Organizational Structures

In this week’s lessons, we learnt about the importance of having a good and suitable structure in an organization. Some of these structures that we have learnt about were

1. Centralisation and Decentralisation
2. Span of Control and Chain of Command
3. Tall and Flat 
4. Matrix Structures

We were tasked to research on an organization and write a report on that organization, investigating it’s company’s organizational structure. My group did research on Google and found that it adopts mainly a decentralized and flat structure. However, we found that Google has an interesting span of control. It adopts a wider span of control in its higher management and gets narrower at the middle and lower management levels. 

I think that different organizations may suit different organizational structures. Google’s organizational structure may be a great model and there definitely are great practices that other organizations can adopt from Google, but not all of Google’s practices would work for other companies. I feel that organizational structures have to be adapted to suit the company’s needs. Sometimes, it is now simply black and white. A company doesn’t have to either tall or flat, it can be a combination of both, just like in Google. 

For example, Google’s decentralized organizational structure empowers its employees to make decisions and come up with innovative ideas. This works for Google as it is often at the cutting-edge of technological software etc, and its products need to be innovative and creative. Thus, Google’s decentralized structure that empowers their employees to innovate and think independently and freely are likely to work for companies such as Apple and Samsung, who also have to innovate to stay on top of their markets. 

However, this decentralized structure may not be the best approach for organizations such as Starbucks or Burger King, who wish to maintain a standardized global image and ensure consistency in their customer’s experience and the food and beverage quality in all its locations. 

Thus, what I’ve learnt this week is that there are many different advantages and disadvantages to the different types of structures, and companies will have to decide on which structure will help them to achieve their goals and maximize their resources.