Which organizational structure usually allows for reporting to two bosses?
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Hiring skillful employees is only the first step towards building a high-performing organization. You need to make every team member fit in. You need a clear organizational structure. Show
Large enterprises require an established, organized structure to coordinate large numbers of employees and avoid chaos. But smaller businesses and startups rarely think of designing an organizational structure in the first place. This lack of structure leads to miscommunication, work delays, poor process flows, low morale, and other serious consequences that stunt business growth. In contrast, a strong organizational structure helps to coordinate teamwork, reduce conflicts, and boost productivity. The types of organizational structures in business are just as important as its products, marketing plan and long-term strategy. Businesses need a sturdy structure to attract and retain talented employees, as well as create a workable organizational hierarchy. Typically, businesses choose from four types of organizational structure. Each comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Choosing the right one for your business is imperative because poor organizational structure leads to confusion among employees, poor decision-making among managers and, ultimately, less than ideal results for a business. Students in Point Park University’s online Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership classes learn about management strategies and approaches to organizational design as part of a curriculum that prepares them for success as business leaders. Picking The Right Organizational StructureWhile there are variations, most companies are created based on one of the following four organizational structures. The goal for business leaders is picking the structure that works best for their particular situation. FunctionalA functional structure is the most traditional approach. It calls for grouping together people who do similar tasks based on their area of specialty. In other words, you’ll find all the accountants in finance and all the marketers in marketing. Managers led each area and report up to a director or executive who may oversee multiple departments. The advantage here is clear: it provides those with similar abilities the ability to easily communicate and work on projects together. That’s also the reason this is the most popular business structure. The disadvantage is that teams may get “siloed,” unaware of what is happening in other areas of a company. DivisionalIn a divisional structure, people are grouped together based on the product or service they provide, not the work they do. For example, a large corporation such as General Electric has divisions for electronics, transportation, and aviation, each with its own team of accountants, marketers, etc. Global corporations may have divisions based on different geographic areas. On a smaller scale, a restaurant that also provides catering services may have separate divisions to oversee weddings, corporate events and business within the main restaurant. MatrixA matrix structure is a hybrid of the functional and divisional structures. It may involve employees reporting to different bosses depending on their current assignment. For example, a software design specialist may report to her boss in IT, but she’s also brought onto specific projects because of her expertise. When that happens, she will report to a different boss as long as that project continues. The disadvantage is that employees may find it confusing to report to multiple bosses. But clear communication on priorities at all levels can eliminate these issues. The matrix structure requires a great deal of planning but can allow for the creation of the best possible teams to tackle the biggest challenges. FlatThe flat structure dispenses with the usual hierarchy of a functional structure, decentralizing management and doing away with the need for middle manager bosses. Employees essentially act as their own boss, giving them the ability to communicate directly with peers on ideas and projects. The advantage is a lot more freedom for employees, which requires a group of self-starters who don’t need managers checking up daily on their work. A flat structure is common in incubators and startups where the focus is on product and services design, not production or top-down management structures. All four types of organizational structures in business can work well in the right situations. While most companies will choose from the functional or divisional approaches, a flat approach is becoming increasingly popular with modern companies. Government, Legal System, Administrative Law, & Constitutional Law Legal Disputes - Civil & Criminal Law Agency Law HR, Employment, Labor, & Discrimination Business Entities, Corporate Governance & Ownership Business Transactions, Antitrust, & Securities Law Real Estate, Personal, & Intellectual Property Commercial Law: Contract, Payments, Security Interests, & Bankruptcy Consumer Protection Insurance & Risk Management Immigration Law Environmental Protection Law Inheritance, Estates, and Trusts Operations, Project, & Supply Chain Management Strategy, Entrepreneurship, & Innovation Business Ethics & Social Responsibility Global Business, International Law & Relations Business Communications & Negotiation Management, Leadership, & Organizational Behavior Economic Analysis & Monetary Policy Research, Quantitative Analysis, & Decision Science Investments, Trading, and Financial Markets Banking, Lending, and Credit Industry Business Finance, Personal Finance, and Valuation Principles What is Organizational Structure? An organization structure is a visual diagram that represents the hierarchy, roles, and responsibilities