Formal and Informal Organisations
The purpose of this essay is to provide a brief yet insightful look at how most organisations are comprised of formal and informal structures within the one organisation. The two types of structure are initially examined and then analysed for the strengths and weaknesses of each of the structures. A short history of how the two structures were developed are included to provide the reader with an outline of the thinkers who developed these ideas. Robbins, Bergman, Stagg and Coulter (2000) define formal organisations as 'work groups established by the (senior management in the) organisation that have designated work assignments and specific tasks.' The theory used, to establish these formal organisations was derived from the work done by the classical theorists, namely Taylor, Fayol and Weber. The theories were used to structure the formal organisations by outlining principles that should be adhered to when designing formal organisations and showed management how to run the organisation for maximum efficiency. Command Groups - These are the basic, traditional work groups determined by formal authority relationships and depicted on the organisational chart. They typically include a ma
Weaknesses of informal Organisations A strength of the formal organisation is that it is simplistic in its nature and easily controlled by senior management with the use of authority from the top of the organisation through to the bottom of the hierarchy. Communication throughout the formal organisation is conducted via formal, well defined communication channels. This has the advantage of preventing vital pieces of information not being passed on to the users of that information in the organisation. This type of communication has a disadvantage in that it can be quite time consuming compared to the communication structure of the informal structure which will be touched on later. Another strength of the formal organisation is that it involves all members of the organisation whereas the informal structure excludes some individuals. Strengths of Informal Organisations Cross-functional Teams - These bring together the knowledge and skills of individuals from various work areas in order to come up with solutions to operational problems. Cross-functional teams also include groups whose members have been trained to do each other's jobs. 'Informal networks are seen as an important device for promoting communication, integration, flexibility, and novelty, within and between organisations. They are viewed as structures that supplement, complement and add value to the formal organisation.' (Conway, 2000) The communication flows in informal organisations is more likely to be directed straight at the person requiring the information rather than passing up and down the formal chains of command. This has the advantage of saving time and the information being passed on is less likely to be distorted which tends to happen when information is passed through many different levels of an organisation.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Krackhardt Hanson, Organisations Formal, Formal Organisations, Levy Moreno, Task Forces, , Mayo Hawthorn, Stagg Coulter, Informal Organisations, Fayol Weber, formal organisations, formal organisation, informal organisation, senior management, informal structure, formal structure, et al, informal organisations, organisation structure, department head, et al 2001, statuses relationships network, strengths weaknesses structures, krackhardt hanson 1993, department head department,
Approximate Word count = 1384
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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