Structural FrameMelissa Strickland

Joey BriggsChad Geary

Lenses- focus, filter some things and allow others to pass through, help us order experiences.

Frames

Tools- Strengths and limitations. Wrong tool gets in the way; right tool makes the job easier.

Frames

-Possess a tool but know how to use it well.

The structural frame focuses on an organization's goals. Its main components are:

-Organizations exist to attain goals, -An organization's structure should be designed to fit circumstances, -Specialization leads to peak performance, -Coordination and control are essential Problems that arise can solved by restructuring.

Structural Frame

1. Exist to achieve goals and objectives

2. Work best when rationality prevails over agendas

3. Increase efficiency through specialization and division of labor

Structural Assumptions

4. Have structures to fit goals and objectives5. Have coordination and controls to align work to goals and objectives6. Need restructuring to remediate problems and performance gaps

• Frederick W. Taylor, father of time-and-motion studies• Scientific Management• Get the most out of every second

Origins of Structural Perspective

• Max Weber• "Monocratic Bureaucracy"• Several major features of model:

o Fixed division of labor

o Hierarchy of offices

o Set of rules governing performance

o Separation of personal from official property and rights

o Use of technical qualifications for selecting personnel

o Employment as primary occupation and long-term career

Origins Continued...

• Design issues of organizational structure: differentiation—how to allocate work & integration—how to coordinate roles & units

• A job or position channels behavior by prescribing (job descriptions, procedures, routines, or rules) what someone is to do—or not do—to accomplish a task

• Formal constraints can be burdensome, leading to apathy, absenteeism, and resistance, but they help ensure predictability, uniformity, and reliability

Basic Structural Tensions

• Authority—integrating the efforts of individuals, units, or divisions by designating someone formally “in charge”

• Rules & policies—with standards & standard operating procedures limit discretion & help ensure predictability & uniformity

• Planning & control systems—performance control imposes output objectives without specifying how the results are to be achieved—action planning specifies methods & time frames for decisions & actions

Vertical Coordination

• Meetings-formal & informal communication

• Task Forces-collaboration among specialties or functions

• Coordination Roles-use of persuasion or negotiation to help others integrate their efforts

• Matrix Structures-crosscutting coordination responsibilities

• Networks-lateral communication devices

Lateral Coordination

• Goals in mind

• Environment

• Talents of workforce

• Available resources

Designing A Structure That Works

vs

A Structural Odd Couple

For forty years after its founding in the 1950's the company was an unstoppable growth engine that came to dominate the fast-food industry

However, McDonald's is:• Highly Centralized• Most decisions made from the top• Employees have limited discretion

McDonald's

Harvard University is also highly successful. However, unlike McDonald's, it is significantly more decentralized.

• Each school has its own dean• They have fiscal autonomy• Each Professor has enormous

discretion• They control what courses they

teach• They do their own research

Harvard University

• Why do McDonald's and Harvard have such radically different structures?

• Is one more effective than the other?

Questions to consider

• There is no such thing as an ideal structure• Every organization needs to respond to

a universal set of parameters called Structural Imperatives that include: o Size and Ageo Core processo Environmento Strategy and goalso Information Technologyo Nature of the workforce

The Facts

• Complexity and formality increase with size and age of an organization

• Smaller organizations need less control or restraint

• Bigger organizations will need tighter controls and more centralization

1) Size and Age

Structure is ideally built around an organization's basic method of transforming raw materials into finished products

Assembling a Big Mac• Relatively routine and programmed• Task is clear• Most problems are known in advance and

success is high

2) Core Process

High-technology electronics firms confront a much higher degree of uncertainty • New products may be obsolete in 6

months or less

• Uncertainty presses for new roles and flexible approaches to vertical coordination

to

• Stable environments reward centralized structure• Uncertain, turbulent environments

requires a more complex, decentralized structure

or

3) Environment

Strategic decisions are future oriented, concerned with long-term direction

• Major tasks of organizational leadership include:o Determined long-range goalso Objectives of an organizationo Allocation of resources necessary to carry out

the goals

4) Strategy and Goals

New technologies continue to revolutionize the amount of information available and the speed at which it travels

• The information-based organization needs far fewer levels of management than the traditional command-and-control organizations

to

5) Information Technology

• A better-educated workforce expects and often demands more freedom in daily work routineso Trying to tell a Harvard professor what to

teach is an exercise in futility o In contrast, giving too much discretion to

a youthful, low-skilled Mcdonald's worker could become a disaster

6) Nature of the Workforce

• Operating Core(workers who provide

service/teachers)

• Administrative Component

(principals/foremen/middle management)

• Senior Managers (superintendent/schoolboard)

• Specialists(technicians/analysts)

• Support Staff(nurses/custodians/secretaries)

Structural ConfigurationMintzberg's five-sector logo

Start-up/mom & pop operation

• Two Levels - Strategic apex & Operating level

• Virtue - flexibility/adaptability/1 or 2 people run the

show

• Vice - boss too close to operations/authority may block change

Simple Structure

• Important decisions are made at the strategic

apex

• Day-to-day operations are controlled by managers & standardized procedures

• Large support staffs & technostructure

• Example: McDonalds

• Challenges: 1. Motivate/satisfy workers without undermining consistency/uniformity 2. Constant tension between headquarters and local managers

Machine Bureaucracy

• Operating core is larger than other structural parts

• Few managerial levels exist between the strategic apex and the professors - creates a flat, decentralized profile.

