Test Your Knowledge of Organisation Structure Basics

Study Notes

Introduction to Organisation Structure

Ryanair is Europe's largest airline and has achieved remarkable success in a highly competitive industry.
Organisation structure describes how work is divided, supervised, and coordinated.
Organisation charts are often used to represent the main departments and work positions in an organisation and their reporting relationships.
Formal structure is the official structure of the organisation, while informal structure refers to the unofficial working relationships between organisational members.
The basic elements of structure are work specialisation, chain of command, span of control, centralisation vs decentralisation, and departmentalisation.
Work specialisation involves breaking down a job into steps completed by different individuals with different skills.
Negative results of work specialisation include difficulty in replacing employees, boredom leading to low productivity, poor quality, and high employee turnover, and lack of motivation.
Chain of command refers to the continuous chain of authority clarifying who reports to whom, with concepts related to it including authority, responsibility, accountability, and delegation.
Span of control is the number of subordinates directly reporting to a manager, and the right number must be found for effective and efficient management.
Centralised organisations make decisions at the centre, while decentralised organisations push decisions down to the level closest to the problem.
Departmentalisation refers to grouping the organisation's activities into units with a manager in charge of each unit.
Mechanistic structures are rigid, stable, high in specialisation, centralisation, and formalisation, while organic structures are flexible, adaptive, encourage cross-functional teamwork and horizontal communication, and are best for complex and unique tasks.

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Description

Take this quiz to test your knowledge of organisation structure basics! Learn about the formal and informal structures of an organisation, the different elements of structure including work specialisation, chain of command, span of control, centralisation vs decentralisation, and departmentalisation. Explore the pros and cons of different types of organisational structures and find out which type is best suited for different types of tasks. Sharpen your understanding of organisation charts and the roles they play in a company's success. Test your knowledge now