The Formal and Informal Organization: Structure, Communication, and Motivation
The Formal Organization: Line and Staff
It is a complex activity that requires taking multiple decisions and influencing factors. The union of different factors leading to the formal organizational structure can be defined as all hierarchical levels, positions, etc. This power is for top management.
The line drives are the typical development activity of the entity. Each person receives orders from a single head.
The staff consists of individuals or departments who advise, support, and perform specialized functions that are removed from the line departments.
The Organization and the Departmentalization
The Organization
It is the graphic representation of the different positions or departments within an organization and the set of interrelationships between them. This is a graph which represents the formal structure of the entity. There are different types of charts if we consider the extension (general organizational or partial), content (structural, functional, or personal), and according to their graphic form.
Departmentalization
Involves dividing a company into different departments or groups of workers that act with varying degrees of autonomy. There are 3 types:
- Departmentalization by function
- Geographic departmentalization
- Departmentalization by customer
Communication: Media, Flow, and Barriers
One of the intangibles that have more influence on the effectiveness of any organization. We emphasize the following:
Verbal communication: It is a quick way you can have an immediate response; the drawback is the lack of evidence on the issues.
Written Communication: Using multiple media and transmission media (letters, notes, etc.), the main advantage is that everything is recorded.
Good communication between the various positions and levels of an organization is essential to achieve its objectives. According to Weinrich, barriers are:
- Defective listening
- Misgivings in communication
- Information overload
- Selective perception
- Poor attitude and selection of communication time
The Informal Organization
The direction of the business creates a series of posts, which constitute the formal organization. For various circumstances, many groups arise spontaneously.
Global Economy, Business Organization, and Human Resources
Large firms in a globalized economy are distinguished by:
- The predominance of skilled employment and mechanization of repetitive jobs
- Need for continuous training of human resources
- Increasing importance of variable remuneration
- Firms tend to reduce their workforce essential to the core activity and tend to reduce organizational levels
School of Scientific Organization of Work
Taylorism, applied in industrial production, called for a rationalization of work and established time movements to be performed by workers to increase production.
Taylor proposed a system of salaries with bonuses based on compliance with standards issued by the technical office. He pretended the greatest business benefits were consistent with higher wages.
School of Human Relations
Taylorism provoked conflicts within a few years of their operation. Faced with the crisis caused by the practical application of Taylor’s ideas, the industry sought new methods to do the job, making it more humane, less monotonous, and thus reduce fatigue and discontent.
Elton Mayo revolutionized what was understood about human resources:
- There are other types of incentives outside materials
- Attention and consideration of the firm to the worker is essential
School of Human Resources
The new focus of these authors emphasizes the influence of motivation in human behavior.
Toyota
This new theory emphasizes the importance of good coordination, so if any of the components fails, the whole system suffers. Within the scope of the theory of a system could include the theory of cooperative work. According to this orientation, teamwork within the company is essential.
The Motivation at Work
How to act in a person responds to one or more conscious or unconscious impulses on which this is more or less control. These impulses that lead us to act in certain ways are called motivation.
Main Theories of Motivation: Theory of the Scale of Needs
Maslow classifies human needs into five levels to be gradually satisfied. The person is driven by an economic motivation to obtain the means to satisfy their basic needs.
| NEEDS | OBJECTIVES |
|---|---|
| Need for Self-Actualization | Achieve the ideals proposed |
| Esteem Needs | Feel valued by oneself and the group |
| Social Needs | Feel part of the group |
| Security Needs | Consolidation of previous achievements |
| Basic Needs | Food, clothing, housing, etc. |
Satisfaction, Incentives, and Work
The use of incentives should be adapted to the measure of effort, needs, and expectations of those working in the state.
Expectations: An essential factor in motivation. When a person realizes that their efforts are effective and valued, they are likely to translate into professional success and are motivated. However, if they are convinced that they will get nothing, they settle into a routine.
The Equitable Treatment: Stacy Adams – The fair is a source of motivation, congratulating, bringing a person when he does well, the participation in work and recognition.
Model of Human Resources: Competence Management
Strong authoritarian system: An environment of mistrust of subordinates.
Benevolent authoritative system: The typical relationship between master and slave, in which there is little communication.
Participatory, consultative system: These foster an environment where there is more confidence.
Participatory group system: It creates an atmosphere of total trust in which employees feel free to act in groups.
Competence Management
| Staff Model | HR Model |
|---|---|
| The labor factor is considered as a cost to be lower | The labor factor is a competitive resource |
| Reactive approach | Proactive approach |
| Isolated functions | Integrated management |
| The direction of staff not involved in the development of objectives and strategic plans | The direction of human resources at the highest level involved in the preparation of strategic plans of the company |
| Trait approach | Competence approach |
Definition of Competition
Attitude heading towards customers with the intention of listening to their problems and answering questions. Disposal to meet these needs through the sale of products and services marketed by the company, which are best suited to their characteristics.
- Level 0: Incompetent
- Level 1: Partially incompetent
- Level 3: Competent
- Level 4: Proficient
- Level 5: Excellent competition
The Department of Human Resources: Functions of the Department
Job role: Includes various tasks related to the processes of growth and downsizing.
Personnel management function: The staff of a company needs a series of legal and administrative formalities.
Function of retribution: It is often combined with that of personnel administration, with which it is connected despite having its own activity.
Function of human resource development: Is responsible for human resources development to integrated training section within the department of integrated training within the department or human resource management.
Function relations: This consists of activities that relate to contact with employee representatives.
Functions of social services: Companies create certain services to benefit their workers and improve the work environment.
The Outsourcing of Human Resources
It is to lighten the structure of an organization through the assignment of certain functions to third parties. It is trying to remove ordering departments and their tasks to external consultants or other companies.