2.2.1 Draw, interpret and understand simple organisational charts:
- Simple hierarchical structures: levels of hierarchy, span of control, chain of command e.g. tall/short
- Roles and responsibilities of directors, managers, supervisors, other employees in an organisation and inter-relationships between them
2.2.2 The role of management:
- Functions of management, e.g. planning, organising, coordinating, commanding and controlling
- Importance of delegation; trust versus control
2.2.3 Leadership styles:
- Features of the main leadership styles, e.g. autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire
- Recommend and justify an appropriate leadership style in given circumstances
2.2.4 Trade unions:
- What a trade union is and the effects of employees being union members
Levels of management and division of responsibilities within a business can be represented on organisational charts
Types of organisational structure
Tall organisational charts –
These have a long chain of command and a small span of control
Flat organisational charts –
Short chain of command, wide span of control
Advantages of an organisational chart
- Shows how everybody is linked together in a businessLines of communication are clear
- Motivational as employees can see where they belong and can plan their career paths
- All employees are aware of which communication channel is used to reach them with messages
- They know who they are accountable to and who they are accountable for
- It shows the links and relationship between the different departments
- Gives everyone a sense of belonging as they appear on the organisational chart
Disadvantages of an organisational chart
- It will lead to poor communication and coordination across functional units.
- There maybe be lack of understanding across departments.
- They may focus more on their own goals and neglect the overall company objectives.
- Slow to react in response to environmental changes.
I have prepared this lesson in a video format, you can watch it here.
Chain of command
The power and authority is passed down from the top of the organisation to lower employees.
Instructions are passed on from senior managers to lower levels of management. In the below figure, there is a short chain of command since there are only four levels of management shown.
Advantages of short chain of command
- Faster communication – Communication is quicker and more accurate since it is passed on by fewer people.
- Stronger relationship between high-level managers and employees – This is because there are fewer levels between managers and employees.
- Each manager is responsible for more employees – This encourages them to delegate more work to employees.
- Top managers are less remote from lower employees, so employees will be more motivated and top managers can always stay in touch with the employees
Span of Control
- The number of employees working directly under a manager is span of control.
- The number of people you are directly responsible for.
Levels of Hierarchy
Levels of Hierarchy simply mean the Number of layers in an organisation structure
The role of management
The Role of managers in a an organisation is to:
- Plan
- Organise
- Coordinate
- Command
- Control
- Delegate
Plan
- Set goals for the future of the organisation.
- Give the business a sense of direction and purpose
- setting aims and targets for the organisations/deportment
- Plan for resources required to achieve these targets
- the number of people required
- the finance needed
Organise
- Organise the resources.
- Allocate responsibilities to employees
- Managers need to organise people
Coordinate
- Managers need to bring people together in a business for it to succeed. This is called co-ordination. If different functional departments do not co-ordinate, they could be doing completely different things which does not follow any common plan.
- Managers could co-ordinate the departments by holding regular meetings or setting up a project team with different members from different departments.
Command
- Commanding refers to guiding and leading employees which is very important in any organisation.
- Managers need to make sure that all subordinates are following targets and deadlines.
- It is the responsibility of the manager to ensure that all tasks are completed and therefore instruction and guidance must be provided to employees so that they can complete the tasks.
- Supervise, coach and support their employees
Control
- Evaluating the performance of employees, so that corrective action can be carried out if the employees are not sticking to goals.
- Monitoring performance to ensure that objectives are met
- If employees fails to achieve their target, the manager must see why it has occurred and what he can do to correct it
Delegate
- Passing down authority and responsibility to employees.
- Delegation refers to giving a employee the responsibility and authority to do a given task. However, the final responsibility still lies with the person who delegated the job to the employee.
- Managers cannot do all work by themselves so they will need to delegate
- Employees may feel more important and feel trusted
Each of these examples are explained in my lesson, you can watch it here:
Leadership styles
Leaderships styles refer to the different approaches used when dealing with people when in a position of authority. There are mainly three styles you need to learn:
Autocratic
Democratic
Laissez-Faire – “let it be”
Autocratic
- Leader is in charge and gives orders to employees
- Makes decision alone
- Everything depends on the leader
- May de-motivate employees
- May be an advantage for some businesses where decision needs to be made quickly
- This is standard in police and armed forces organisations.
Democratic
- Other employees involved in decision making
- Communication between managers and employees
- Future plans are discussed with other employees
- Motivates employees because they are involved in making decisions.
- Sharing of ideas within the business.
- Can delay decision making
Information about future plans are openly communicated and discussed with employees and a final decision is made by the manager.
Laissez-faire French for ‘leave to do’
style makes the broad objectives of the business known to employees and leaves them to do their own decision-making and organize tasks. Communication is rather difficult since a clear direction is not given. The manger has a very limited role to play.
- Can be useful when creative ideas are needed
- Highly motivational for employees as they control their own working life
- Poor coordination and decision making
- Relies on good team work
Trade unions
Group of workers who have joined together to ensure their interest are protected.
They negotiate with the employer or organisation for better conditions and treatment.
Can threaten to take industrial action if their requests are denied.
- Industrial action can include overtime ban – refusing to work overtime
- Work at the slowest speed as is required by the employment contract
- Strike – refusing to work at all and protest instead
Trade unions can also seek to put forward their views to the media and influence government decisions relating to employment.
Why join Trade unions?
- Improved conditions of employment
- Improved work environment
- Improved benefits – for workers who are not working, because they’re sick, retired or made redundant
- Improved job satisfaction
- Advice/financial support
- strength in number- a sense of belonging and unity
- Union can accompany you in important investigation against you within the organisation
Down sides to joining the trade union
- costs money to be member- a membership fee will be required
- You may be asked to take industrial action even if you don’t agree with the union- you may not get paid during a strike.
You can watch this lesson to understand this topic better if reading is not something you enjoy.
As always I recommend you take past exam papers as many times as possible. Take the online tests I have prepared for you too! As they will help you remember the key points.
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