The Balance Between Organization as Structure and Organization as Process

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ORGANISATION AS STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION AS PROCESS An organisation can be defined as a unit of several people that are managed to meet a particular need or pursue a common goal, while interacting with the environment. All organisations have management structures that are designed to group jobs and people into categories that facilitate the company’s goals. These structures determine relationships between the different activities and assign roles and responsibilities to different individuals, and authority to carry out the different tasks. It can also be said to be the manner in which companies define their internal boundaries, determined essentially by the way communication is carried out and transfer of information is designed. The classical hierarchical structure assumes that transfer of information is limited to a certain number of people. This narrowing of interaction has been shown to create boundaries and hinder cooperation. For example, about five years ago in PZ Cussons, this used to be the mode of operation. Interactions with other employees apart from line managers were very rare because of the communication barriers between employees in different levels. However, a new MD was appointed about three years ago and led the change in the company. The offices were changed from closed door offices to open floor offices, the former managers’ cafeteria became open to all levels of staff and the differentiation of managers’ restrooms was stopped. This, along with the influx of new employees from other companies encouraged good personal relationship between workers while maintaining professionalism when necessary. Due to the ever changing factors that affect businesses, organisations in recent times have seen the need to be flexible and creative by focusing on responsive processes. These responsive processes allow for division of labour and individual

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