Mechanistic Structure and Decision Making in Health Care Organizations

Running head: MECHANISTIC STRUCTURE AND DECISION MAKING 1
MECHANISTIC STRUCTURE AND DECISION MAKING IN HEALTH CARE
ORGANISATIONS

MECHANISTIC STRUCTURE AND DECISION MAKING 2
Introduction
A mechanistic organizational structure is a based on the hierarchy where senior level
management makes the organizational decisions. Strategic decision making involves the crafting
of the organizational mission, vision, goals, values as well as the objectives of the company. It
also unfolds when a company wants to alter these components (Kazemi & Alavi, 2017). A
company must entail in strategic decision making to continuously shape its future and maintain a
sharp competitive edge. An organizational structure allocates responsibilities and duties to
employees in the organization. One of the perfect examples of organizations that use the
mechanistic structure is the healthcare providing institutions.
Discussion
A mechanist's organizational structure is similar to bureaucracy. Max Webber developed the
current administration based on strict hierarchy and defined rules (Weber, 2015). It gets
characterized by high centralization and formalization as well as complexity. Information flow
follows formal channels.
The fundamental concepts used by a healthcare facility using a mechanistic organizational
structure include; division of labor, highly hierarchical, member task specialization and a
hierarchical structure (Thompson, 2017).
Employees in health care services such as registered nurses (RNs) and Medical Doctors (MDs)
get given particular job descriptions aligning with their responsibilities and duties. They are
alienated to change resistance, rigidity; hence they are unfavorable for companies which embrace
innovativeness and quick decision making as well as implementation. They delimit the
entrepreneurial spirit and discourage the application of individual initiatives on the nurses (RNs)

MECHANISTIC STRUCTURE AND DECISION MAKING 3
and Medical Doctors (MDs). A person's autonomy and self-determination typically get lowered
by this model of organizational structure leading to lower levels of significant employee
motivation towards the job assigned.
Despite all these shortcomings, when it's in a suitable environment, it can give a good outcome
to the health institution. Its most significant advantage is efficiency. The healthcare facility that
intends to minimize costs and maximizes efficiency fits well in this particular structure.
An excellent example of a healthcare firm that uses a mechanistic organizational structure is the
Royal Children's hospital in Australia (www.rch.org.au) It gets characterized by high
formalization based on rules, centralization, and hierarchy. All departmental heads in the
hospitals report to the top management of the hospital. Decision making in the hospital gets done
by the senior management of the institution and strategies are communicated downwards.
Strategic decision-making process involves the charting of long-term goals as well as longer-
term visions and mission. The health organization may decide to alter or make changes to its
strategy. The course of action in any organization relies on strategic decisions. In healthcare
firms that use a mechanical organizational structure, strategic decision making roles are vested in
the top management which constitutes of the executives of the hospital management. It's the role
of the firm's senior management to make very accurate strategic decisions. Communications
concerning the processes flow from top to bottom, within the organization. Top management
makes critical decisions based on rules, procedures, and policies of the firm.
A mechanistic organizational structure makes decision making quick because there is the
absence of many consultations. Only the critical corporate management gets consulted in the
long-term or short-term decision making. The decisions made are directly communicated from