„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

❚❘
COMMUNICATION PATTERNS IN
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
Dave Ford and Ord Elliott
Anyone who has contact with organizations cannot escape the omnipresent phenomenon
of organizational structure. A new employee comes face to face with the imposed
condition of structure as soon as he or she is told, “You report to Mr. Smith.”
Structuring the organization is generally accepted as an important factor influencing
how people perform their vital functions.
In one sense, “structure” means the relatively fixed relationships among the
members of an organization. (The typical organizational chart is a diagram of fixed
relationships.) However, factors that affect interaction patterns and coordination efforts
cannot be illustrated with a typical, static chart. Therefore, in another sense, “structure”
can be a diagram of interpersonal processes drawn at a particular point in time.
IDENTIFYING STRUCTURE
Structure may be imposed, or it may emerge as a group of people interacting over
time. If structure is imposed, it usually is called formal structure. If structure emerges
from interpersonal interaction, it is sometimes called informal structure. In addition,
structures that emerge within a formally structured organization may be called operating
structures. The demands of task, people, and setting involved in performance-supporting
interaction usually give rise to operating structure, particularly when the formal structure
is insufficient, unrealistic, inefficient, or out of date. Thus, identifying the operating
structure is crucial in understanding performance.
Many managers today are concerned about whether patterning of relations
significantly influences group or organizational performance and the social reactions of
members. In some organizations, sequential work-flow and assembly-line arrangements
have caused problems involving performance, productivity, and satisfaction.
EXPERIMENTS INVESTIGATING STRUCTURE
Insight into problems created or facilitated by various structures has been gained from
laboratory experiments, utilizing the concept of a communication pattern, to investigate
effects of structure on performance and morale. These studies showed the following:
Originally published in The 1974 Annual Handbook for Group Facilitators by J. William Pfeiffer and John E. Jones (Eds.), San Diego,
CA: Pfeiffer & Company.
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer ❚❘ 367