Organisational structures

The development of human society has involved people working together in organised groups to undertake many forms of activity. The emergence of the business organisation in England was triggered by the industrial revolution in where larger industrial approaches to undertaking work replaced the family and cottage industries that had previously been prevalent. A similar pattern was to take place in countries across the globe experiencing industrialisation. In these organisations groups of people are situated together to develop and deliver the functions of the business. In such a grouping they can deliver more by working together within complex society than an individual would be able to. Organisations come in all shapes and sizes. The staff that they employ are subject to the rules, norms, values and expected behaviours of that organisation. They are also subject to staffing structures within the organisation. This determines their place in the organisation and what power they have in their employed position. These structures are subject to processes of continual review, change and modification. They can be complex and difficult to understand and explain. Structures are important for establishing the relationship between staff within the organisation and providing the framework in which they interact with each other. External influences can impact on organisations and pressure them into changing the way they operate and the structures they have in they have in place. Decisions in the organisations are made by managers which can influence and direct how change occurs. This article looks briefly at the development of staffing structures in organisations, the factors that influence them and it examines a number of structure models.