Flat Structure
In the flat structure there are few layers in the organisation. This structure is often used for smaller businesses.
There is only one level of command with a wide span of control. Communication in this type of structure will therefore be a lot more effective. This will keep costs down, as employing managers to look over the workers will no longer be needed. There is less bureaucracy. However if there are a lot of workers who are all responsible to you the workload will be massive and you will spend so much time sorting out problems you will not be able to get on with your own work at all.
Divisional Structure
A divisional structure is when the organisation is broken up into divisions of different areas. This could be by functions if a large company or countries if they sell their product or service in many different countries or shops if they have different branches. If a sole owner has four shops he might make that shop manager have total control over that shop and watch over all four.
Advantages are that each division can have specialised employees. There is also more motivation as the bureaucracy has gone. Disadvantages could occur when communication is poor between divisions and that the divisions weaken the overall control.
Matrix Structure
The matrix structure is used for project-based organisations. This means that people from the same functional groups may not necessarily work together. People will be put in project teams.
What Organisational Structure does BA have?
British Airways has a hierarchical and divisional structure as you can see in the example I gave earlier. This works well for BA as each division is managed by a director and then several managers. This ensures everyone knows whom he or she is responsible to and whom he or she is responsible for. The downside of the hierarchical structure is the chain of command. Each division may not know what the other is doing which could cause a problem. Also because the lines of communication are quite long it may be possible for messages to get lost or distorted. This is why it is important to have an autocratic management style as every employee must be kept alert and task focussed so that those sort of problems do not occur.
How does management style affect BA?
Organisational structure can affect the performance of BA as if they changed from a hierarchical and divisional structure to something else like a flat structure many of the divisional managers would lose their jobs meaning that the workers would be directly responsible to the Managing Director. This would be an impossible situation as BA employs thousands of people. The hierarchical structure could have a detrimental effect if messages from the directors get lost or distorted as they get given to the workers.
Management style is more likely to have an effect on the employees. The autocratic approach is the most likely to be used in the hierarchical structure to make sure all employees are following the strict guidelines set by BA. This keeps productivity high however the morale may be low. If they changed to a democratic approach things may take longer to solve and there may be disputes between employees.
How does culture affect performance?
Culture can affect the performance of the business in a positive and negative way. Most of the time in BA a role or bureaucratic culture that is keen on routine and procedure, making sure every employee works to the objectives of their manager and how their manager wants them to work. This will encourage the employees to stay task focused and complete the jobs in hand however they may become disheartened that they as an individual are not involved in the team spirit that some other cultures may have.
How do organisational structure, management style and culture help meet its objectives?
Organisational structure can help BA meet its objectives by using the divisional structure so that the organisation is divided by functions, which will be working towards completing the objectives. Management styles will differ depending on the objective they are working on e.g. To be a safe and secure airline will involve an autocratic approach so to make sure everyone on the flights will be safe. Culture is governed by the management styles and organisational structure. Whatever the organisational structure and management styles are the culture will be adapted to it. The strategies used by the business to complete the objectives will be seen in the culture.
The organisational structure will probably affect certain objectives more than others. In my opinion the main objectives that it affects are: -
- Strong & consistent financial performance
- Significant presence in all geographical markets
- To be a good employer and sustain a working environment that attracts retains and develops committed employees who share in the success of the company
I think this because the strong and consistent financial performance can be monitored carefully by the finance department to make sure that marketing is not costing too much and to make sure that they are spending enough on other things like customer service.
Organisational structure could also help the objective to have a significant presence in all geographical markets. BA is likely to have divided up the divisions by area as well as the other business functions. Each area division should be able to see how well they are doing in that geographical market and then work to improve it. The organisational structure is bound to help the employees in a number of ways. Firstly they will all know whom they are directly responsible to and for and where they are in the organisational structure. It also makes it easier for the managers to see how the working environment is for the people they are directly responsible for.
