Key Principles of Organisational Structures Flashcards

All 11 cards in this deck

What is an organisational structure?

The internal arrangement of staff within a business, representing the different layers of management.

What is a span of control?

The number of staff a manager has management responsibility for.

What is the chain of command?

The route by which instructions and communications flow from the top to the bottom of a business, showing who is answerable to whom.

What is a subordinate?

A member of staff below a manager in the chain of command.

Give two features of a flat organisational structure.

Few layers of management (short chain of command) and wide spans of control.

True or false? A hierarchical (tall) structure has managers with narrow spans of control.

True. Many layers of management mean each manager is responsible for fewer staff.

Give two reasons why a business has an internal organisational structure.

It shows who is answerable to whom (clear chain of command) and makes clear each employee's job role and responsibilities.

What is delegation?

Giving tasks to members of staff, often by managers to employees further down the chain of command.

What is one benefit to a manager of delegating tasks to subordinates?

It reduces the manager's workload, freeing time for other decisions.

True or false? A flat organisational structure offers many opportunities for promotion.

False. Few layers of management mean fewer promotion opportunities; tall structures offer more.

Name the typical levels of job role from the top to the bottom of an organisational structure.

Directors, then managers, then supervisors, then operatives/employees.