Chapter $7$ Practice Your Skills: Self$-$Learning

Organic Versus Mechanistic Organization Structure

Interview an employee at your university, such as a department head or secretary$.$ Have the employee respond to the following $13$ items about their job and organizational conditions. Then respond to the same set of items for a job that you have held.

Disagree Strongly $$ Agree Strongly

Your work would be considered routine.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

A clearly known way is established to do the major tasks that you encounter.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

Your work has high variety and frequent exceptions.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

Communications from above consist of information and advice rather than instructions and directions.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

You have the support of peers and your supervisor to do your job well.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

You seldom exchange ideas or information with people doing other kinds of jobs.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

Decisions relevant to your work are made above you and passed down.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

People at your level frequently have to figure out for themselves what their tasks are for each day.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

Lines of authority are clear and precisely defined.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

Leadership tends to be democratic rather than autocratic in style.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

Job descriptions are written and up to date for each job.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

People understand each other$$s jobs and often do different tasks.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

A manual of policies and procedures is available to use when a problem arises.

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

Scoring and Interpretation: To obtain the total score, subtract the scores for questions $1,2,6,7,9,11,$ and $13$ from the number $6$ and add up the adjusted scores.

Total Score, Employee: blank $1$

Total Score, You: blank $1$

Compare the total score for a place that you have worked to the score of the university employee whom you interviewed. A score of $52$ or higher suggests that you or the university employee is working in an organic organization. Such a score reflects a loose, flexible structure that is often associated with uncertain environments and small$-$batch or service technology. People working in this structure feel empowered. Many organizations today are moving in the direction of flexible structures and empowerment.