Organizational Structure: Influencing Factors and Impact on a Firm

Abstract

The influence of certain factors on organizational structure has been in researchers’ focus for years, together with their impact on the overall organizational efficiency. Many of these factors are from the environment where traditional view commonly divided into internal and external factors. This paper presents the findings of a study to evaluate the influencing factors and impact on organizational structure of a sample of firms located in Hanoi, Vietnam. Structured questionnaires were administered with respect to these factors. The variables studied were identified from among the factors considered in contingency theory and by incorporating elements of the strategic choice approach. After grouping the variables into two factors (related to external and internal respectively), the results revealed three groups of firms according to how they regarded the impact of these factors on organizational structures. In those groups that consider the variables of internal factors to be modifiers of structure the organizational structures are of the “complex classical” type, whereas simple forms predominate in the group that believes these variables do not modify their structure.

Share and Cite:

Q. Tran and Y. Tian, "Organizational Structure: Influencing Factors and Impact on a Firm," American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, Vol. 3 No. 2, 2013, pp. 229-236. doi: 10.4236/ajibm.2013.32028.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] B. Kristina, et al., “Impact of ICT on the organizational Structure Elements: Case of the Varazdin County,” Pavlinska 2, 42000 Varazdin, Croatia.
[2] L. J. Bourgeois, D. W. McAllister and T. R. Mitchell, “The Effects of Different Organizational Environments upon Decisions about Organization Structure,” Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 21, No. 3, 1978, pp. 508-514. doi:10.2307/255732
[3] R. B. Duncan, “Characteristics of Organizational Environments and Perceived Environmental Uncertainty,” Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 3, 1972, pp. 313-327. doi:10.2307/2392145
[4] L. G. Hrebiniak and C. C. Snow, “Industry Differences in Environmental Uncertainty and Organizational Characteristics Related to Uncertainty,” Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 23, No. 4, 1980, pp. 750-759. doi:10.2307/255561
[5] P. R. Lawrence and J. W. Lorsch, “Organization and Environment,” Irwin, Homewood, 1967.
[6] L. Gordon and V. K. Narayanan, “Management Accounting Systems, Perceived Environmental Uncertainty, and Organizational Structure: An Empirical Investigation,” Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1984, pp. 33-47. doi:10.1016/0361-3682(84)90028-X
[7] R. E. Spekman and L. W. Stern, “Environmental Uncertainty and Buying Group Structure,” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 43, No. 2, 1979, pp. 54-64. doi:10.2307/1250741
[8] R. W. Ruekert, et al.,” The Organization of Marketing Activities: A Contingency Theory of Structure and Performance,” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, No. 1, 1985, pp. 13-25. doi:10.2307/1251172
[9] B. J. Jaworski, “Toward a Theory of Marketing Control: Environmental Context, Control Types, and Consequences,” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52, No. 3, 1988, pp. 23-29. doi:10.2307/1251447
[10] R. E. Walton, “From Control to Commitment: Transforming Work Force Management in the US,” In: K. Clark, R. Hayes and C. Lorenz, Eds., The Uneasy Alliance: Managing the Productivity-Technology Dilemma, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 1985, pp. 237-265.
[11] “The Role of Organizational Structure in an Organization,” 2012. http://www.fao.orgdocrep/005
[12] J. H. Jackson and C. P Morgan, “Organization Theory,” 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 1982.
[13] D. Wolf, “Execution and Structure,” 2002. http://www.dewarsloan.com/workin%20papers-execution %20and20%structure.html
[14] R. E. Walton, “A Vision-Led Approach to Management Restructuring,” Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 14, No. 4, 1986, pp. 5-17.
[15] J. D. Thompson, “Organization in Action,” McGraw-Hill, New York, 1966.
[16] D. Kartz and R. L. Kahn, “The Social Psychology of Organizing,” 2nd Edition, Wiley, New York, 1978.
[17] J. Child, “Organizational Structure, Environment and Performance: The Role of Strategic Choice,” Sociology, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1972, pp. 1-22. doi:10.1177/003803857200600101
[18] P. D. Martinelli, “Systems Hierarchies and Management,” Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2001, pp. 68-82.
[19] “Dictionary-Organizational Behavioral,” 2012. http://www.ivey.uwo.ca/intlstudentsdictionary/OBdic. html
[20] C. J. Sablynski, “Foundation of Organizational Structure,” 2012. http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/ sablynskic/ch.14.html
[21] J. E. Skivington and R. L. Daft, “A Study of Organizational Frame Work and Process Modalities for the Implementation of Business-Level Strategic Decisions,” Journal of Management Study, Vol. 28, No. 1, 1991, pp. 45-68.
[22] H. Mintzberg, “The Structuring of Organizations,” Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1979.
[23] R. Underdown, “Organizational Structures,” 2012. http://dept.lamar.edu/industrial/underdown/ org_mana/org/org_structure-George.html
[24] D. C. Andrews, “Is There an Organizational Structure for Our Reengineering Business Operation?” Enterprise Reengineering, 2012. http://www.efenselink.mil/c3ibpr/prcd 5280.html
[25] S. K. Herath, “A Framework for Management Control Research,” Journal of Management Development, Vol. 26, No. 9, 2007, pp. 895-915. doi:10.1108/02621710710819366
[26] P. M. Blau, “Decentralization in Bureaucracies,” In: M. N. Zald, Ed., Power in Organizations, Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville, 1970, pp. 150-174.
