Organization's Structure: Its Effects on Members

Running Head: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Module 5 – Case Assignment
Organizational Structure: Its Effects on Members
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Organization’s Structure: Its Effects on Members
Q1 Rosabeth Moss Kanter (1993) structural theory of human behavior in organizations suggest that an organization’s structure can have significant effects on its members. The three structures of Kanter's theory are the structure of Power, structure of Opportunity, and Worker Effectiveness in the job. Kanter believes that the presence of Power and Opportunity in the work environment positively influences the Worker’s Effectiveness, that is, the employee's investment in or withdrawal from the job as shown in the figure below.
Figure 1. Kanter’s (1993) Structural theory of organizational behavior.


Kanter (1993) proposes that the structure of power and the structure of opportunity are factors that affect work effectiveness and productivity. Power is defined as the ability of the individual to accomplish goals and get a job done. She defines access to opportunity as prospects for challenge, reward and advancement. Moreover, according to Kanter (1993) and Brown and Kanter (1982), power affect one's ability to access structures of opportunity and organizational power. Opportunity is the expectation and prospect for growth and development. Organizational power allows employees to act effectively and efficiently within the structure of the wider organization.
Brown and Kanter (1982) suggest that employees who have power and opportunity tend to act more quickly, accomplish more and motivate others to do the same. This view of power suggests that individuals can actively influence the acquisition of power and opportunity rather than passively accept their current level of power within a position. Lastly, behavior is affected by whether or not the individual is in a minority, either gender or ethnic, vis a vis others in similar jobs within the work environment.
There are a variety of ways in which researchers can examine the structure of an organization. Burns and Stalker (1961) distinguished between organic and mechanistic organizational structures. They explained that a mechanistic structure is one in which upper level mangers divide tasks into discrete, specialized units. Employees are responsible for independently completing these tasks as assigned. Additionally, this type of organization is one that is governed by strict rules within a stringent hierarchical system, just like in SAS. In this type of an organization, the upper-level management governs the organization, makes decisions, and dictates these decisions to lower-level employees for completion. Thus, communication within the organization is vertical; providing formal networks only between immediate superiors and subordinates. In contrast, within organic systems employees work together, each having an integral knowledge of other employees’ tasks (Burns & Stalker, 1961).
As a result, jobs are not as rigidly defined and job descriptions are often the result of collaboration among employees. This type of an organization has fewer rules and regulations, allowing employees latitude to promote creativi...