of the employees in the company. Organizational structures use markets, geographical locations, products, functions, or processes to guide them depending on various business sizes. Every company needs an organizational structure to help define the elements the business needs for it to run properly. The elements include: The chain of command defines the tasks that the management delegates to every employee within the organization. It also helps to know the ranks of leadership that every business department will need. Generally, it helps employees understand how to communicate through the leadership ladder. The span of control in an organizational structure gives an understanding of the mangers and their management roles in the organization. Centralization concerns the extent to which decision making is centralized in key figures or whether it is dispersed more broadly at various levels of the organization. Companies implement many organizational structures in the real world, these include: Functional organization structureFunctional structure, also known as bureaucratic structure, divides the company into departments according to the job functions of the employees. For example, a company that uses a functional structure will divide marketers, salespeople, auditors, and customer care into separate departments. A functional structure allows only specialized employees in the departments. In this case, the employees are not able to grow as they stay in one department forever. A functional structure can also create communication barriers between the departments, especially if the company has different products. Divisional organizational structureLarge companies that have different business units incorporate the divisional structure. The company using this structure has different leadership teams on different products or projects. An example of a company using the divisional structure is the Johnson & Johnson company. The company has different lines of business and products. Each business unit will be operating as its own company, having its sales, marketing, and customer service department. Hiearchical StructureThis is a traditional structure where decision making authority is allocated at various hierarchies within the organization. Flatarchy organizational structureFlatarchy organizational structure is a structure common with a start-up or small company. It allows employees from different levels to make decisions in the organization. An example of this type of structure is when an organization has an internal hub or innovation center. The company lets the employees pitch any new ideas that might help the company grow. The company will continue running using its normal structure, but this encourages creativity among employees. Matrix organizational structureA matrix structure is a structure that allows the employees to report to other bosses depending on the project. For example, a construction company could be having an engineer working on one project. Later on, a new project comes up, and they need his brains on that project. The engineer will have to report to two bosses at the same time. Matrix organizational structure allows the employees to share their knowledge within different divisions in the company. The employees also get to improve their skills and grow professionally. However, the employee needs to understand their roles at the different divisions, as it can be challenging to communicate with the various bosses. Network organizational structureCompanies that work together to share common resources often use the network structure. A company can also use this type of structure to describe its activities if it outsources most of its services from freelancers. For example, a company may be outsourcing its website for developing services. Any employee who requires these services will know the contact person for the job from the network structure. What is an Organizational Chart?These formal structures of organizations can be represented in the form of an organization chart. Sometimes also referred to as organizational chart, organigram, organogram, or org chart. It graphically shows the hierarchical authority, roles and responsibilities, functions and relations within an organization. For a new employee, the organization chart helps to understand what should happen within the firm. (The informal structure represents what is actually occurring within the organization.)
How to Create an Organizational Chart?Robert Simons (Levers of Organization Design, 2005) suggests that there are four main tensions or levers underlying any organization design: Under which organizational structure would you report to two bosses?Matrix. A matrix structure is a hybrid of the functional and divisional structures. It may involve employees reporting to different bosses depending on their current assignment.
What structure has two bosses?The matrix organization is the structure uniting these other organizational structures to give them balance. Usually, there are two chains of command, where project team members have two bosses or managers, a functional manager and a project manager.
Which structure has employees directly reporting to two managers?A matrix structure combines the functional and divisional structures to create a dual-command situation. In a matrix structure, an employee reports to two managers who are jointly responsible for the employee's performance.
What type of organizational structure could give many employees two managers?Matrix Organizations
Employees may be organized according to product and geography, for example, and have two bosses. The idea behind this type of matrix structure is to combine the localization benefits of the geography structure with those of the functional structure (responsiveness and decentralized focus).
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