HW 1 Paper
Abstract
The type of organizational structure used by a particular company helps to determine various
aspects such as culture, ease of operation, and effectiveness. The organizational structure can be
centralized or decentralized based on the needs of the company. How formalized or informal the
organizational structure is also has a bearing on the company’s function. In addition, in the
organizational structure there might be levels of specialization depending on the different
functions being carried out. The various modes of organizational structure will determine the
effectiveness and how appropriate they are to the modern world. In this paper the organizational
structure of Ray’s Contracting Company will be evaluated and discussed. The extent to which it
is centralized and formalized will be analysed. Furthermore, the structure’s impact on
effectiveness will also be discussed.
Introduction
For just over the last two years I have been working at Rays Contracting, a logistics
company contracted by the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). In this paper, I will measure
the organization’s structure and effectiveness based on the various class readings and research to
draw a conclusion on strengths, weaknesses and how it can be improved. Although the
organization is a large company, I plan to focus on the dozen employees that are assigned to the
CBP contract. The section that I am contracted under primarily handles the labor within the US
Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) headquarters. They also deal with deliveries of furniture and
supplies, installation and warehouse management.
Structure Description
The culture within our office at Rays Contracting seems to be split between formal and informal,
neither seem to determine work effectiveness. I would categorize the style of this culture to be in
a medium to high range. This is greatly attributed to employees being content with how the
balance works great in the workplace although there can always be improvements (Gale, 2009).
The company contracts groups of employees to be stationed at various locations although they
still report to headquarters. This helps to maximize production from the total amount of
employees. For example including my contract, Rays Contracting currently has two other long
term contracts (2 years or longer) as well as casual day to day requests or short term contracts
handled by another branch within the organization.
The head boss of the site reports to the President and other levels of management at the
warehouse. The next level of superiority is the supervisor who deals with clients, delegates work,
and coordinates job execution, while also serving as the point of contact on site. The
Encyclopaedia of Business and Finance describes a component of centralization as “a limited
number of employees report to a manager, who then reports to the next management level, and
so on up the ladder to the CEO (p.21Gale, 2009).” I believe the structure of Rays Contracting for
the CBP sector is more centralized with a top downward management approach. The orders and
answers are given from one level of the chain of command to the next. In my opinion the
efficiency of the centralized structured approach in this workplace is moderate. The system is
simple for workers to successfully complete goals and task but there could be more
implementations to improve efficiency.
The managers delegate tasks to employees instead of taking a hands on approach, which
in turn makes the employees knowledgeable of how to handle circumstances after processes and
procedures have been authorized. The goal of the organization is to satisfy the customer and
increase efficiency (Lim, 2017).
The organizational structure employed at Rays Contracting is more mechanistic than organic.
The flow of management is not as smooth as it should be. The structures are in place where the
cooperation of the workers is based only on the hierarchy. The hierarchy is highly centralized
and this ensures the managers have full power in decision making while the subordinate staff
have little say (Lim, 2017).
Structure’s Impact on Effectiveness
The centralized organizational structure, which is highly based on hierarchy, has a huge impact
on the effectiveness. The employees’ effectiveness is measured by their capability to solve daily
problems that arise in the workplace while at the same time coming up with new innovative
ideas. For the company to be effective and profitable, it has to be highly productive and have
more impact than its competitors (Jacobides, 2007). In the organizational structure employed by
Ray’s Contracting, the subordinate employees do not have input in the decision making process.
“Lower level managers and employees simply follow procedures, and while this may have the
side effect of stifling creativity, it also increases efficiency of established processes”
(Encyclopaedia of Management. 6th Ed.) Employees do not get a chance to think on the spot and
make decisions that may be more creative and relevant. The centralized organizational structure
decreases the level of effectiveness of the employees and makes it hard for them to take pride in
applying themselves to increasing work ethic.
The level of competition and demand in today’s workplace is very high and continually growing.
Thus I feel the centralized organizational structure used at Ray’s is not very appropriate in
achieving maximum effectiveness. There are many challenges to the organizational structure
since the decision making process is elongated and this makes it difficult for employees to
perform their best. The system should be adjusted to allow employees to be more independent
(Jahn, 2007). An open style of management should be employed that will decrease the hierarchy
approach. This will allow a more competitive mode of operation that will spur growth in the
company.
In the organization there is no specialization in the work units which means the job details are
designed around the task or goal rather than being centred on an individual. Positions are inner
changeable because the end result remains the same and decisions are still passed down through
the hierarchy of leadership. According to job design theories, increased autonomy should make
employees feel a greater responsibility for the outcomes of their work, and therefore have
increased work motivation. Research indicates that when employees have greater levels of
autonomy, their personality traits (specifically conscientiousness and extroversion) have a
stronger impact on job performance. (Gale, 2009).
Conclusions
Rays Contracting has employed a centralized organizational structure that is not too formalized.
However, the organizational structure is mainly hierarchical hence decision making is reliant on
superiors. The subordinate employees have little say in the decision making process and this has
a huge bearing on the effectiveness of the organizational structure and time that decisions are
made in the field. The form of management reduces the employees’ creativity and opportunities
to bring about new ideas that might help improve the company’s workability.
The advantage of informal working conditions is the fact that workers can enjoy the
camaraderie of work. Satisfied employees tend to be more productive and the company ends up
being more profitable. The organizational structure employed by any company is very important
since it determines how the company fares in the marketplace in comparison to its competitors.
A good organizational structure in this environment should be organic and not mechanistic. It
should put all the factors in the working environment into consideration and it should be
specifically tailored for the business.
References
"Autonomy." Encyclopedia of Management, 6th ed., Gale, 2009, pp. 19-21. Gale Virtual
Reference Library,
Jacobides. M. G. (2007). The inherent limits of organizational structure and the unfulfilled role
of hierarchy: Lessons from a near-war. Organization Science
Jahn, C. (2007). "Organizational Structure." Encyclopedia of Business and Finance, edited by
Burton S. Kaliski, 2nd ed., vol. 2, Macmillan Reference USA, pp. 568-572. Gale Virtual
Reference Library
Lim, M. (2017). Examining the literature on organizational structure and success. College
Mirror, 43, 1, 16-18. http://www.cfps.org.sg/publications/the-college-mirror/article/1098
"Mechanistic Organizations." Encyclopedia of Management, 6th ed., Gale, 2009, pp. 565566. Gale Virtual Reference Library,
http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/apps/doc/CX3273100183/GVRL?u=umd_umuc&si
d=GVRL&xid=f5ed4ae0.
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