Provide A Means To Implement Strategies: Function Of Structure

Organizational structure provides an important service as the implementation activity of your strategies. Without a structure there would be no intelligent assembly of resources to carry on work. Julius Caesar understood the concept of organization and structure in fighting the Celts in northern Europe. He observed that the Celtic warriors were fierce individual fighters who could be overwhelming in the first rush of battle. More important, he recognized that they were not organized as a cohesive fighting unit and their energies dissipated as the engagement continued. His strategy was to hold in place and survive the onslaught of the first contact. This was accomplished with tight formations of troops with an almost impenetrable structure called the “box formation.” This structure and strategy combination permitted Caesar to use inferior numbers to defeat much larger forces.

Besides that, you also should use the structure to match headcount to responsibilities. This means you use the talents and efforts of all your people and resources. A properly built structure avoids duplication and fragmentation of essential tasks. In fact, an economy of effort is achieved because you have enough people to match the tasks and the right people with the right skills. There should be a form of linkage between who is assigned and what is required. This means your plan and your operational behaviors are in step. Planning must have been easy in traditional work situations. With workforce stability a manager of yesteryear could plan and project the company structure to infinity. It was a simple formula of growing and doing more of the same. There was no need to tamper with the organization’s structure except to make it even bigger.

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