ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

“MECHANISTIC AND ORGANIC ORGANIZATIONS”

NAME: AMNAH MUNIR

ERP ID: 12661
INSTRUCTOR: USMAN NAZIR
DATE: DECEMBER 4TH, 2017
MECHANISTIC ORGANIZATIONS: As the name suggests the focus of such types of
organizations is on the mechanics of the workforce, there is low level of adaptability as
operations are done in a certain set procedure by a certain set of people. Mechanistic
organizational structure characterized by certain distinctive features such as a high grade of
reinforcement and centralism. The focus for decision making is mostly on the top management
and there is low level of flexibility. Roles are divided based on hierarchal chain of commands.
Mechanistic organizations are an extreme of a continuum with organic organizations on the
other end.
By this definition, mechanistic organizational systems seem like a rigid and unaccommodating
way of managing operations however, several organizations today follow this type of
organizational structure so there must be some benefit of all this systematization. Discussed
below are some of the benefits and drawbacks of mechanistic organizations.

BENEFITS:
1. Specialization: A way of doing things in mechanistic organizations is to divide up the
work amongst employees and allowing them to focus on a certain number of allotted
tasks. This enables them to become specialized in their jobs which in turn provides a lot
of other benefits. First off, employees are given work based on their existing skill set
which allows them to work on their strengths and master a certain skill. Specialization
also allows for people to become efficient in their jobs and hence can do their work
more quickly and creatively.
Example: A carpenter has trained his employees to divide up their tasks when building a
table. On employee cuts the woods, another files the rough edges, another stains it and
the last one assembles the finished pieces. These employees can specialize in their
respective tasks because of repetition. This allows them to work quickly compared to
another carpenter who asks each employee to make a table from start to end. In this
case, each employee will have to wait for the other to use the saw or filer and, they will
not be able to specialize in any of the tasks.

2. Swift decision making and execution: In mechanistic organizations, decision making is

swift as only the central (top) management makes the decisions and the rest only must
follow commands. The flow of information is usually top to down so feedback does not
act as a barrier in the decision-making process.
Example: In case there is an economic recession, an organization Y must cut down its
workforce by 40%, the top management will hold quick appraisals with strict criteria and
anyone who fails to meet the criteria will be sacked. In this case, it is best that the
decision is made by the top management as there is a need for a quick response, so it is
best that the top management makes the decision without nay consultation. Secondly,
If the decision was left up to the middle management then they would probably make
decisions based on their biases and may favor some employees.
3. Clear chain of command: In this type of organization, there are very clear roles based on
hierarchies within the organization. There is a top-level management, a middle level
management and a lower level management, each with its own set of employees. This
network is taken into consideration while communicating information which allows for
timely flow of information. This clear-cut hierarchy also allows employees to know who
is accountable to who.
Example: In the armed forces, there are ranks for every officer which are given to an
officer after they have reached a certain level of experience. The ranks are based on
achievements and give authority, so each officer knows that his seniors are more
superior than he is. There is a very clear-cut hierarchy which lets each officer know who
is his senior and hence who is accountable to. Furthermore, officers are divided up into
battalions so in times of war, an officer of a certain battalion only takes command from
his own commanding officer and no one else even if they are more senior.

4. Effective management: This organization system is focused on rules and regulations.

There are policies to deal with every situation so when issues arise mostly managers do
not have to use their judgments, the decision can be made through using policies. This
allows for fair work environment for all employees as rules and policies apply to
everyone equally.
Example: In IBA there are strict policies regarding smoking. No one including faculty can
smoke on IBA’s premises. This is a rule that applies to everyone so if a student is caught
smoking on-ground, he will be dealt with in the same as a teacher would be treated. The
implementation of this policy has been successful in stopping students from smoking on
campus because they know that if they are caught there will be no leverage given to
them as the rule applies to everyone.