[27] R. Dewar and J. Werbel, “Universalistic and Contingency Predictions of Employee Satisfaction and Conflict,” Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 3, 1979, pp. 426-448. doi:10.2307/2989921
[28] R. Germain, “The Role of Context and Structure in Radical and Incremental Logistics Innovation Adoption,” Journal of Business Research, Vol. 35, 1996, pp. 117-127. doi:10.1016/0148-2963(95)00053-4
[29] D. Gerwin and H. Kolodny, “Management of Advanced Manufacturing Technology: Strategy, Organization, and Innovation,” Wiley/Interscience, New York, 1992.
[30] W. Zheng, B. Yang and G. N. Mclean, “Linking Organizational Culture, Strategy and Organizational Effectiveness; Mediating Role of Knowledge Management,” Journal of Business research, Vol. 63, No. 7, 2010, pp. 763-771. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.06.005
[31] C. C. Liao et al., “How Knowledge Management Mediates the Relation between Environment and Organizational Structure,” Journal of Business Research, Vol. 64, No. 7, 2011, pp. 728-736. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2010.08.001
[32] A. Y. Nahm, et al., “The Impact of Organizational Structure on Time-Based Manufacturing and Plant Performance,” Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2003, pp. 281-306. doi:10.1016/S0272-6963(02)00107-9
[33] C. J. Chen and J. W. Huang, “How Organizational Climate and Structure Affect Knowledge Management, The Social Interaction Perspective,” International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2007, pp. 104-118. doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2006.11.001
[34] O. C. Ferrell and S. J. Skinner, “Ethical Behavior and Bureaucratic Structure in Marketing Research Organizations,” Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 25, No. 1, 1988, pp. 103-109. doi:10.2307/3172930
[35] R. Germain, et al., “Supply Change Variability, Organizational Structure and Performance: The Moderating Effect of Demand Unpredictability,” Journal of operations management, Vol. 26, No. 5, 2008, pp. 557-570. doi:10.1016/j.jom.2007.10.002
[36] F. Damanpour, “Innovation Type, Radical Ness, and the Adoptive Process,” Communication Research, Vol. 15, No. 5, 1988, pp. 545-567. doi:10.1177/009365088015005003
[37] K. J. Klein and J. S. Sorra, “The Challenge of Innovation Implementation,” Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1996, pp. 1055-1080.
[38] J. L. Cheng and W. Mckingley, “Toward an Integration of Organization Research and Practice: A Contingency Study of Bureaucratic Control and Performance in Scientific Settings,” Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 1, 1983, pp. 85-100. doi:10.2307/2392388
[39] J. Hage, “Theories of organization,” Wiley, New York, NY, 1980.
[40] R. E. White and R/G. Hamermes, “Toward a Model of Business Unit Performance: An Integrative Approach,” Academy of Management Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1981, pp. 213-223.
[41] A. G. Bedeian, “Contemporary Challenges in the Study of Organization,” Journal of Management, Vol. 12, No. 2, 1986, pp. 185-201.
[42] “What Impacts Organizational Structure?” 2012. http://www.ehow.com/facts_515
[43] J. J. Brown, “Flattening the Organizational Hierarchy of the Fairfax County, Virginia Fire and Rescue Department,” Executive Fire Officer Program, National Fire Academy, Emmetsburg, Maryland, 1995.
[44] D. Penguin, “Fundamentals of Organizational Structure,” 2003. http://www.up.univ-mrs.fr/~wlag/ ea/gmba/orgthe/topic2.html
[45] “The Importance of a Good Organizational,” 2012. http://smallusiness.chron.com/importance-goodorganizational-srtucture
[46] J. Clemmer, “Organization Structure Limits or Liberates Highperformance,” 2003. http://www. clemmer.net/excerpts/ph_orglimits.html
[47] “What are the Benefits of Organiaztional,” 2012. http://www.ehow.com/list_6532
[48] A. Menon and P. Varadarajan, “A Model of Marketing Knowledge Use Within Firms,” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56, No. 4, 1992, pp. 53-71. doi:10.2307/1251986
[49] J. Hollenbeck, “A Structure Approach to External and Internal Person-Team Fit, Applied Psychology,” An International Review, Vol. 49, No. 3, 2000, pp. 534-549.
[50] S. Auh and B. Mengue, “Performance Implications of the Direct and Moderating Effects of Centralization and Formalization on Customer Orientation,” Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 36, No. 8, 2007, pp. 1022-1034. doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2006.02.010
[51] N. Jabnoun, “Organizational Structure or Customer-Oriented TMQ: An Empirical Investigation,” The TMQ magazine, Vol. 17, No. 3, 2005, pp. 226-236.
[52] Selto, et al., “Assessing the Organizational Fit of a Just-in-Time Manufacturing System-Testing Selection, Interaction and Systems Models of Contingency Theory,” Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 20, No. 7-8, 1995, pp. 665-684. doi:10.1016/0361-3682(95)00022-2
[53] A. Sundaram and J. Black, “The Environment and Internal Organization of Multination-Enterprises,” Academy of Management Review, Vol. 17, No. 4, 1992, pp. 729-757.
[54] G. Vroom, “Organizational Design and the Intensity of Rivalry,” Management Science, Vol. 52, No. 11, 2006, pp. 1689-1702. doi:10.1287/mnsc.1060.0586
[55] Snow, et al., “Managing 21st Century Network Organizations,” Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 20, No. 3, 1992, pp. 4-20. doi:10.1016/0090-2616(92)90021-E
[56] B. Visauta, “Analisis Estdistico con SPSS Para Windows,” McGraw Hill, Madrid, 1998.
[57] S, Johnson, “Hierarchical Clustering Schemes,” Psychometrika, Vol. 32, No. 3, 1967, pp. 241-254. doi:10.1007/BF02289588
[58] J. Ward, “Hierarchical Grouping to Optimize an Objective Function,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 58, No. 301, 1963, pp. 236-244. doi:10.1080/01621459.1963.10500845

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.