What is the advantage of mechanistic structure?

An organizational structure which is well designed plays a crucial role in the process of its development and growth whereas a choice of the wrong structure normally reduces organization profitability, allows insufficient work to flourish and creates tensions among employees and managers (Koontz, 2006). Management structures are usually used everywhere including non- governmental organizations, departments in the government, institutions and even local associations. An organization structure refers to the organization framework which is articulated by the organization’s degree of formalization, complexity and centralization.

Formalization of an organization can be defined as the degree by which it relies on the procedures and the rules which monitor the behavior of the employees. Complexity on the other hand means the extent of the diversity of the organization. Centralization is the attentiveness during decision making of the authority in the higher management.

Set rules that govern a company are used in management control, communication control and in decision making for a better output. Type of influence is regarded as the manipulation techniques which are used by the management in order to give orders and guidelines. This motivates the staff members to achieving the set goals. Authority based influence normally depends on the manager and his or her position in which he is in. Expertise based influence depends on the managers who use their skills to influence their subordinates to carry out duties as expected.

Communication style refers to the ways in which messages are sent to the staff members throughout the organization. The ways used have alternatives for instance communication can be started from the juniors to the senior. It can be done horizontally that is among the peer members in the company. It can also be done from the seniors to the juniors.

Below is an organizational chart that shows the position of the interviewee (Accounts Manager) in the hierarchy:

Organizational structures

According to the interviewee, there are various management structures that are in use today. The major organizational structures include the mechanistic structure and the organic structure. However, each one of the structures has advantages and disadvantages. A mechanistic structure has diversified characteristics that include the following: A mechanistic structure of an organization has a centralized control, communication is vertically carried out and it has a high degree of formalization and co-ordination (BusinessMate, 2009). It has a rigid or inflexible task definition, a complex differentiation and its influence is authority based at all the time.

Advantages of mechanistic structures of organization include the following: They are used in an environment whereby the tasks that are being undertaken have to be with high complexity. In this type of organizational management, every employee has to be specializing in a certain task. At the long run that employee normally is expected to make very small contribution to the final product of the organization. Senior managers in the organization are involved in decision making on how work is accomplished while a lot of emphasis is put on the improvement of the technical processes. One of the complex tasks environments includes the daily operations of the organization (Hanagan, 2005).

Mechanistic structure in an organization has several disadvantages such as: It is very firm or inflexible such that it is slow in adapting to the changes of environmental conditions. This structure is not well suited by the market competitive conditions such as the conditions used in the telecommunication industries (Hanagan, 2005). This type of structure should not be applied especially when almost all the staff members are highly skilled or they are all professional for instance in an auditing firm.

On the other hand however, organic structure of organizations has various characteristics that include the following: It has a decentralized control, its communication is laterally done and its formalization is that of a low degree. Co-ordination degree is low and the definition of tasks is flexible. It has simple differentiation and its influence is based on the expertise.

The major advantage of organic structure of management in an organization is that, it can be used in an environment where its operations are unstable, uncertain or unpredictable, that which change rapidly with the current conditions in the market (Cruz, 2003). It is used in situations whereby employees are allowed to contribute in decision making and during problem solving for example during professional consulting firms. The communication used in organic structure is important because it provides information and it is a form of advice rather than just giving instructions.

Disadvantages of organic structure of management in an organization include the following: It does not provide sufficient management when there are large and complex tasks that need substantial integration of the available resources and workforces in the accomplishment of the strategic goals (Covin, 2007).

Interviewee views

When any employee gets into the company where I carried out the interview or any other organization, begins by learning everything about it. The most crucial thing learnt is the type of management structure that is normally used in the company. Others include the working relationship between the seniors and their junior members.

The manager I interviewed suited in the organic structure of management. This is because its mechanisms are integrated and complex. The teams and the staff members in that organization normally carry out an integrated work. This type of a structure in that company has many employees who work together and in a coordinated manner.

Communication in the interviewee’s company is horizontally carried out. The authorities in the organization are the ones that control every task through delegation verbally from the senior authorities. In most cases the work is unpredictable since it is randomly done. The contact that is usually carried out in this company is face to face. This is the best type of coordination according to my interviewee point of view. This creates mutual adjustments in the work which can allow the staff members to adjust even to what they do.

The work in the organization is simultaneously done. The staff members can even have overtime job and everyone can work in various capacities in the company as long as the final output has got positive effects to the company and its staff members in general. The informal status of the workforce is perceived in brilliance or an intelligence manner.

References

BusinessMate. (2009, November 25). Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizational Structure (Contingency Theory). BusinessMate. Web.

Covin, J. G. (2007). The Influence of organizational Structure on the Utility of an Entrepreneural Top Management Style. Journal of Management Studies, 217-234.

Cruz, S. (2003). Organic Vs. Mechanistic Structures: Construction and Validation of a Scale of Measurement. The Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, 111 – 123.

Hanagan, T. (2005). Management: Concepts and Practices. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Koontz, H. (2006). Essentials Of Management. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

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Definition

The mechanistic organizations is defined as an organizational structure that is bureaucratic as well as hierarchical by nature. It is one of the most formal organisational structures which has a specific division of labor that results in specialized job profiles. The centralized system ensures a strict chain of command and a higher authority with all the power.

