What are the three main dimensions of organizational structure?

 

n we are looking at organizations, there are three main structural elements: hierarchy, differentiation and specialization, and formalization. You can devise a plan for changing communication norms with the tips found at FutureTech’s website. On this site, they tell us “Effective employee communication increases productivity, reduces voluntary turnover, and creates a mission-focused workforce.” This is a great reason to understand how hierarchy, differentiation, and specialization can change any group. Each of these plays a role in communications on an organizational level.

Hierarchy is the way in which power in an organization is delegated. Most larger organizations will have more levels of power than smaller ones. Some organizations are attempting to create less levels of power within their organizations. This would make the organization more nimble and accepting of change. The problem with largely hierarchial organizations lies in the flow of communication. When there are several layers , it is very difficult to get messages sent from the bottom to the top. Some employees say, “communication problems in the company and micromanagement by their boss are intolerable. In response, senior-level management sends its leaders to management training where they learn to listen and communicate more effectively,” A view on this situation is presented by The CEO Refresher.       

The term differentiation and specialization is another way of saying division of labor. As our text explains, “In an entrepreneurial, start-up organization, one or two people may do everything, thus reflecting a low level of specialization or differentiation. However, in large corporations, we typically find a high level of specialization, reflected in departments like production, planning, public relations, and so forth.” Specialization in an organization can be either beneficial or not. Specialization builds ties between people in departments who are both specialized in the same area. They develop a sense of belonging and also develop their own jargon. The building of relationships is good for the organization, but it also separates those groups from the rest of the organization. It is for that reason different departments have a hard time understanding each other and working together. Most of the time, there are actual physical boundaries between departments. Yet all of the separate groups rely on each other to do their part and get what needs to be done, done.