Business — Human resources (paper 1)
Internal organisational structures • Most rms have a hierarchal structure (layers)
There are 4 layers of sta within a hierarchy:
• Directors (top)
- Responsible for the business’ strategy and makes its overall decisions - they
have the most in uence over a company’s decision
• Managers (large rms can have senior, middle and junior managers)
- Help to communicate the strategy of the rm to their subordinates (people
below them in the hierarchy)
- Organise the people below them in the hierarchy (span of control) to achieve
the rm’s objectives
• Supervisors
- Usually look after speci c projects or small teams of operatives
- Lowest level of people in a hierarchy that are still responsible for managing
other people (operatives)
• Operatives (lowest)
- Not responsible for other sta
- Given speci c tasks to perform by managers or supervisors
Span of control • The number of people directly under a manager’s responsibility
• Narrow span of control: there would be a smaller number of people for whom
a manager is directly responsible
Chain of command • The line through the hierarchy that shows who is responsible for whom from
top to bottom of an organisation.
• The line of authority within a business along which communication passes.
Delayering • Delayering may improve the speed of communication because information
passes through fewer levels of the hierarchy
• This can make communication quicker as there are fewer levels of the
hierarchy for information to move up or down the chain of command.
• Managers may have a wider span of control → less time to supervise each
employee → mistakes may be harder to identify
• Delayering is the removal of one or more levels of the hierarchy reducing
costs. Changing from a tall hierarchy to a atter structure by removing
assistant managers
Delegation • Delegation is when a manager passes authority and responsibility for a task to
a subordinate
Why businesses have internal • Allows a business to organise its employees so that they know their roles in
organisational structures relation to other employees in the organisation/employees know who to report
to/employees know who they are responsible for
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, Business — Human resources (paper 1)
The impact that having a tall or at Tall organisational structures
organisational structure has on how a • Long chain of command (many layers of the hierarchy)
business is managed • Narrow span of control
- Can make a rm more effective as managers can monitor the employees they
are responsible for more closely as each manager is responsible for a smaller
number of employees
- Communication more dif cult and slower because of many layers so hard to
pass on message (downward and upward communication) may need to have
meetings if discussions are needed eg. when making decisions but emails can
be used
Flat organisation structures
• Short chain of command
• Wide span of control
- Each manager has to manage a lot of employees at once which can be
dif cult to manage them effectively and monitor each employees closely
- Communication more easy and faster because there are fewer layers of
management (downward and upward communication)
- A at organisational structure has few layers of management. Messages can
be passed from the most senior level to the most junior level more quickly
because there are fewer people through which the message will pass
- Verbal communication may be dif cult if a manager’s span of control is very
wide and they need to talk to each of their workers individually so may need to
use emails and fewer meetings (horizontal communication)
Centralisation • All major decisions are made by 1 person or a few senior managers at the top
of the hierarchy
Advantages:
• Senior managers may have greater experience and understand the overall
objectives of the business
• Decisions and policies can remain consistent across the business
Disadvantages:
• Employees may feel less involved in decision-making → lower motivation
• Senior managers may be less familiar with local/customer needs
• Decisions may take longer to communicate through a large hierarchy
Decentralisation • All major decisions are made by people at different layers of the hierarchy -
authority is shared out
Advantages:
• Employees/managers have greater responsibility → may increase motivation
• Local managers may understand their customers and local market better
• Decisions can sometimes be made more quickly without waiting for senior
management
Disadvantages:
• Decisions may be inconsistent between departments/locations
• Less experienced managers may make poor decisions
• Decisions may not always support the overall objectives of the business
Reasons why businesses need to recruit • Employees leave, retire or are promoted
employees • Business expands and requires more workers
• New skills are needed, e.g. because of new technology
• Business opens a new location/department
• Temporary increases in demand may require additional staff
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fi fi fl fi
Internal organisational structures • Most rms have a hierarchal structure (layers)
There are 4 layers of sta within a hierarchy:
• Directors (top)
- Responsible for the business’ strategy and makes its overall decisions - they
have the most in uence over a company’s decision
• Managers (large rms can have senior, middle and junior managers)
- Help to communicate the strategy of the rm to their subordinates (people
below them in the hierarchy)
- Organise the people below them in the hierarchy (span of control) to achieve
the rm’s objectives
• Supervisors
- Usually look after speci c projects or small teams of operatives
- Lowest level of people in a hierarchy that are still responsible for managing
other people (operatives)
• Operatives (lowest)
- Not responsible for other sta
- Given speci c tasks to perform by managers or supervisors
Span of control • The number of people directly under a manager’s responsibility
• Narrow span of control: there would be a smaller number of people for whom
a manager is directly responsible
Chain of command • The line through the hierarchy that shows who is responsible for whom from
top to bottom of an organisation.
• The line of authority within a business along which communication passes.
Delayering • Delayering may improve the speed of communication because information
passes through fewer levels of the hierarchy
• This can make communication quicker as there are fewer levels of the
hierarchy for information to move up or down the chain of command.
• Managers may have a wider span of control → less time to supervise each
employee → mistakes may be harder to identify
• Delayering is the removal of one or more levels of the hierarchy reducing
costs. Changing from a tall hierarchy to a atter structure by removing
assistant managers
Delegation • Delegation is when a manager passes authority and responsibility for a task to
a subordinate
Why businesses have internal • Allows a business to organise its employees so that they know their roles in
organisational structures relation to other employees in the organisation/employees know who to report
to/employees know who they are responsible for
fi fi fi flfi fiff ff fifl
, Business — Human resources (paper 1)
The impact that having a tall or at Tall organisational structures
organisational structure has on how a • Long chain of command (many layers of the hierarchy)
business is managed • Narrow span of control
- Can make a rm more effective as managers can monitor the employees they
are responsible for more closely as each manager is responsible for a smaller
number of employees
- Communication more dif cult and slower because of many layers so hard to
pass on message (downward and upward communication) may need to have
meetings if discussions are needed eg. when making decisions but emails can
be used
Flat organisation structures
• Short chain of command
• Wide span of control
- Each manager has to manage a lot of employees at once which can be
dif cult to manage them effectively and monitor each employees closely
- Communication more easy and faster because there are fewer layers of
management (downward and upward communication)
- A at organisational structure has few layers of management. Messages can
be passed from the most senior level to the most junior level more quickly
because there are fewer people through which the message will pass
- Verbal communication may be dif cult if a manager’s span of control is very
wide and they need to talk to each of their workers individually so may need to
use emails and fewer meetings (horizontal communication)
Centralisation • All major decisions are made by 1 person or a few senior managers at the top
of the hierarchy
Advantages:
• Senior managers may have greater experience and understand the overall
objectives of the business
• Decisions and policies can remain consistent across the business
Disadvantages:
• Employees may feel less involved in decision-making → lower motivation
• Senior managers may be less familiar with local/customer needs
• Decisions may take longer to communicate through a large hierarchy
Decentralisation • All major decisions are made by people at different layers of the hierarchy -
authority is shared out
Advantages:
• Employees/managers have greater responsibility → may increase motivation
• Local managers may understand their customers and local market better
• Decisions can sometimes be made more quickly without waiting for senior
management
Disadvantages:
• Decisions may be inconsistent between departments/locations
• Less experienced managers may make poor decisions
• Decisions may not always support the overall objectives of the business
Reasons why businesses need to recruit • Employees leave, retire or are promoted
employees • Business expands and requires more workers
• New skills are needed, e.g. because of new technology
• Business opens a new location/department
• Temporary increases in demand may require additional staff
flfi
fi fi fl fi
