Qualitative Research about the Effects of Organizational Structure on Employee Attitudes and Behaviors
According to Rogelberg, organizational structure is the grouping of people and the activities of different departments to enhance decision-making, coordination of communication channels and supervision of activities that are done (2007).
In essence, employees are an essential resource for any functional organization unit, and the outcome of any activity they carry out is influenced by their attitudes and behaviors (Bowles & Cooper, 2009). Employees in an organization can be affected by a certain object that triggers either positive or negative attitude towards it, for instance, an employee can have negative or positive feeling towards the job he/she has within the organization (Tsai, 2011). Empirical research shows that there is a close association between employee performance and psychological states, and it forces organizations to monitor their employees closely to ensure that they are psychologically fit. For instance, according to Santhosh & Baral a bureaucratic organizational structure sets formal structures and rules that employees must follow to carry out the assigned tasks (2015). That creates either a positive or negative attitude because employees may not to carry out their tasks freely (Otchere-Ankrah, et.al, 2015). Any structure an organization takes must have a well defined flow of activities, by assigning each particular task to a certain department hence making it easier to monitor (Rakowsk et al., 2015). Employees must be assigned tasks depending on their abilities; for instance, specialization, formalization, and standardization (McKenna & McKenna, 2012). The other dimension is the concentration of authority hence dictates power. A clear protocol should be given to employees and a representative selected to avoid miscommunications and misunderstandings between management and staff (Bowles & Cooper, 2009). To improve management and to let an organization culture have an effect on employees, it is salient to understand how organizational cultures affect employee behavior. It is pertinent to note that a corporate culture allows the staff to feel responsible and have a sense of mission, and to work with an overall objective of the company. In essence, a positive organizational culture can mobilize the performance of employees and promote healthy development.
The other structural component is the line of control of workflow, which determines managerial responsibilities of various managers, and lastly, the support components that suggest administrative power and auxiliary non-workflow staff (Santhosh & Baral, 2015). Controlling these components ensures that employees are satisfied, hence, preventing turnover and unnecessary leaves. A bureaucratic structure puts into place all these characteristics and the employee behaviors and attitudes are taken care of limiting effects on outcomes (Farmer et al., 2012).
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