Organizational Structure

Organizational Structure



Organizational Structure


Organizational Structure
Organizational structure determines many functions of an organization. Structure dictates direction, decision making authority, distribution of funds, and policies to support company strategies. There are different structure concepts that can enhance specific functions in any organization.
As an illustration, the Puyallup Police Department has a functional organization structure (City of Puyallup, 2011). The head position in this organization is the Chief of Police. The lower position to the chief is the Deputy Chief. Below the deputy chief are three divisions; Criminal Investigations Division, Operations Division, and a Professional Services Division (City of Puyallup, 2011). Each of these divisions has special units with their own supervisor positions. The Puyallup Police Department operates a full service department that includes a jail, crime prevention, criminal investigations department as well as a traffic patrol department (City of Puyallup, 2011).
Accordingly, the functional structure dictates the distribution of authority (Bateman & Snell, 2011). The police department is a good example of formal position authority. The chief of police has the authority to give orders and direction to the lower-level employees. This type of authority in position is not always the case. Some positions are positions of expertise or experience as in the divisional or by definition as the matrix structures. This type of authority may be informal authority and can affect not only lower-level positions but also the higher level positions in those types of structures (Bateman, 2011).
Furthermore, comparison of the functional structure in authority to the matrix structure proves the matrix structure is more complex (Galbraith, 2010). The matrix structure of authority is lower-level employees subordinate to two people in higher positions (Bateman, 2011). Decision-making authority in a functional structure, as...

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