• Example: Harvard

• Challenges: 1.nQuality control and coordination2. Responds slowly to change

Professional Bureaucracy

• Quasi-autonomous units (multispecialty hospital) serve defined markets

• Division heads (presidents) are accountable to the corporate office

• As long as the division performs, they have free rein

• Benefits: 1. Offers economies of scale, resources, and responsiveness while controlling economic risks

• Challenges: 1. Headquarters may lose touch with operations 2. Headquarters wants oversight & divisional managers try to evade corporate control.

Divisionalized Form

• Loose, flexible, and organic structure

• Characteristics: 1. Don’t believe in hierarchy, rule books,

dress codes, etc…2. Ambiguous authority structure3. Unclear objectives4. Contradictory assignments

Adhocracy

• Organizational structure form more circular than a defined hierarchical pyramid

(spider web)

• Emphasis on lateral relationships rather than hierarchy

• Leadership at the center rather than at the top

• Web builds from the center out through a network of interconnections

Helgeson's Web of Inclusion

• Restructuring must take into account structural configurations

• Each component exerts distinct pressures.o Strategic apex pushes for more alignment,

centralization.o Middle managers try to protect autonomy and

room to run their own units.o Technostructure pushes for standardization,

believes in measurement and monitoring.o Support staff prefers less hierarchy, more

collaboration.

Issues in Restructuring

• The environment shifts (regulation/compliance)o Example: Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act (HIPPA)

• Technology changeso Example: Boeing’s shift from piston to jet

engineso Example: Automotive mfg shift to hybrid cars

• Organizations grow

• Leadership changes

Why Restructure

Citibank’s “back room”

• Back room structure - machine bureaucracy (ex. McDonalds)

• Issues:o Productivity, errors, expenses rising 20% per year

• Phases:o Phase 1 – Implemented new computer system for

control and forecastingo Phase 2 – Studied how the back room’s processes

workedo Phase 3 – Broke pipeline into smaller lines (different

product) with managers for each line

• Challenges:o Technical core strongly resisted the intrusion

Making Restructuring Work

• Emphasized customers and employees

• Historic Roots

• Competitiono Low moraleo High costso Threatso Declining customer service

• Six flows

Need for Change

• Top down management• Poor patient care• High turn-over • Change from pyramid system to

inclusive web• Implementing Care Teams

Structural Change

• One person has authority• Top down management

o Production delayso Slow communicationo Frustrated employees & customers

One Boss

• Two individuals given authority over specific areas of the groups worko Reduces boss's controlo Slows communicationso Erodes moraleo Decrease performance

Dual Authority

• Middle Management• Friction• Limits access to the top

Simple Hierarchy

• Information flows sequentially• Deal with only two others

Requires strong links Easier management Can be bogged down

Circle Network

• Multiple connections• Information flows• High morale• Requires effectivecommunication skills

All Channel Network

Team Sportso Every competition calls for its own

unique patterns of interactions

o Unique team structures are required Baseball Football Basketball

Teamwork and Interdependence

• Individual goals• Loosely integrated• Individual efforts are mostly

independent• Manager's decision are tactical• Managers come and go• Players transfer with ease

Baseball

• Perform in close proximity• Each play involves every player• Efforts are linked in prearranged plan• Special teams• Individual efforts tightly coordinated• Strategic decisions made by head

coach• Tactical decisions made by others

(assistant coaches, players)

Football

• Operate in closer proximity• Rapid transitions (offense-defense)• Individual efforts depends on others• Spontaneous, mutual adjustments• Move in emerging pattern• Newcomers experience difficulty in

adjusting• Individual "I" becomes collective

"we"

Basketball

• What is the nature and degree of dealings among individuals?• What is the spatial distribution of unit members?• Given a group's objectives and constraints,

where does authority reside?• How is coordination achieved?• Which word best describes the required

structure; conglomerate, mechanistic or organic?• What sports expression captures the task of

management?

Determinants of Successful Teamwork

Katzenbach and Smitho Interviewed hundreds of people on more than

50 teams (Motorola, HP, Girls Scouts) in developing their book The Wisdom of Teams

"A team is a small number of people with complementary skills, who are

committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals and approach

for which they hold themselves mutually accountable."

Team Structure and Top Performance

• High-performing teams shape purpose in response to a demand or an opportunity placed in their path, usually by higher management.

• High-performing teams translate common purpose into specific, measurable performance goals.

• High-performing teams are of manageable size. (2 to 25 people)

• High-performing teams develop the right mix of expertise.

• High-performing teams develop a common commitment to working relationships.

• Member of high-performing teams hold themselves collectively accountable.

Characteristics of High-Quality Teams

(Katzenbach and Smith)

• Manage themselves• Assign jobs to members• Plan and schedule work• Make productive service related

decisions• Take action to remedy problems

Self-Managing Teams

Examples of Self-Managing Teams

Classic Multi-decade Example