Contrast Organizational Structures

Seminal writing on organizational design and structure identified two basic types of organization:
mechanistic and organic. These two categories loosely house pretty much all forms of organizational
structure. This assessment tool is still used by researchers and students of organizational behavior (Dust,
Resick, & Mawritz, 2014).
Using two of the organizations from the Week 2 social media discussion, please conduct Internet research
into those firms and assess their current structures based on the mechanistic and organic approach. Many
publicly-traded firms (e.g., Fortune 500) will have organizational charts published on their websites. If not,
they will have a list of people on the top management team. Based on their titles, you can get a sense of the
firm’s structure (e.g., product-based or geography, etc.). Once you have this, you can see, if from your
perspective, it is mechanistic or organic based on the definitions provided in this week’s resources.
Compare and contrast the two organizational structures. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate your perception of the
following characteristics for each organization:
• Mechanistic vs. Organic
• Task Role: Rigid or Flexible
• Communication: Vertical or Multidirectional
• Decision Making: Centralized or Decentralized
• Sensitivity to Environment: Closed or Open
After completing this assessment, prepare a summary in which you analyze your results for each firm
individually and explain why each characteristic was rated as it was. Support your response with examples.
Then, identify which aspects of each organization’s structure you would change.
Create an updated organizational chart for each firm that depicts the new organizational structure (based on
the suggested changes) and explains why and how this new design reflects an improvement of the
organization’s ability to meet its goals. Compare and contrast the two firms concerning their structure and
how you responded to the characteristics, as well as your recommendations for change. Finally, conclude
the paper by explaining how managers might assess whether your proposal operates as intended after 12
months. What key performance indicators would you measure and why?