Organizational Structure Is a Widely

Organizational structure is a widely studied subject in business literature. It is defined in simple terms as the way organizational members interact with each other. It is believed that organizational structure plays a very significant role in organizational performance. In the two articles chosen for this paper, we find about different types of organizational structure and their effect on performance of the organization as well as that of the employees.

The first article by Maureen L. Ambrose and Marshall Schminke is titled, "Organization Structure as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Procedural Justice, Interactional Justice, Perceived Organizational Support, and Supervisory Trust" and it takes into account the role played by two important organizational structures in determining perception of justice in an organization. How fairness is perceived in an organization has been widely researched and studied however very little research is available on the subject of organizational structure and its influence on perception of justice. The article tries to fill this gap by first defining the two structures that is mechanistic and organic. Then it explores the perception of justice in each of these two structures. A mechanistic structure is defined as the one which is characterized "…as rigid, tight, and traditional bureaucracies. In mechanistic settings, power is centralized, communications follow rigid hierarchical channels, managerial styles and job descriptions are uniform, and formal rules and regulations predominate decision making." And organic structure is by contrast the one where decentralization is the rule. It is characterized by "flexible, loose, decentralized structures. Formal lines of authority are less clear, power is decentralized, communication channels are open and more flexible, and formal rules and regulations take a back seat to adaptability in helping employees accomplish goals." (p. 295)

The authors found that structure has a moderating impact on the relationship between procedural justice and perception of organizational support. They found that this was greater in mechanistic organizations than in organic ones. The authors also concluded that since very strict formal procedural lines exist in such organizations, employees have a higher degree of respect for the way justice is extended in the organization. Since in mechanistic organizations, there is a procedure for determining justice and fairness, employees tend to have greater faith in the system.

They found that as far as interactional justice was concerned, it was more dominant in organic structures than in mechanistic organizations. "Organic organizations, with their flexibility and reliance on informal networks and face-to-face communication, make interpersonal interactions more relevant or available or both, thus increasing the importance of the fairness of these interactions." (p. 301)

In an organic structure, interaction between individuals is more highly regarded and given greater importance than in mechanistic structures. For this reasons, employees report higher level of supervisory trust in such organizations. 'The effect of interactional justice on supervisory trust is more pronounced in organic organizations." (p.301) the reason for this is that in mechanistic organizations, supervisors are constrained by rigid rules and hence they are allowed to develop as close an interaction with subordinates as in organic structures.

The second article which occupies a central place in business literature is N. Anand and Richard Daft, titled. "What is the right organizational design"? deals with the obvious subject of organizational structure but explains the changes in the design over the last four decades. It explains how horizontal division separation paved way for more process-based structures and how it finally led to the birth of a fluent and flowing organizational design that became more hollow and virtual.