Standardized Organization - Essay Example

Following Ruest and Ruest (2006): "Standards are the key here. Organizations that run non-standard systems are faced with several potential issues on an ongoing basis" (3). Design of the structure involves such central issues as how the work of the organization will be divided and assigned among positions, groups, departments, divisions, etc., and how the coordination necessary to accomplish total organizational objectives will be achieved. This, it is important to note that standardized organizations can be found outside IT environment.

In general, standardized organization means a structure of the organization based on certain standards and rules which guide and support organizational performance. Standardized structure allows companies to maintain control through the use of certain rules. Choices made about these issues are usually publicized in organizations charts. "Standard processes are a lot easier to automate because they are repeatable and predictable" (Ruest and Ruest 7). The behavior in a standardized organization is influenced by a system of variables (technical, individual, social and organizational inputs), it is obvious that such formal documents are only one method of signaling to individuals what behavior is expected of them.

Nevertheless, this method is important because it is so widely used by managers to define and communicate their expectations of other organization members, encourage them to undertake collaborative activity. While our central focus is on the basic structure, we shall have more to say about these operating mechanisms later. In standardized organization, units which are required to integrate their activities closely are grouped together, because the common superior can then work to achieve the required integration through the management hierarchy (Robbins 8).

In the stable environment, successful organizations tended to be what the authors called "automation." There is more reliance on formal rules and procedures. Decisions are made at the lower levels of the organization. The spans of supervisory control are narrow. They found that successful organizations in industries with different production technologies are characterized by different structures. The structure of organization is one variable in a system affecting behavior in organizations and providing a conceptual framework which is sufficiently comprehensive for analyzing and solving structural design problems.

As such, "standardized processes rely on automation to reduce potential diversity within deployed systems" (Ruest and Ruest 2). Rather than thinking of division of work as only affecting the economies and efficiencies of task performance, Ruest and Ruest (2006) recognize that each unit is itself a subsystem in which members would develop particular orientations and structural patterns, depending on their task and their predispositions. Since different units are working with different parts of the environment, these units would develop differentiation to some degree or other, depending upon the specific environment.

For instance, "In a non-standard environment, there is simply no such thing as service level agreements. It is understandable: how can you predict how well a service will run if you cannot state with determination how it was