Organizational structures are one of the most important indicators of the effectiveness of management, in parallel, but they are also a major problem for science and practice.
The practical experience and the numerous researches made confirm that in comparison with the other means, much more often, through the change of the structure solutions and many managerial problems are sought and found.
The need to build organizational structures is related to the dynamics of development and the greater complexity of social structural systems.
For example, in the transition from manufacturing to industrial production, the predominant type of organizational structures are linear, and they are simpler and less efficient.
That is why science is constantly looking for ways to overcome inefficiencies and opportunities to make organizational structures more applicable.
This can happen when there are clearly defined concepts for the structural configuration of the governing bodies, which provide dynamism, flexibility, and the possibility for rapid transformation and adaptation to the new conditions. The structures thus created would meet these needs.
The diversity of management structures is a confirmation of the tendency to complicate the design process, and thus the need for new research.
They have different practical applicability according to the complexity of management processes in specific objects of management.
But the key problem remains the lack of “generally accepted” integrated technologies for building organizational structures, and they are the most important factor for improving management systems. but all provisions remain a prerequisite for new research to address this problem, and any attempt at system-oriented analysis is a valuable contribution to management science and practice.
Table of Contents
Defining organizational structures
Many authors attempt to define existing definitions and at the same time acknowledge the impossibility of their full coverage.
These same definitions are carriers of valuable information, revealing different aspects of the object in question.
To define the organizational structures it is necessary to know the essence and characteristics of the following concepts:
Organization
The term organization is used in two senses – as a property of the object and as the object itself.
In the first sense, the organization is an activity of creating the most rational structure of the site, it is one of the functions of management. In this case, we are talking about bad or good organizations.
When an organization is understood as the very object of management, it is a unity of the organizational-technical, socio-economic and psychological side of management.
From a functional point of view, the organization is a tool for achieving the set goals.
The organizational relations themselves reflect the order between the elements, and the degree of this order is determined by the level of organization of the object of management.
Structure
The structure is the specific way in which the components of the system are connected and its internal organization forms its structure.
It is a phenomenon valid for objects considered as systems. This conclusion is a consequence of the etymological essence of the term “structure”.
Translated from Latin it means a structure, order, order, sustainable unity of the elements and their relation to the integrity of the given object.
Organizational structure
The organizational structure is a set of connections and relations arising in the management process between the divisions of the organization.
It is an effective factor for efficient operation and management of systems.
The way of building organizational structures in the same organization can be different and change depending on the dynamics of internal changes in the environment.
To better understand their nature, it is necessary to trace the influence of many factors influencing their creation with their characteristics.
When defining the organizational structure, it is important to consider some things.
First, when defining its essence as a priority, the achievement of unity in the position of what the concept reflects should be brought out. The problem of exhaustiveness is of secondary importance.
Its solution is done through a broader analysis and description of the characteristics of organizational structures.
The reason for this is that in practice the term is not used precisely and this creates methodological and practical problems.
And secondly, that the practice of understanding only the structure of the governing bodies as organizational structures has been established.
When we talk about “structures” we are referring to organizational structures without distinguishing between the two concepts. And they are different.
At first glance, there is no problem, but there are cases when senior managers talk about organizational structures and present only one list of structural units.
Formally, however, there is no difference between structure and organizational structure, but this does not negate the existence of many features valid for social systems.
Their separation has epistemological and methodological significance, because the existence of a structure of a system, and not of any structure at all, means that it is a structure of a system that cannot exist without being organized.
References
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Reference: “Fundamentals of management and classification of management functions”, https://www.libraryofmu.org/fundamentals-of-management/
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Reference: “Manager vs leader: similarities and differences”, https://pm.mba/posts/manager-vs-leader/
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Reference: “The profession of the manager: How to become one”, https://scrumtime.org/profession-of-the-manager/
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Reference: “Knowledge and skills of the manager”, https://projectmanagement.news.blog/2021/07/09/knowledge-and-skills-of-the-manager/
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Reference: “Motivating the behavior of the manager”, https://agileprojectmanagement.home.blog/2021/07/10/motivating-the-behavior-of-the-manager/
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“Types of organizational and managerial structures”, https://www.policymatters.net/types-of-organizational-and-managerial-structures/
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“Management structures in the organization”, https://w-europe.org/management-structures-in-the-organization/
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“What is organizational culture?”, https://stc-montreal.org/what-is-organizational-culture/
Structures and organizational structures in social systems
The structures and organizational structures in social systems are artificial, they are a creation of the subject, and that means two things.
First, that the same elements that form the structure can be arranged differently and, accordingly, form different organizational structures.
And second, that the concept of structure can have a purely ideological or communicative meaning.
In general, the structure is defined as a set of elements that are part of a particular phenomenon for which no other knowledge is needed.
In the system, however, all processes are unified, interconnected, and dependent.
For social systems, the organizational structure can be defined as a way of arranging the elements, including the connections between them, grouped in a way that ensures optimal functioning of the system and its interaction with the environment.
And the organizational structures of systems of different classes can be defined as a way of arranging the elements, together with the connections between them and the environment, which ensure the processes that satisfy the essence, integrity, and purpose of the system in life.
The organizational structures of the management subsystem are defined as organizational management structures and will be defined as a way of arranging and grouping management bodies and staff, the relationships between them and the environment, their functional duties and interactions, corresponding to delegated rights and responsibilities for successful implementation. of management goals.