Dr. Aikens can be reached at: saikens@cord.edu
factors such as authority, responsibility, accountability and delegation relationships among all employees. With very few exceptions, traditional management practices suggest that each employee should report to only one direct supervisor. How many direct reports should a supervisor have? This question focuses on determining the maximum number of employees a manager is responsible for supervising. Non-managerial employees can focus their time solely on completing their individual work responsibilities. Supervisors must divide their time between a) completing their individual work responsibilities and b) managing and overseeing the work completed by their direct reports. Even more so with the latter, the more direct reports a supervisor has, the less amount of time that can be devoted to each direct report. Take this into consideration when determining the number of direct reports assigned to a supervisor. Traditional practice in the field of management recommends a maximum ratio of 7-10 direct reports for each supervisor. At what level of the organization should decisions be made? This question focuses on determining the level at which most decisions should be made in the organization. The key word in the previous sentence is the word “should.” In centralized organizations, decisions are typically made by individuals at the top levels of the organization; in decentralized organizations, decisions are made by individuals that are closer to the lower levels of the organization. Depending upon your organization and industry, consider balancing the need for consistency across the organization (centralization) with the ability to adapt and to be flexible in response to changing market demands (decentralization). Which organizational structure works best to accomplish the strategy of the organization? This question focuses on the structural design of the organization to indicate
how individual job positions are grouped together in departments. Departments can be grouped by a) functions (e.g., marketing, finance), b) divisions (e.g., geographical locations), or c) a matrix structure (e.g., includes both function and division design elements). Determine which of these three structures would work best to enable the organization to achieve its goals, and update/revise the organizational chart accordingly. How do we enable communication among people in different departments and at different levels? This question focuses on communication, collaboration, and information sharing practices throughout the organization. Consider the inner workings of an automobile. The individual parts of an automobile belong to one of several independent systems (i.e., fuel system, electrical system, braking system, etc.). Yet, the individual parts and the collective independent systems must work interdependently with other parts and systems for the car to function properly. This is akin to what needs to occur in an organization. Employees and the collective departments need to communicate and collaborate with each other on a regular basis. This can occur in various formal ways (e.g., cross functional committees, task forces, etc.). The preference is to create an organizational culture in which communication, collaboration and information sharing across units (horizontally) and at different levels (vertically) is encouraged and occurs naturally through daily employee interactions. For additional information and details about organizational structure concepts, I recommend reviewing Daft & Marcic’s (2020) Understanding Management textbook..