HRM Case study (giving HR advice) - Essay Example

Elements of organizational structure Specialization Managers need to decide how much work is to be done by each employee. Less degree of specialization would mean one worker handling many tasks at a time. This works with small organizations. But with a large organization, tasks need to be divided into chunks and each chunk should be handled by the designated worker. This improves productivity which also gives total control on the task (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). Departmentalization Forming departments as per different functions is a logical way to do things in a large organization.

It is a practical solution in which two different functions cannot hinder each other as they have been separated by their respective departments (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). Authority An important issue arising is of who is going to take how much authority in his hands. None of the organizations are completely centralized or decentralized. Managers must consider the experience and personality of the subordinates when deciding for the management style and strategy of the organization (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010).

Span of control First and foremost, organizational structure of an organization should be determined. This will determine the nature of responsibilities and authority on each member of the organization. . A narrow span of control would have fewer people to report directly to the manager. This would add more layers to management and hence communication would be slow between lower employees and top managers. A wide span of control would have more subordinates to report directly to the manager. There is a good flow of communication between its lower level employees and top managers.

Few layers are involved in the structure (Thomas, 2011). It has been researched that a small span of management with a taller organization structure would be more expensive to run because of greater number of managers. It would also show communication problems. A wider span of control would is more recommended and proves to be useful in most environments. The reason is more employees report to managers directly which would increase employees’ motivation, morale and productivity (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010).

Coordination of activities Even if there is departmentalization and specialization, there should be coordination between its activities. Problems arise when there is lack of coordination of activities. There should be a link between the functions of two departments (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). A Functional Organization Mr. John Brown needs to make his hotel a functional organization. A functional organization organizes itself along functional lines, with departments being grouped according to their specific functions.

Each department is further sub-divided into further small departments. For instance, if there is Rooms Department in a hotel, it is further subdivided into other smaller departments such as laundry department. This way, specific tasks are performed by employees in a specific pattern and there are fewer chances of errors. A functional organization