Define Organizational Structure
An organizational structure is a system of how certain activities are directed down in order to accomplish the goal or task of a certain organization. The organizational structure is a hierarchy which identifies the job and function of each level.
Flat Structure
One characteristic of a Flat Structure is that it has less than 4 levels of hierarchy which means that there is a wider span of control. This means that the people above are put on more pressure because of that wide span of control.
Another characteristic of a Flat Structure is that it has a shorter line of communication since there is only 4 or less levels in the hierarchy, this makes it easier for the people above to get their message to the people at the bottom, this is good because it decreases the chance of a product failing or becoming worse.
The last characteristic of a Flat Structure is that it is harder to get a promotion since there is a limited levels of hierarchy, people at the top would not want to give away their position so getting a promotion is much tougher and there is low chance of it happening.
Tall Structure
One characteristic of a Tall Structure is that there is more than 4 levels of hierarchy which means there is a narrower span of control, in this situation the people at the top have less pressure put on them since they don’t have as many people to be in charge of.
Another characteristic of a Tall Structure is that there is a longer line of communication since there is more than 4 levels of hierarchy which could increase the chance of a product failing or not succeeding since it takes longer for the people at the top to communicate to the people at the bottom.
The last characteristic of a Tall Structure is that a promotion is much easier to obtain because of the narrow span of control, also employees working in a business with a tall organizational structure will work much harder as they know that they will be able to get a promotion if they work hard enough.
Advantages/ Disadvantages of using Organizational Structure
One advantage is that it keeps the company organized as it sets pre-defined roles which sets itself it’s own certain jobs, another advantage is that it shows who is in charge of who and which people you need to supervise over which keeps the employees working. Last advantage is it sets the certain salary for each level so that the pay is fair for everyone depending on the job that you worked.
A disadvantage is that sometimes it can be hard to communicate with each other as it could take more time or sometimes it never reaches the intended level of people, and once you have many levels of hierarchy it becomes much harder. Another disadvantage is that employees cannot take action of they have an issue but instead have to contact their manager which at sometimes can be unavailable. Lastly if employees have an idea that they want to put into place they have to contact the people above and then if they don’t have that authorization they have to contact the other people above and then it gets all messy and confusing.
