OB Assignment 2: Exploring Organizational Structures & Culture

This assignment delves into the core concepts of organizational behavior by examining two primary organizational structures: flat and hierarchical. It contrasts the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of each structure, emphasizing their impact on decision-making, communication, and employee empowerment. Furthermore, the assignment explores two distinct organizational cultures: normative and academy. It elucidates the differences in employee skill utilization, training, and innovation within each culture. The report highlights how organizational culture influences employee performance and productivity. The assignment also provides a comparative analysis of these structures and cultures, offering a comprehensive understanding of their implications within the context of organizational success. Finally, the assignment utilizes several academic references to support the claims made. The assignment provides a thorough understanding of different organizational structure and cultures.

ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
ASSIGNMENT 2

1.1 Two organizational structures and culture
and difference between them
Organizational structure: Organizational structure states the
task allocation, supervision and coordination between business
activities which makes contribution in the achievement of
organizational goals and objectives.
Two types of organizational structure are as follows:
Flat
Hierarchical

CONTINUED....
Flat organizational structure: In the flat organizational
structure, only one person holds the post of manager and
other employees has equal position within firm.
Advantages:
It enables the team spirit among employees of company.
It facilitates faster decision making which helps company in
increasing the productivity.
Disadvantages: It is not suitable to the organization who
requires close supervision in relation to work aspects.

CONTINUED....
Hierarchical organizational structure: The structure
emphasizes on delegating authorities at various levels. The
employees are accountable to middle level managers who in
turn are accountable to top management.
Advantages: It facilitates effective communication which
helps company in achieving the success.
Disadvantages:
It is a complex organizational structure.
Creates confusion in the mind of individuals.

CONTINUED....
Difference between hierarchical and flat organizational
structure is as follows:
In case of flat organization structure, a single individual
possesses entire control on business operations. On contrary,
hierarchical structure emphasizes on delegating authorities
and responsibilities at different stages.
The employees are allowed to take their own decisions in
case of flatter structure. However, the decision making power
is available to senior authorities in case of the hierarchical
structure.

CONTINUED....
Two types of organizational culture are as follows:
Normative Culture: In normative culture, employees of
company follows predetermined guidelines, rules and
regulations. Workforce are expected to follow guidelines set
by the management.
Academy culture: In this culture, organization hires skilled
workers and assigns the tasks according to the skills and
abilities of individuals. In addition to this, company also
organizes training and development program for its
employees.

CONTINUED....
Difference between normative and flat academy structure are
as follows:
Normative culture restricts the skills and abilities of
employees to make innovation in comparison to academy
culture.
Organization makes arrangement to improve the skills and
abilities of employees whereas, normative culture does not
make such type of arrangements. It affects the performance
and productivity of employees.

REFERENCES
Herrmann, D. and Felfe, J., 2014. Effects of leadership style,
creativity technique and personal initiative on employee
creativity. British Journal of Management. 25(2). pp. 209-
227.
Pinder, C. C., 2014. Work motivation in organizational
behavior. Psychology Press.
Miner, J. B., 2015. Organizational behavior 1: Essential
theories of motivation and leadership. Routledge.
Wagner III, J. A. and Hollenbeck, J. R., 2014.
Organizational behavior: Securing competitive advantage.
Routledge.
Judge, T. A. and Robbins, S. P., 2015. Essentials of
organizational behavior. Prentice Hall.