HCM 433 MANGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR.pdf

•How many tasks should a given position in the organisation contain and how specialised should
each task be?
•To what extent should the work content of each position be standardised?
•What skills and knowledge should be required for each position?
•On what basis should positions be grouped into units and units into larger units?
•How large should each unit be; how many individuals should report to a given manager?
•To what extent should the output of each position or unit be standardised;
•What mechanisms should be established to facilitate mutual adjustment among positions and
units?
•How much decision-making power should be delegated to the managers of the units down the
chain of authority?
•How much decision-making power should pass from the line managers to the staff specialists and
operators?
These nine design parameters, according to Mullins (2000), can be grouped under four broad
headings: design of position; design of superstructure; design of lateral linkages; and design of
decision-making systems.
Information technology is an additional dimension of structural design. The computer based
information and decision-support systems influence choices in design of production or service
activities, hierarchical structures and organisation of support staffs. Information technology may
influence the centralization/decentralisation of decisionmaking and control systems (Mullins,
2000).
According to Mullins (2000), the impact of information technology will have significant effects
on the structure, management and functioning of most organisations. The introduction of new
technology will demand new patterns of work organisation. It will affect individual jobs, the
formation and structure of groups, the nature of supervision and managerial roles. Information
technology results in changes to lines of command and authority, and influences the need for
restructuring the organisation and attention to the job design. Mullins maintains that new
technology has typically resulted in a ‘flatter’ organisational pyramid with fewer levels of
management required. In the case of new office technology, it allows the potential for staff at
clerical/operator level to carry out a wider range of functions and to check their own work.
The result is a change in the traditional supervisory function and a demand for fewer supervisors.
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