The differences between the traditional and modern organization and why
clearly defining organization helps managers.
The traditional organizationonal structure was established and became
popular in the first part of the 20th century, a time, where multilayered
beauracracies were seen as the most effective and efficient approach to
manage large, complex corporations. Constarints on transportation, modest
education levels among the workforce, and the limited technical ability to
collect, display, and transmit information were but some of the factors
that led to the creation of a strong, centralized management system where
managers did the thinking and workers were expected to do the assigned work
without a question. The traditional organization was therefore causal and
goal orientated. This means that the incentives and objectives could be
clearly defined and the controlling was easy, since everything in the
business process was predictable. The traditional model of an organization
serves to establish managerial control, provide workers with job
instructions and enables managers to gather information for planning.
Managers run the organization by hierarchy, authortity, control and rules.
We could cpompare the traditional model to an effective, well-built
machines, with clearly differentiated functional components working
reliably and timely accurate to accomplish predetermined goals, for example
efficency and productivity.
The modern organization on the other hand emphasis on strategic management
and takes the growth of the decentralized organization into perspective.
Motivation and creativity as well as the influence of politics and power
force organizations to undergo a drastical structural change. The
informational flow in the modern organization is not directed in just one
way. This means that a communication between the management and the
workforce can take place.
In contrast to the traditional organization, the modern organization has
variables instead of defined objectives, that lead to more complex and
diverse structures. The modern organization also has fewer layers than the
traditional structure. This means that the hierarchy is not so complex and
therefore not so specifically defined. This makes it more difficult for
the management and for department managers to control and regulate thier
departments, since the chain of command is not as clear as in the
traditional organization. In modern organization the goals are not so
causal as in traditionl organization, that means that they are more diverse
and are influenced by a lot of factors, such as strategic planning,
teamwork, crativity and individual responsibility towards the incentive of
the organization itself.
By clearly defining the organizational structure of an organization
managers have the ability to plan strategic monoevers. Companies who
clearly define their organizational structure and post their Organizational
flow chart, along with the job descriptions and responsible authorities in
each department of the corporation, can be sure that the employees and
therefore also the management can establish a better communication and
working relationship. This enables a clearly defined structure, where the
duties an, guidelines, responsibilities and hierarchical structure, and
therefore the own position in the company, are easy to see. This helps the
management and also the workforce to understand the company and to know
what place they hold in the corporation. Problems will alwys occur when
managers don’t know their competences or aren’t sure what the strctural
proceedings expect from them regarding their function and authority. This
has great impact on the productivity of an organization and should
therefore be clear.
Word Count: 548
