Week 6:Functions of Management (O): Organising

MonashBusiness & Economics

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1. Draw a mind map of week 5’s topic– Characteristics of well-defined goals – Elements of planning (4 elements)– Decision making process (8 steps)– Contingency Factors (3 factors) that influence planning– Managers’ role in decision making – Types of problems and decisions

2. Grade Week 5’s self-reflections 3. Any Qs?

Block 1. Mind map, self-reflections and inquiries

• Define planning and the purpose of planning • Explore the role of goals and plans in planning • Discuss criticisms related to planning • Explore the decision making process • Understand the manager’s role as a decision maker • Explore factors that managers needs to be aware of

when making decisions in the 21st century

Last week: Functions of Management (P)

– Define organising – Explore the various elements of organisational structure

and design – Understand the difference between organic and

mechanistic organisations – Identify contingency factors affecting organisational

design choices – Explore common organisational designs

This week: Functions of management: Organising

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“Self-governance at LRN” pp. 438-439 In groups of 3-4, develop & justify your answers for: 1. Explain the organisational structure at LRN using the six organisational design elements

discussed in the lecture;2. Is the current organisational structure at LRN reflective of a mechanistic or organic

design?3. What contingency factors have influenced the current organisational structure at LRN? 4. Is the current organisational design at LRN reflective of a traditional or contemporary

organisational design?5. Do employee skill levels and degree of professionalism influence managerial decision-

making on introducing a self-governing structure? 6. What are the challenges in introducing a new organisational structure and way of

operating like LRN has done? Could you see yourself working in such an organisation?

Block 2. Illustrative case study

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Part A: Developing an organisational chart (15mins) Purpose: to apply the six elements of organisational design covered in lecture

Part B: Think critically about ethics: are organisations exploiting “non-employees” (P. 433)

1. Are organisations that use casual/temporary workers exploiting them? 2. Are organisations acting unethically by employing large numbers of casual/temporary

workers?3. More than 50% pf all academic staff employed in the Australian higher education

sector is employed on a casual/temporary basis. What implications do this raise for academic staff, students, and the Australian higher education sector?

4. Should the Australian government pass legislation that mandates minimum entitlements for casual/temporary workers?

Block 3. Class activity

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Short Answer Question (5 marks each)

1. List and briefly explain four contingency variables managers should

consider when engaging in organisational design;

2. List and briefly discuss four factors that influence the amount of

centralisation and decentralisation found within an organisation.

Block 4: Exam preparation

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List and briefly explain four contingency variables managers should consider when engaging in organisational design; [p. 424]

(1). Strategy and structure One of the contingency variables that influence organisational design is the organisation’s strategy. Alfred Chandler did the original work on the strategy-structure relationship. His finding that structure follows strategy indicates that as organisations change their strategies, they must change their structure to support that strategy. Most current strategy-structure framework focus on three strategy dimensions Innovation—needs the flexibility and free flow of information of the organic organisation Cost minimisation—needs the efficiency, stability and tight controls of the mechanistic organisation Imitation—uses some characteristics of both mechanistic and organic organisations(2). Size and structure There is conside4rable historical evidence that an organisation’s size significantly affects its structure. Larger organisations tend to have more specialisation, departmentalisation, centralisation and formalisation, although the size-structure relationship is not linear. (3). Technology and structure Technology also has been shown to affect an organisation’s choice of structure. Every organisation uses some form of technology to transform inputs into outputs Joan Woodard’s study of structure and technology found that organisations adapted to their technology. She found that three

distinct technologies had increasing levels of complexity and sophistication. Unit production is the production of items in units or small batches Mass production is the production of items in large batches Process production is the production of items in continuous processes

Woodward found in her study of these three groups that distinct relationships existed between these technologies, the subsequent structure of the organisation and the effectiveness of the organisation. Table 12.4 in the textbook provides a summary of these findings.

Marking template for Q1

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(4). Environmental uncertainty and structure The final contingency factor that has been shown to affect organisational structure is environmental uncertainty. One way to manage environmental uncertainty is through adjustments in the organisation’s structure. The more uncertain the environment, the more flexible and responsive the organisation needs to be (i.e. organic)

Marking template for Q1

Listing four contingency variables Briefly explaining why managers should consider each variable when engaging in organisational design

Overall quality

0.5 mark (0.125 marks per characteristic)

4 marks (1 mark per characteristic)

0.5 mark

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List and briefly discuss four factors that influence the amount of centralisation and decentralisation found within an organisation. [p.419]Factors that influence greater centralisation include stable environments; when lower-level managers are not as capable or experienced at making decisions as upper-level managers; when lower-level managers do not want to have a say in decisions; when decisions are significant, when the organisation is facing a crisis or the risk of company failure, when the company is large and when effective implementation of company strategies depends on managers retaining a say over what happens. Factors that influence greater decentralisation include when the environment is complex and uncertain; when lower-managers are capable and experienced at making decisions and want a voice in decisions; when decisions are relatively minor, when corporate culture is open to allowing managers to have a say in what happens, when the company is geographically dispersed, and when effective implementation of company strategies depends on managers having involvement and the flexibility to have decisions.

Marking template for Q2

Listing four factors Briefly explaining how these factors influence the amount of centralisation/decentralisation

Overall quality

0.5 marks (0.125*4) Up to 4 marks 0.5 mark

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1. Complete MCQ for week 7;2. Complete the weekly self-reflection for Week 6: Functions of

management (O): organising.3. Read the “Radical leadership” case on pages 682 in the textbook.

This case will be used in the Block 2 of next week’s tutorial.

Assignment reminder for NEXT WEEK