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    3-1 Manager in Horizontal ST

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    Muriungi Richars
    This document discusses the concepts of vertical and horizontal organizational structures. Vertically structured organizations have a hierarchy with decreasing power and authority as you move down the ladder. Horizontally structured groups aim to reduce the problems of vertical structures by giving local groups more autonomy. The document uses the example of a group that makes engines working horizontally rather than vertically. In a horizontal structure, the group would control member behavior, hiring, firing, training and job assignments rather than a single manager. The question asks how tasks of a manager would change if their functionally structured group was reorganized horizontally. Tasks like communication upward, coordinating subordinates, mentoring, hiring, training and disciplining would likely be less, while communicating with peers may be

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    3-1 Manager in Horizontal ST

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    Muriungi Richars
    10 views3 pages
    This document discusses the concepts of vertical and horizontal organizational structures. Vertically structured organizations have a hierarchy with decreasing power and authority as you move down the ladder. Horizontally structured groups aim to reduce the problems of vertical structures by giving local groups more autonomy. The document uses the example of a group that makes engines working horizontally rather than vertically. In a horizontal structure, the group would control member behavior, hiring, firing, training and job assignments rather than a single manager. The question asks how tasks of a manager would change if their functionally structured group was reorganized horizontally. Tasks like communication upward, coordinating subordinates, mentoring, hiring, training and disciplining would likely be less, while communicating with peers may be

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    This document discusses the concepts of vertical and horizontal organizational structures. Vertically structured organizations have a hierarchy with decreasing power and authority as you move down the ladder. Horizontally structured groups aim to reduce the problems of vertical structures by giving local groups more autonomy. The document uses the example of a group that makes engines working horizontally rather than vertically. In a horizontal structure, the group would control member behavior, hiring, firing, training and job assignments rather than a single manager. The question asks how tasks of a manager would change if their functionally structured group was reorganized horizontally. Tasks like communication upward, coordinating subordinates, mentoring, hiring, training and disciplining would likely be less, while communicating with peers may be

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    10 views3 pages

    3-1 Manager in Horizontal ST

    Uploaded by

    Muriungi Richars
    This document discusses the concepts of vertical and horizontal organizational structures. Vertically structured organizations have a hierarchy with decreasing power and authority as you move down the ladder. Horizontally structured groups aim to reduce the problems of vertical structures by giving local groups more autonomy. The document uses the example of a group that makes engines working horizontally rather than vertically. In a horizontal structure, the group would control member behavior, hiring, firing, training and job assignments rather than a single manager. The question asks how tasks of a manager would change if their functionally structured group was reorganized horizontally. Tasks like communication upward, coordinating subordinates, mentoring, hiring, training and disciplining would likely be less, while communicating with peers may be

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    WER 3.

    1 (Due Tuesday September 29 at 11 AM) [350 words] [Constructed following the lead of Q9, P 130)
    A few words about the Concept of Horizontal Structure:
    To know what horizontal structure is, you need to fully understand Vertically structured organization. Most organizations (or parts
    thereof) that you and I see are hierarchic, i.e., vertically structured. Hierarchy, in this context, means—in its presence—the higher
    we go, we see people with more power, more authority, more influence. The opposite would be true in a vertical structure: the
    people at the bottom would have decreasingly less power as we go down the ladder. This has cost: motivational cost, cost due to
    delay in communication up and down the power ladder, cost due to miscommunication caused by too many filters in each hierarchic
    layer resulting in delays in action, mistakes in understanding, and manipulations in self-interest.
    Horizontal structure is an attempt to reduce such problems – not completely, but to some degree. Typically, horizontal structures
    are somewhat local and built within a bigger vertical structure. So, we can take a group of 15 to 30 people, in a vertical structure,
    whose individual contributions add up to a “complete” tangible product or recognizable chunk part of a product. For instance, sum
    of their work will not make a car, but it could certainly make an engine.
    If this group were to be working within the norms of a typical vertical structure, a) they may not be recognized as a “group,” other
    than supervision purposes (i.e., all members may be reporting to one manager), b) the manager would separately instruct each
    employee regarding his job, control his behavior (i.e., ensure that his behavior at work is consistent with company policies, hire and
    fire as needed), c) the manager’s responsibility would include coordination of work among all the group members (e.g. scheduling
    the work of each), d) the manager would also be the go-between these employees and the managers and above herself, e) if any
    group member’s work were to be somehow linked with a member of another group, it would be this manager’s job to coordinate
    with her peer – the manager of the other group, f) train, coach or mentor any of her group members as needed!
    This arrangement would be changed, not completely, but to a great extent (in most cases) if this group were to be horizontally
    structured, such that the group itself would control the behavior of its members—including hiring and firing, training, job
    assignments. They will continue to report to the manger, but their relationship will change!
    Question:
    Consider a Functionally Structured organization. I.E., groups created around functional skills; a piece of work (e.g. a document, a
    complicated part of a car, such as an engine, etc.), that needed work contribution of several groups (with different skills), was to be
    routed through each relevant skill-group. The coordination—planning, scheduling and communication—among the groups was done
    by the supervisor/manager. Now imagine the structure of how all the people involved in the process of doing this work (e.g. putting
    together engines) is changed to “horizontal” [people with different skill sets were working side by side coordinating their work
    with others somewhat semi-autonomously].
    Suppose you were the supervisor/manager of one of the functional groups, now you are selected as the supervisor/manager
    responsible for that horizontally structured group. Indicate which of the following tasks (as part of normal/usual work done by you
    are likely to be more of, less of, or remain about the same compared to the time before the change. Briefly write the reasons for
    your choices.
    The table below should help you focus on the crux of the issues at hand.

    Same (S),
    Tasks More (M), Reasons
    or Less (L)?
    Communication upward (with
    your boss)
    Communication downward
    (with your subordinates)
    Communicating to fellow
    managers (peers)
    Coordinating your
    subordinates
    Mentoring/guiding your
    subordinates
    Hiring new subordinates
    Training subordinates
    Disciplining subordinates
    Removing obstacles so the
    work can be done smoothly

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