Researching organizational behavior helps employers obtain an insight into covert patterns of their employees’ performance at work. As organizations are in continual exploration of new methods to enhance efficiency, competitiveness, and increase in revenue, the issue focuses attention from researchers in the domain. Organizational structure and communication are the aspects that, possibly, have the most significant impact on the workplace behavior. It may be argued that a clear hierarchal structure with well-defined leadership, a traditional one, is the structural approach that promotes the highest levels of performance and employees’ loyalty. On the other hand, the opposite perspective is also developed extensively. Organizational structures that are based on teams and foster the ambiance of cooperation and equality, seemingly, become more common. Efficient and motivated employees are the goal of any company, and some organizational structure and communication types could be superior in achieving it.
The impact of organizational structure on employees’ interactions, attitudes, performance, and actions is complex and could be difficult to reduce to cause-effect relationships. Innovative behavior can be considered one of the principal aspects influenced by organizational structure. Research shows that the centralization of decision-making and formalization of the relationships between various hierarchical elements negatively affects the level of employees’ desire to produce new ideas or be creative in processes at a workplace (Rhee et al., 2017). The effect can be explained by the reduction of employees’ participation in policymaking and the necessity to adhere to rules designed by their superiors. Furthermore, such exclusion may result in decreased morale, loyalty to an organization, and desire to maximize one’s performance (Rhee et al., 2017). Organizational structures based on team-work, in this aspect, seem to surpass the more traditional type, which explains their growing popularity. The team structure creates a workplace atmosphere that encourages employees to be active and take more responsibility, as the authority is distributed among them and not concentrated in the hands of one person. The organizational structure affects a number of behavioral aspects, such as initiative, creativity, and loyalty.
Ineffective application of structure can lead to various issues impacting the quality of work in an organization. One of the most significant problems occurring is the rupture in the information flow between sections of a company. The problem could be provoked if there is a lack of overarching authority or trust between departments – in the result, tasks are performed without the needed knowledge (Rhee et al., 2017). Ineffective application of structure can also generate inadequate levels of codependence between organizational elements or, contrarily, shortage of cohesion between them. The specific structure should be adapted in an organization whose employees’ are prepared for the change, considering cultural and economic peculiarities.
Efficient application of structure has numerous advantages that exceed the positive influence of organizational behavior. As specific circumstances require an adaptation and implementation of particular organizational structures (for instance, decentralized structures are adopted if supplementary autonomy is needed), the obtained results vary accordingly. Rhee et al. (2017) state that “when nonroutine tasks are less formalized, employees who are selected appropriately as a result of enhanced selection process, will react positively in doing their best for the sake of the company” (p. 1532). The example demonstrates that adequately applied structures may enhance motivation among employees. Therefore, such issues in organizational behavior as low morale, lack of subordination, or breakdown in communication can be to a degree alleviated by application of corresponding structures.
Organizational internal communication is its primary resource since it directs how a group of people builds plans and achieves goals. Ineffective communication can result in problems linked to organizational behavior. Chmielecki (2015) states that “poor internal communications end up affecting other areas of the organization and can result in bad feelings and weak relationships among the employees” (p. 28). Some researchers view incompetent internal communication as the primary source of organizational problems (Chmielecki, 2015). Suppression of information, mistakes in the content of what is reported, the disparity between the material and form in which information is communicated can be described as ineffective methods. These misunderstandings deteriorate employees’ work quality, and efficiency as resolving them can be time-consuming and laborious if an error is not detected opportunely. On the contrary, effective communication serves as a line of defense from the outlined issues; clear and precise phrasing helps prevent confusion and arguments as well as well-established written correspondence. Effective communication methods include elaborated individual and group meetings, open conversations between various hierarchical elements, and mentoring (Chmielecki, 2015). Thus, the phenomenon is a crucial asset in managing organizational behavior.
Conclusively, organizational structure, communication, and organizational behavior are closely related notions. A discrepancy in one of the aspects can deteriorate employees’ ability to perform their work according to a company’s standards or even undermine established procedures. Presently, the search for more humanistic and less conventional forms of communication within a company continues. New approaches and structures seem to gain growing attention from companies in an array of spheres, as traditional approaches valuing order and permanence of authority and power structures become, seemingly, less satisfactory.
References
Chmielecki, M. (2015). Factors influencing effectiveness of internal communication. Management and Business Administration, 23(2), 24–38.
Rhee, J., Seog, S. D., Bozorov, F., & Dedahanov, A. T. (2017). Organizational structure and employees’ innovative behavior: The mediating role of empowerment. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 45(9), 1523–1536.