5. Increased sense of responsibility: In mechanistic organization, jobs or tasks are usually

allotted to each employee. When an employee feels like they have been allotted a task
that no one will do, they will gain a sense of empowerment and responsibility. They will
know that they are accountable for that task and it needs to be according to the rules
set. In other forms of organizations, there are no set job descriptions and tasks
allocation may be ambiguous, in that scenario, there can be a diffusion of responsibility.
This means that no one in particular is responsible for a job so there is no sense of
responsibility.
Example: Going back to the first example, if a worker in the carpenter workshop knows
that he is part of a chain, then he will work efficiently, because he will know that if he
slacks off then that will affect the work of others and he can get in trouble for it.
Whereas, if he is told to make the table from start to finish, he may slack off the entire
time or make the table with less efficiency leading to a low-quality product.
 Drawbacks:

1. Rigidity and obsolescence: In mechanistic organizations, rules and regulations dictate

how things are done. The policies are made at a certain point in time and may not be
updated to meet the changing environment. No provisions are made for changing
situations which may cause trouble when old policies are used to make decisions for
new situations.
Example: For example, most mechanistic companies still block social media sites on
their internet services to stop employees from using social media. However, this is not a
very smart move for today’s world as employees still find their way around by using
proxies and the companies lose out on potential marketing space. Some newer
companies that do not ban such sites, face an upward trend in profitability because
instead of challenging social media, they have changed their policies to harness the
power of social media to benefit them.

2. Lack of motivation/ resentment of authority: In a mechanistic organization where,

autocratic leadership is the way, the employees may feel demotivated. Most people do
not like being dictated to, so such a centralized decision-making policy may make the
employees feel insignificant and annoyed. Employees may also lack citizen behavior
because they are not allowed to actively participate in the core matters of the
organization.
Example: In the case study we read about Rohit Sharma, a new employee at an IT
company. In that case, Rohit used to work under a manager who encouraged
participation and creativity but in his new organization, the manager was more of an
autocratic leader. He did not encourage employee participation and this cause Rohit to
feel extremely resentful towards his new manager.

3. Too much specialization: Specialization may be a good thing but only in moderation.
Too much specialization may cause some problems too such as the employees being
only skilled in task. They may be unable to fill in for another employee in case he is
absent, or they may also have only expertise in one field and no knowledge about the
whole product which may cause problems. They may also feel bored because of
constant routine work.
Example: An average assembly line worker is responsible for only one task in the whole
flow of production. In a car manufacturing firm, an employee who fixes the carburetor
in the cars is sick and has taken an off for a week may be a severe problem because no
other employee may know how to fix it since they are only specialized in their own
tasks.
4. Decisions may be inaccurate: There may be problems of inaccurate decision-making in
mechanistic organizations, since only the top-level management is included in decision-
making. The decisions taken usually pertain to departments that are run by lower-level
management, so they should be included in decision making as well to get a better idea
what is happening and what needs to be tackled.
Example: The top management of Unilever may feel like they need to focus only on
modern trade because larger distributors often agree to higher prices since they can
afford to pay larger sums, however, after consultation with the sales department
manager it may be found that the general trade is more profitable for Unilever because
even though, they may not pay as much as larger distributors they are many in number.

5. Over-burdening of top-level management: Since there is a centralized decision-making

system, the top manager may feel over-burdened with decisions of so many
departments and may not end up making the most efficient decision.
Example: If a manager is responsible for making decisions for the sales department,
finance department as well as a decision regarding a merger, he might not end up
making the right decisions for all departments or he might prioritize a certain decision
more.

ORGANIC ORGANIZATIONS: This type of organization is characterized by all

members being at an equal level with no proper job descriptions. Flow of
communication is more of an inter-linked web with different members communicating
with each other. In organic organizations, there is a lack of formalization and decision-
making is primarily decentralized. This type of organization is more fluid so is more
adaptable to change. However, in reality, there is no example of a 100% organically
managed organization and for this reason we classify it as the other end of the
continuum with mechanistic and organic organizations being both ends and all the
organizations falling somewhere in between.
Listed below are the benefits and drawbacks of using an organic organizational system.

Benefits:

1. Decentralized decision making: In organic organizations, decision making is usually

decentralized which means that lower level management can make certain decisions on
their own. This not only makes the decisions taken more accurate as they are taken by
people who are dealing with the problem at hand but also makes it more time effective.
Instead of having to make a proposal and having it approved by the top management,
decisions can be made and implemented quickly.
Example: If a floor manager for a general store sees that customers who buy cereal
usually always buy brown bread, then he can place these items next to each other. This
 will provide ease to the customer and they are more likely to visit the store again. It may
also encourage other customers to try bran bread when they see a lot of cereal buyers
using bran bread. Now, if this decision had to be run before the top management, they
may not feel like it’s a significant issue or may not be able to see the logic behind the
decision.

