Difference Between an Organization Design and Structure
Organizational design and structure allow companies to set specific goals, tasks and establish a team environment. These basic concepts can make the difference in a company's success or failure. Design and structure develops a model of how tasks should be carried out. They are necessary in the foundation, however, have differences that must be understood in order to properly manage a company.
Organization Design
The design function of an organization is the company's overall plan. An organizational chart is often used because it gives employees a visual diagram of their job duties and the established power relationships. This should include the company's strategy--the intent of the company and the actions required to carry it out. The design function should also take an inventory of all job tasks required to carry out the strategy and/or projects, and the business's goals. A basic organization design will be charted with the following information:
- Identify the company's strategy.
- Determine business goals and functions.
- Specify the actions needed to carry out the strategy, goals and functions.
- Allocate actions to each team member.
- Identify management roles to set the power relationship.
- Gather data (assess current design and structure and change readiness).
- Implement the organizational design.
- Evaluate the organizational design.
Organization Structure
The organizational structure will establish the chain of command among its employees, as well as titles and descriptions of each job position. It is the skeleton of a company. This concept will include the current state of a business and actions underway. The structure will include a list of all employees, job title and description, and a hierarchical system of employees. This theory sets the company's foundation in regards to employees, and establishes the basic structure which each employee must follow. In an organization structure there should not be any shoulds.