The group, the closest context of the individual in an organization, sifts the information it receives, influences its behaviors and it provides you with a good part of the motivations for your behavior. The individual is part of one or more groups within the organization and in them develops their tasks, fulfills his obligations, performs his different roles and establishes relationships with others members. In addition to the relationships between the individual and the group of the organization, those that exist between the groups and the organization as a whole.
The groups in the concrete framework of the organizations are multiple realities that range from the small informal groups that emerged among the members to the stable committees formally created or the commissions and temporary groups that are established to achieve some specific objectives of the organization.
The most elementary unit of an organization is the individual who is part of it, with a partial inclusion, however, The most characteristic units are the groups because they are the ones that make possible the performance of functions, the division of tasks and their coordination.
Considering the organization as an open system, the complexity of this type of systems must be borne in mind, through the study of the subsystems that carry out the different functions and activities necessary for the maintenance and differentiation of the system in its whole.
Kahn and Katz (1978) establish 5 differentiated subsystems:
- production, focused on carrying out the work necessary to achieve the organization's objectives;
- the maintenance that provides the means so that the main task or work of the organization can be carried out; the adaptive one that seeks the provision of the appropriate measures to achieve
- the adaptation of the organization to its environment despite the changes that occur within it the management or managerial that seeks the coordination, control and direction of the different subsystems.
Miller has established a differentiation of subsystems from the general consideration of living systems. Organizations are living systems whose differential characteristic is the existence of decision makers multi-tiered and in which its subsystems can in turn be subsidiary organizations, groups and individuals individual. The differentiation of subsystems is carried out according to the functions they must fulfill and the processes they develop. It distinguishes:
subsystems that process matter-energy:
- ingesting subsystem
- distributor subsystem
- converter or transformer subsystem
- producer subsystem
- mass and energy storage subsystem motor subsystem support subsystem;
subsystems that process information:
- input transducer
- internal transducers channels and networks for the transmission of information
- decoder
- memory
- decision maker
- encoder
- output transducer.
subsystems that process matter and energy, as well as information:
- bounding subsystem
- reproductive subsystem, which allows generating new organizations from a previous organization.
The description of Miller It combines structural aspects with others of a functional and procedural nature. The formal level at which this distinction was made leads to the fact that probably no organization has ever been still explicitly subdivided into departments and other units, corresponding to this set of subsystems.
Studies on the structure of organizations, especially work organizations, attend to more peculiar aspects of this type of organization and have categorized variables from which they have tried to determine the relationships between the structural aspects of the organization and other behavioral, contextual or environmental aspects of the the same.
Structure It is the coordination of a series of parts or elements arranged in a certain order and with certain relationships between them. Management that must be relatively durable. The structure of the organization is the sum total of the ways in which it divides its work into different tasks and the mechanisms through which it achieves coordination between them. It is a relatively stable model of the organization that cannot fully identify with it. Structural elements:
- the division of functions,
- the distribution of positions,
- the ordering of the different levels of decision-making;
that is, everything related to relationships, activities, rights and obligations that must be established by means of rules and ordinances.
Central aspects when clarifying the concept of structure are:
- units that compose it, the units of the organizational structure are their roles and their sets of roles (performed by a person or by several people, in a group) into which the different tasks, functions and positions of the organization. The analysis of the structure of an organization can begin by describing the roles played by all members and groups, divisions, departments, etc. in which they are grouped. A role or role is a complex of social norms or expectations that refer to the holder of a certain position in the organization and that determine the behaviors of the person who performs it. The role concept is a concept within the functional structure of the organization;
- connections and relationships between them, especially those formulated in accordance with established rules, if we refer to the formal structure of the organization. Regarding the problem of coordination, Mintzberg (1979) mentions several mechanisms through which organizations, depending on their differentiating characteristics, their environment, the objectives, and the goals they pursue and their level of development, coordinate the units that make up.