2. Multi-skilled workforce: Organic organizations require all employees to be working

together for any goal so everyone in the team must be well-coordinated with others and
their tasks. So, to understand how the new marketing campaign will impact sales, the
marketing manager must know how to measure sales against various other factors such
as inflation. This will make each manager multi-skilled and well-versed in fields other
than their own.
Example: In a hospital, a neurologist and a pulmonologist both have different areas of
expertise, but both are trained to have at least some level of knowledge of each other’s
field so that in case of an emergency they can tend to patients.

3. Encourages citizen-behavior: When decisions are de-centralized and employees are

treated as equal, everyone starts getting a sense of belonging. Employees feel as if they
are made responsible. This sense of belonging turns into citizen behavior, which results
in employees owning up the company and taking charge of it.
Example: If the floor manager from the first example makes the decision of putting bran
bread next to cereals, he will feel like he has made a significant contribution to the
company and may feel like it’s his responsibility now to make sure that this decision
yields the best result for his company.

4. Adaptable to change: Since in organic organizations there are no hard and fast rules or
policies, it is easy to change the organization and its structure to adapt to changing
environment. In organic organizations, there are policies, but they are either made in
very broad contexts or are made to be flexible. This allows the employees to make
necessary changes when a new situation arises and creatively improvise solutions.
Example: In P&G, there are various packages for work timings to suit different
employees in case they have certain unavoidable circumstances. For example,
sometimes when an employee’s spouse relocates, P&G tries to either shift their
employee to their office in the new location or if that is not possible then they offer
various other solutions such as extra holidays or the option to work remotely.

5. Less burden on top management: In a de-centralized environment, top-level managers

are not as burdened because mostly decisions are taken by the relevant people and they
only have to supervise and interfere when they feel like something needs to be
changed. This allows top-managers to focus on more important and significant issues
rather than dealing with petty day-to-day issues.
 Example: In the case of the manager who had to make decisions regarding sales, finance
and a merger, if there was an organic structure being followed then he would only have
to focus on the merger decision as the sales manager would deal with the sales
decisions and the finance manager would deal with all financing decisions.

Drawbacks:

1. Lack of coordination: In an organic organization, there are no set hierarchies or chains

of command, so everyone is involved in all decisions which makes it difficult to
coordinate with everyone. Coordination may consume a lot of time and in some cases,
may even cost money.
Example: A few days back, Bonanza launched their line of fragrances and to market that
they had a few representative stand in front of their store in LuckyOne mall to hand out
samples to customers except all of the four representatives were standing with backs to
each other so they could not see who was dealing with who and they ended giving out
the same sample to same person thrice and missed some passersby altogether. In this
case, if he had stood in locations where they could see each other they would have
better coordination and would have dealt with their target audience better.

2. Lack of responsibility: In this type of an organization, there are no properly defined job
descriptions, so people do not know who they are accountable to and what they are
responsible for. This may cause people to rely on each other and blame others for
problems. There may also be confusion regarding whom one needs to report issues or
progress to.
Example: In a term project for a university course, all team members may be asked to
make a single report so for that it may be difficult to divide up portions of reports for
each member and if the overall grade is as good then members may start blaming each
other.

3. Slow decision-making and conflicts: When every member of a team is involved in the
decision-making process then it may be difficult to reach a consensus in a short period
of time and conflicts may also arise when more people are involved.
Example: In public limited companies a board of directors is elected to make decisions
on behalf of all the shareholders. A certain proposal is presented, and shareholders can
vote in favor or against but if each individual shareholder was asked to give his input
then the amount of data received would be nearly impossible to manage.

4. May be costlier to manage: When a certain level of flexibility is given then the
organization needs to maintain certain contingency funds to make sure that if
employees end up using those flexible services then the operations can run smoothly.
 Example: In companies that offer flexible working hours, there is a risk that the may be
slower in delivering their promised output, so to overcome that the management may
have to outsource certain tasks or even hire extra employees. They may also have to
spend more on PR to maintain a positive image for the company. All of this costs money.

5. Loopholes and exploitation of policies: Since organic organizations do not have very
strict policies and regulations, employees may exploit this fact. They may find loopholes
in the policies or may bend the rules a bit to suit their own motives.
Example: A lot of companies allot cars to their employees to give them the ease of
travelling to and from their office, but most companies do not want employees to use
these cars unnecessarily for other purposes but since there are no strict policies to
tackle this issue, most employees still use these company cars for their personal use.