the environment and the legal regulations relating to those products. All of these new challenges may require changes to standardized procedures to match the new demands, increasingly disrupting the carefully planned routine procedures and policies of the mechanistic structure (Daft, Marcic, 2011).
Organizational growth is typically characterized by rapid change, creating a need for a higher level of coordination across the organization. This coordination refers to the quality of collaboration between employees and departments, which is best facilitated with the flattest organizational structure and consistent with the organizational structure. It means organizing with teams and networks of people, and increasing capacity for horizontal communication, which encourages information sharing, which inevitably empowers lower-ranking employees to make quick, quality decisions in these rapidly changing environments. It does not totally alleviate the need for the vertical dimension, but it does create the requirement for a greater 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 the operating 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 adhering to Internet safety standards. These are all areas that are encompassed with the vertical sphere of your structure. Its horizontal dimension is most 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.
conclusion
Although organizations may favor one structure more than the other, both mechanistic 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 span of control to increase the quality of collaboration; it may involve lowering the level of formalization by overturning or modifying established policies and procedures and other routine functions that no longer function in the more complex environment; and may include empowering rank-and-file employees, through a willingness to openly share information and power.
References
Daft, R.L., Marcic D. (2011). Understanding management 7th edition. Southwest Cengage Learning. Mason, OH 45040.
McShane, SL, Von Glinow, MA (2012). Organizational behavior. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. New York, NY. 10020