Human resources

Table of Contents

1. Topic pack - introduction
2. 2.1 Human Resource Planning - Notes
3. 2.1 Human resource planning - questions
4. 2.2 Organisational structure - notes
   1. Organisational structure
   2. Formal and informal organisation
   3. Organisation charts and structures
   4. Flat and tall organisational structure
   5. Delegation
   6. Span of control and levels of hierarchy
   7. Chain of command
   8. Delegation
   9. Bureaucracy
   10. Centralised or de-centralised management?
   11. Matrix structure / Project teams
   12. Flexible structures
   13. The informal organisation
   14. Organisation of human resources
   15. Outsourcing &offshoring
5. 2.2 Organisational structure - questions
6. 2.3 Communication - notes
7. 2.3 Communication - questions
8. 2.4 Leadership and management - notes
9. 2.4 Leadership and management - questions
10. 2.5 Motivation - notes
11. 2.5 Motivation - questions
12. 2.5 Motivation - simulations and activities
13. 2.6 Organisational and corporate cultures - notes (HL only)
14. 2.6 Organisational and corporate cultures - questions
15. 2.7 Employer and employee relations - notes (HL only)
16. 2.7 Employer and employee relations - questions
17. 2.8 Crisis management and contingency planning - notes
18. 2.8 Crisis management and contingency planning - questions
19. Printable version

2.2 Organisational structure - notes

Introduction

In the previous section we looked at human resource planning. We now move on to look at organisational structure, examining the informal and formal organisation and the organisation of human resources within the structure of the business as represented by the organisation chart.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Construct different types of organisation charts and describe their nature
• Analyse changes in organisational charts and their effects
• Identify why firms need to organise employees in particular ways
• Analyse methods of organising human resources that are used by different organisations
• Analyse how ownership and control differs between different organisations and evaluate the most appropriate form
• Analyse the separation of ownership and control
• Compare and contrast the objectives of non-profit and profit making organisations and analyse their impact

• Explain how organisational structures affect employee motivation, communication and performance
• Discuss factors influencing the degree of centralisation and decentralisation
• Discuss the development of more flexible organisational structures
• Apply the theories of writers such as Mintzberg and Peters
• Analyse the reasons behind , and the effects of moving some human resource functions to external organisations located nationally or globally
• Evaluate whether firms will benefit from outsourcing, offshoring and the migration of human resource functions