Responsive Structure
Responsive Organizational Structure
There is no one ideal organizational structure. Rather an organization must be able to effectively relate to its market environment and serve the needs of its customers in a responsive fashion. It must have a structure that facilitates industry goals and allows it to compete with other companies in its market. There must also be a fit between the organization's structure, its size, its technology, and the requirements of its environment. (Borgatti, 1996)
For example, advertising companies that make one-of-a-kind custom products and provide unique services to the customer will differ from, say, car manufactures in their structures. In advertising companies, typically, people's skills and knowledge is more important than the sophistication of the machines that are used during production. Because of their unique services that require the advertising firm to be responsive to each and every single client's demands, these firms are relatively expensive to operate. The work process is unpredictable and hard to pre-program or automate. There are few levels of hierarchy, the CEO has little control over day-to-day administrative affairs of individual employees, there are relatively low percentages of managers to oversee the lower level staff members, and thus the firm has an organic rather than a mechanistic structure. (Borgatti, 1996)
Unlike a media conglomerate like Disney or Time Warner, an advertising firm has a large number of creative talents that work as a part of teams or cells, on particular accounts in a fairly independent fashion. For example, the Omnicom Group is an advertising, marketing and corporate communication conglomerate, rather than an agency with a singular and notable figurehead that manages such accounts as Gillette and has thirteen corporate branches under its letterhead. But this largeness makes it easier for the firm to take risks in accounts in selecting clients and launching campaigns, in case one campaign fails or a client is lost, another campaign may be just as likely to succeed. When businesses cannot standardize their product, diversity is key.
Works Cited
Borgatti, Steven. (1996) "Organizational Structure." Last updated April 2, 2002. Retrieved http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/handouts.htm
Omnicom. (2003). Company Profile. Retrieved 17 Sept 2005 at companyprofile.asp?userID=33881961&h=w4VDAyJ6QAzSMrELlnYDMA&username=runner12&symb=OMC
