Changing Organizational Models

What is an organization? It is defined as a social unit of people, systematically structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals on a continuing basis. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between functions and position, and subdivides and delegates roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out defined tasks.

Typically , the framework  is hierarchial. Most organizations are designed using this vertical management also called top down management  in which management pass information and orders from the top of the organizational pyramid down toward the bottom. Little communication or feedback flows from the bottom up  or  from side to side. This creates a high control, low autonomy environment. The people at the bottom have very low decision rights and the flow of information at the bottom is limited.

However, at times organizational change is a must to achieve certain goals. This change is organization-wide. This includes changing organizational models.  As an example, our class in Organizational Analysis facilitated by a very good leader changed the way our class discuss over different topics or learning competencies. A class as an organization is traditionally hierarchial where a teacher is the manager of the class and talks and conveys everything in a lesson while the students listen or opt not to.

Our professor in the class, a remarkable leader changed the usual vertical management in class to a flat organization.  A flat organization is where most middle-management levels and their functions have been eliminated, thus bringing the top management  in direct  contact  with the frontline sales people, shop  floor  employees, and customers. Despite their breadth , flat  organizations  can avail  of most of the advantages enjoyed by small firms , such as faster response time  to changing conditions  and customer preferences.

In the class everybody is considered a sharer. There is open discussion within the class. The ways of learning is transformed from having it discussed only by the lecturer, anybody can add relevant ideas to the matter being tackled. Everybody can share their learning and related experiences. In such a way, there is a free flow of information and learning is achieved readily from each one of us. The learning was not limited within the classroom but were further enhanced and  it became boundless through the different sharing of experiences each has from their different organizations where they belong.

Another major change that was implemented was the address the students used to call their teacher or professor.  From calling them by “SIR” that was being changed to calling him by his first name “Randy”. In such a way, there is friendlier environment rather than seeing the professor in class as a manager.

Imposing this kind of organizational structure enabled me to learn many things from the different sharing of our classmates.  And those classmates in the academe, I think it’s time for us to adopt this kind of class structure.