Organisation Structures
Big businesses need to know who does what. They have managers and supervisors and a big bad boss at the top. Most businesses will have an organisation structure (or organisation chart) so that everybody knows their position in the company.
There are a number of key terms that you will need to know for your exam. I'll use the diagram below to help explain them all.
There are a number of key terms that you will need to know for your exam. I'll use the diagram below to help explain them all.
- Delegation - This is where particular individuals are given authority to make certain kinds of decisions and perform tasks. So the Manager may delegate work to the Deputy Manager. This frees up some time for the Manager and also uses the skills of the Deputy, who may be better at that particular task. The Manager trusts the Deputy to do the job, but if it all goes wrong the Manager is still at fault.
- Subordinates - these are people below other in the chart. So the Cleaners are subordinates of the Cleaning Supervisors.
- Level of Responsibility - this is one straight line across on the chart. So, the 3 managers are all on the same 'Level of Responsibility'.
- Tall or Flat Structure - a tall structure has many different levels of responsibility. A flat structure only has 2 or 3 levels of responsibility, like in a local chippy where there would be the manager and then 3 workers below them.
- Span of Control - This is the number of people that somebody is DIRECTLY in charge of. So the Span of Control of the Deputy Manager is 3. Can you work out why? Managers with a wide span of control are in charge of lots of people. Managers with only a narrow span of control are in charge of just a few people.
- Chain of Command - This is how important instructions flow through the business. So, if the Manager wanted the Cleaners to know something, the chain of command would be:
Manager
- Deputy Manager
- Cleaning Manager
- Cleaning Supervisor
- Cleaners
Long chains of command can cause problems with communication.