It is named so because of its similarity to a machine where every part is synchronized to create a predictable and standard output.

What is a mechanistic organisation?

The mechanistic organizational structure is created for a company that deals in mass production as it can benefit from economies of scale. It has a formal set of practices, procedures, rules and regulations with no deviation from the path.

In a mechanistic organizations, the employees are concerned with their task. They have set boundaries and remain within the frame working separately at their work stations. Everything is handed down the chain of command from the top to the next until it reaches the bottom.

A mechanistic organizational chart includes Chief Executive Officer or CEO at the top followed by executives, supervisors, managers and support personnel. Employees at a lower level have no or very little interaction with people at a level higher than their own.

The mechanistic organizational structure is well-defined and thus can achieve predictability through specialization and control through its chain of command. This ensures high levels of efficiency and productivity. The outcomes of a mechanistic organizational structure are rigidly defined jobs, processes and technologies.

Best Characteristics of mechanistic Structures Efficiency

The features of a mechanistic organization are as follows-

• Stable environment –An essential element of a mechanistic organizations is its stable environment as it encourages conventional technologies and tasks. It has defined, clear, centralized and vertical hierarchies of command, control, power and authority. Formalization, standardization, specialization is its integral parts that leads to efficiency and predictability.
• Low differentiation of tasks – In a mechanistic organizations tasks are not differentiated at a prominent rate because most of the subtasks are easy to control
• Little integration- As the functions are stable, there is low integration between functional areas and departments. These are not dependent on each other
• Centralized decision-making – in case of a stable environment, there is no requirement for any decision-making that involves people at lower or middle levels. Thus in a mechanistic organization, only the higher management is involved in making decisions. There are clear communication channels that allow the flow of information or communication to pass from top to bottom and even vice-versa. The centralized decision-making boosts organizational efficiency and leads to the effective functioning of bureaucratic structures.
• Standardization and formalization – An essential characteristic of the mechanistic organizations is that the tasks are formalized and standardized so that there is no breakdown and things keep on running smoothly. It also minimizes the variability within the organization. It requires all procedures and processes that are administered should be first authorized, and in case some methods are outside the approved protocol, then it should be brought under control as it is a variance.

Advantages

The advantages of a mechanistic organizations are as follows-

• Simple to work – As the rules and regulations are written and explained in detail, it is easy and simple to work in a mechanistic organizations. The top-level is entrusted with creating standards, and guidelines and instructions and the other employees simply have to follow them while performing specific activities
• Prompt decision-making – In a mechanistic organizations, it is only the top-level or the head of a company who has the authority to make a decision. This structure proves beneficial in making quick decisions as there is no need to consult lower-level management in the decision-making process. This also helps a company to implement its conclusions at a faster pace
• Minimizes supervising cost – In this type of organizational structure, employees are appointed for specific jobs as per their specialized fields. The company tries to create the right fit by assigning the right person for the right job at the right time. This ultimately helps the organization in minimizing its supervising costs as there is no reason to micromanage the employees who are proficient at their jobs
• Effective employee management – The mechanistic organizations has set policies, working system, rules, regulations and a systematic chain of command that flows from top to lower level. This is an advantage for the company as it helps to manage the workforce in an effective manner
• Proper discipline – In a mechanistic organizational structure, the power is centralized, and every employee in the organization knows his duties and responsibilities. This ensures proper discipline is in place
• Network position – In a mechanistic organizations, the top-level management instructs the midlevel managers who offer guidance to lower-levels, and this continues until the last level. The network helps in creating an active communication network that ensures the timely flow of information
• Specific responsibility – In the mechanistic organizational structure, every person has a specific responsibility based on his abilities, skills and know-how. He can neither avoid his responsibility, nor can he transfer his job to others ad thus has to complete the job by himself. With time this results in a feeling of self-responsibility, improved satisfaction and high morale in the employees

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of a mechanistic organizations are as follows-

• Static and rigid – The standardized activities in a controlled structure make the mechanistic organizations static and inflexible. There is no provision to make any changes or suggestions in this dynamic environment
• Does not adapt to change – It is difficult for a mechanistic organizations to adapt successfully to change because of its rigid organizational structure
• Work overload – In the mechanistic organizations, the power and authority are with top-level management who has to involve himself in even daily activity. It increases his work overload to a great extent.
• Autocratic leadership – The bureaucratic structure encourages autocratic leadership, where the employees at lower and mid-levels do not have the right to offer suggestions or take part in the decision-making process in the organization. Even the flow of communication is one way, and this does not ensure smooth functioning
• Formalized structure – Another disadvantage of the mechanistic organizations is its formalized structure that prevents the employees from being creative or using their skills to fulfill some other task. Each employee has to work according to specific rules that do not allow deviation
• Impractical decisions – As there are a limited number of people involved in making decisions the possibility of impractical decisions increases
• Difficulty in coordination – Mechanistic organization has difficulty in coordination between various employees as everyone is concerned only with himself and his work

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