Impact of Hierarchical Organization Structure on Employees Work
Impact of Hierarchical Organization Structure on Employees Work
Introduction
Every organization requires an appropriate structure in order to maintain accountability and discipline in the organization. There are different organizational structures that are used by different organizations. Hierarchical structure is chosen by a number of companies to organize their workforce and operations. Hierarchical structure affects the work of employees in many ways and it affects the overall performance of the organization. This paper intends to discuss how hierarchical structure affects the work of employees in organizations.
Background
There are different levels of hierarchy in an organization and lower employees are directed to report their superiors. The person, who holds the top chair, enjoys the maximum power in hierarchical organizational structure, but at the same time, he also has the maximum responsibilities. All employees have opportunities to strengthen their position and responsibility in the organization. Employees can climb the ladder inside the organization in order to get more responsibility and more money. When a hierarchy is set up and a reporting structure with various levels of managers is decided for an organization, a number of factors have to be taken into account (Oldham & Hackman, 1981).
Kohn (1971), in one of extensively researched studies, says that there is a strong relationship between employee’s performance and hierarchical structure of organization. Report suggests that employees that worked in hierarchical organizational structure were more focused on their objectives. They were open minded and always tended to perform. Employees in a hierarchical organizations structure tend to utilize their time in constructive works instead of wasting their time in useless activities (Kohn and Schooler, 1973).
Organizational structure determines how roles and responsibilities will be distributed across the organization, and reporting structure will be implemented. The organizational structure impacts the flow of communication and business environment. In competitive environment it is important for the companies to adopt organizational structure that delivers maximum value to the business. Companies are required to adopt structure that helps them in developing competitive advantage and unique positioning of their products (McShane et al., 2008).
Hierarchical organizational structure emphasizes on allocation of authorities to top executives and managers, which means all major or minor decisions can be made only by the senior executives. The hierarchical organizational structure also impacts decision making processes and collaboration among employees. In hierarchical organizational structure power distance is very high among senior management and junior employees. Therefore, it is important to analyze how hierarchical organizational structure impacts performance and work of the employees (Griffin & Moorhead, 2014). The purpose of the research study is to analyze benefits associated with Hierarchical organizational structure, and it impacts of employees work. The research study will also analyze what types of companies should adopt hierarchical organizational structure in order to achieve efficiency from their employees.
The scope of study
The scope of this study is to analyze effects of the hierarchical organizational structure on different organizations. The study also intends to analyze how work and performance of employees working in hierarchical structured organizations get positively or negatively impacted by the structure. The work environment, power levels, responsibilities and performance of the employees and organizations will also analyzed under the study. Different factors that directly impacts performance of any organization such as employee’s performance, collaborative & healthy working environment, innovation and clear distribution of responsibilities provides framework to the research study (Takahara & Mesarovic, 2003). This study intends to analyze what motivates employees to perform in hierarchical structured organizations and also examines what keeps them disciplined. The overall focus of this study is on analyzing the relevance and effect of hierarchical organizational structure on employees as well as on organizations.
The relevance of the study
Hierarchical organizational structure has both positive and negative impacts, and it impacts performance of the organization in great way. It is important to understand how hierarchical organizational structure can be beneficial for some organizations and not for others. The findings of the research study will help in understanding how some companies can achieve effective performance and work from their employees by adopting hierarchical organizational structure. The relevance of this study is to assess the effects, advantages and disadvantages of hierarchical organizational structure. The study is relevant because it affects the performance of employees as well as organizations. Through such studies, organizations can analyze and re-design their human resource policies. Organizations must be aware of strengths and weaknesses of their employees and policies. Employees that perform better and are focused on the growth should be promoted accordingly and people who do not believe in performing should be downsized (Tullock, 1992).
This study helps employees as well organizations in considerable ways. Employees come to know what areas they need to strengthen and what improvements they need in order to increase their productivity. This study helps employees in improving their performance while helps companies in understanding what policies should be implemented in order to increase the performance of the organization. This study is relevant for employees as well as organizations and helps both in growing (Saiyadain, 2009).
Research Methodology
Research Design
The research study will conducted by utilizing mix research method i.e. combination of quantitative and qualitative research method. Under the research study the secondary and primary data will be collected and analyzed by using different techniques. Under secondary data analysis, existing literature available on the subject, report of different organizations and other authentic data available on the subject will be analyzed. Primary data will be collected by using data collection tools. A sample of 20 employees from different organization that have hierarchical organizational structure will be selected for the study. 2 senior managers will also be covered under the study.
Data Collection and Analysis:
Primary data will be collected by using questionnaire containing both open ended and close ended questionnaire. Secondary data will be collected by analyzing literature and reports available on the subject. The data will be analyzed by considering hierarchical organizational structure as an independent variable and employees work, performance, innovation, and collaborative working environment as an independent variable. The data will be analyzed by using excel or SPSS software. Under the study, correlation analysis will be performed to measure the impact of organizational structure on various performance indicators and employees work.
Conclusion
Having observed the succinct analysis of the abovementioned subject, this paper concludes that hierarchical organizational structure affects the work and performance of employees as well as organizations. It has been observed that organizations, with hierarchical structure, tend to perform in better ways because of their employees. Though there are some inadequacies in hierarchical organizational structure but overall this structure has been found very effective and this is the main reason why it is practiced in a number of organizations across the world.
References
Griffin, R., & Moorhead, G. (2014). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Kohn, M. L., and Schooler, C. (1973). Occupational experience and psychological functioning: An Assessment of Reciprocal Effects. American Sociological Review, 38, 97-118.
McShane, S.L., Glinow, MAV, & Sharma, R.R. (2008). Organizational Behavior. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Oldham, G.R. & Hackman, J.R. (1981). Relationships Between Organizational Structure and Employee Reactions: Comparing Alternative Frameworks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26(1), 66-83.
Saiyadain. (2009). Organization Structure & Design. New Delhi: Macmillan.
Takahara, Y., & Mesarovic, M.D. (2003). Organization Structure: Cybernetic Systems Foundation: Cybernetic Systems. New York: Springer Science & Business Media.
Tullock, G. (1992). Economic Hierarchies, Organization and the Structure of Production. USA: Springer Science & Business Media.
