Every organisation’s hierarchy and reporting network form a framework viewed as the organisational structure, which defines roles and responsibilities commissioned and handled within the institution and monitors information flow between grades of management.– Definition
COMMON ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES
- Functional (or Traditional)
- Matrix
- Projectised
FUNCTIONAL OR ‘TRADITIONAL’ ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
People who become specialists “become very good at what they do” in their careers. The traditional organisation has been the top form for over a hundred years, primarily based on organising people with matching skills into identical batches. This batch of people has a similarly qualified leader. Institutions like these are not easily changed even when the market demands the new technologies are hard to enter their business areas.
Examples – Automotive industry. Public sector
Matrix organisational structure came into existence in the 1970s to jointly put the most useful of the projectised and classic organisations. In the matrix, organisation employees are organised strictly by skills. All employees report to a functional manager in the matrix organisation, similar to the traditional organisation. All staff with the same skill report to the same operational manager. An example, all engineers could be grouped in a conventional organisation. In a matrix organisation, this does not occur. The operational manager is responsible for staffing the project and the administrative work.
The project managers control the majority of the work done by the employee as they are responsible for the work done by the individuals who do it. The project managers are not responsible for the day to day administrative work, which employees must do. Which allows the project team to focus on the project and not be stuck down by administrative work. It will enable the project team to focus on the stakeholders and the project much like a projectised organisation.
There are several hardships with this kind of organisation that must balance the project and operational managers to eliminate one group dominating the other. A project manager can balance by arranging when the project team should do the job and when the job should be assigned to the operational divisions. A balanced matrix organisation with a balance of power between functional and project managers is an organisation.
MATRIX ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
PROJECTISED ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
The traditional type is likely the pure project organisation. The project manager has total authority and can answer all questions regarding the project referred to them as the supreme authority to make all the decisions. In this type of organisation, the project team’s focus is clear, and the project goals are in the picture. There is a clear connection with the client, and communications with the client and the project team are usually good.
Example – Pyramid construction.
