2.5 Making Human Resource Decisions

Created by

emily

Cards (15)

What is the purpose of organisational structures?
Organisational structures organise people, ensures that everybody in the business knows who is responsible for what job
What is chain of command?
Tells us who is responsible for whom and whom they are answerable to
What is span of control?
The number of employees that are managed by a manager.
e.g. If a person manages three employees, their span of control is three.
What are operational and support staff?
Workers who aren’t responsible for other staff. They’re given specific tasks to perform by managers, supervisors or team leaders
What are directors?
People who are responsible for the business strategy, decide at regular board meetings
What are supervisors/team leaders?
People who usually look after specific projects or small teams of staff
What are managers?
People who organise and carry out the strategy, a large firm may have multiple levels of managers
What is a hierarchical structure?
when there is a long chain of command with more layers of management
What are some advantages of using a hierarchical structure?
Narrow span of control
Monitor their employees more closely making the firm more effective
What are some disadvantages of using a hierarchical structure?
Makes communication difficult
Slower decision making
What is a flat structure?
When there is a short chain of command and very few (if any) layers between directors and operational/support staff
What are some advantages of using flat structures?
Improved communication / messages can be passed on quickly
Quick decision making
What are some disadvantages of using flat structures?
Difficult to manage a lot of employees effectively
Increased work load for employees
What are centralised organisations?
Where all major decisions are made by one person or a few senior managers at the top of the structure
What are decentralised organisations?
When the authority to make most decisions is shared out