Coordination systems:
- mutual adjustment between members that allows the coordination of tasks through the simple process of informal communication between them;
- direct supervision, supervision is achieved through an individual whose responsibility and role consists of controlling the remaining individuals and roles;
- standardization of the task process, the contents of the different tasks are established through norms that seek coordination:
- standardization of results, consists of the establishment of the characteristics of the product that has to result from the work. The relationships between the tasks that contribute to their performance must be coordinated in such a way that the results established in the standardization of the products are achieved;
- standardization of skills, when in certain organizations it is difficult to standardize tasks or results by their level complexity, a coordination system can be used through the standardization of the skills and attitudes of the members.
The organization specifies the type of preparation necessary to perform certain tasks and assumes that the Required knowledge will allow control and coordination of the work between the members of the organization. As organizations become more complex and their tasks become more complicated, coordination systems transform according to a sequence that begins in Mutual adjustment passes through direct supervision and reaches one of the standardization systems considered (of the work process, of the products or of the skills).
The study of all the roles or roles of the organization and the different systems of connection and coordination between them, especially in complex organizations is a difficult task. If, in addition, it is intended to study the characteristics of different organizations through a comparative analysis To determine the main structural dimensions of organizations, this task may be impossible.
Comparative empirical research pays attention to singular characteristics or structural aspects that can be deduced through of a process of synthesis and abstraction based on a detailed description of the expectations of the roles and of the activities and relationships real. Various organizational models have had an important influence on the delimitation of these structural characteristics.
The structural model of bureaucratic organizations offered by Weber, who included:
- an organizational continuum of official functions delimited by rules
- a specific sphere of competence for each trade or position
- the organization of these trades in a clearly defined hierarchy
- a set of rules or regulations that regulate the conduct of that trade
- the separation between the owners and the administrators and professionals of an organization, administrative acts
- Written and recorded decisions and rules, contractual relationships established for each trade or position, a selection of candidates based on technical competence that avoids nepotism.
Model that has made possible the development of a series of empirical analyzes on the bureaucratic structure and allows the delimitation of characteristics structural that allow a quantitative evaluation and the delimitation of possible relationships between them. Pugh points out that all organizations have to make decisions to achieve the continuation of activities directed towards the achievement of their goals.
Activities such as the assignment of tasks, the exercise of authority and the coordination of functions in which regularities arise, which constitute the organizational structure. Sociologists study the systematic differences in this structure related to variations in factors such as the objectives of the organization, its size, the type of property, its location. geographic and technology employee that produces structural differences characteristic of each organization.
Many structural dimensions in organizations have been studied. Pugh, Hickson et al. They have dealt with specialization, standardization, formalization, centralization, configuration, and flexibility. Blau has studied hierarchical patterns as zones of control and number of levels of hierarchy along with organizational size. Aiken and Hage they have concentrated on the dimensions of centralization, formalization and complexity. A distinction can be made between structural dimensions and contextual factors that make up the internal environment of the organization, which exert considerable influence on the organizational structure. Can distinguish between dimensions structural and contextual factors that make up the internal environment of the organization, that exert considerable influence on the organizational structure.
Since the 1960s, researchers have been studying the context in which the organization works, that is, the internal context in which its structure develops. Many authors assume that this structure is a product of the context in which it works and its changes can be explained from contextual variables.
Pugh et al. studied the effects of 7 dimensions of the organizational context on different structural variables. Dimensions: origin and history of the organization type of ownership and control size nature and range of goods and services, technology location, dependence on other organizations
Structural variables:
- level of structuring of the organization's activities, that is, the degree to which the behavior of its members was delimited and defined;
- degree of concentration of authority, degree of control of the organization carried out by people in the hierarchical line as opposed to control exercised by impersonal procedures.
The study carried out from the data in 46 organizations showed that 2 contextual variables (size and technology) predicted the degree of structuring of activities (r = 0.45), dependency and location predicted the degree of concentration of authority (r = 0'75).
The dimensions of centralization, complexity and formalization make it possible to establish the ways in which an organization coordinates and controls its different component parts and their operation. Control and coordination can be achieved through decision-making (power and centralization), differentiation (hierarchical order of the different positions, division of labor and scope of control), the establishment and formulation of procedural rules (formalization and standardization). A fourth mechanism to achieve this coordination and control is vertical and horizontal communication. Dimension that also presents structural aspects such as communication networks or channels.
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