Organisational Structure and Culture

What Organisational Structure and Culture covers

Organisational Structure and Culture is assessed in Unit AS 2, Human Resource Services, which is internally assessed and externally moderated. It covers human resources and effective HR management, tall, flat, centralised and decentralised structures, roles, chain of command, span of control and delayering, changing and comparing organisational structures and culture, Schein's model and the McKinsey 7S framework.

The 5 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Human resources and effective HR managementHuman resource management and its activities, workforce planning, productivity and labour turnover, Northern Ireland employment law and the Labour Relations Agency, and strategic HR.Open →
• Tall, flat, centralised and decentralised structuresTall and flat structures, centralisation and decentralisation, partnership and matrix structures, why start-ups are flat and why firms grow taller.Open →
• Roles, chain of command, span of control and delayeringDirectors, managers, supervisors, team leaders and employees, chain of command, span of control with worked calculations, delayering and its savings and risks, and delegation.Open →
• Changing and comparing organisational structuresWhy structures change, decentralising and delayering, flexible, hybrid and project-based working, multi-skilling, and comparing communication and workloads in different structures.Open →
• Culture, Schein's model and the McKinsey 7S frameworkOrganisational culture and what shapes it, Schein's artefacts, espoused values and underlying assumptions, and the hard and soft elements of the McKinsey 7S framework.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Organisational Structure and Culture further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Tall structure vs Flat structure

  Tall structure: an organisation with many levels of hierarchy and narrow spans of control. Flat structure: an organisation with few levels of hierarchy and wide spans of control.

• Centralised structure vs Decentralised structure

  Centralised structure: an organisation keeping decision-making authority with senior leaders at the top. Decentralised structure: an organisation passing decision-making authority down to local or junior managers.

• Span of control vs Chain of command

  Span of control: the number of employees reporting directly to one manager. Chain of command: the line of authority running from the top of an organisation to the bottom.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is meant by the term human resources?

   Model answer

   Human resources are the people who work for an organisation, seen as a resource to be developed. The term also names the function that manages them.

2. 2

   Define human resource management.

   Model answer

   Human resource management is the planning and management of a firm's workforce to meet its objectives. The function covers recruitment, pay, training, well-being and employee relations.

3. 3

   Name five activities carried out by an HR department.

   Model answer

   An HR department plans the workforce and recruits staff. The department also manages pay, training and employee relations.

4. 4

   What is workforce planning?

   Model answer

   Workforce planning forecasts the number and skills of staff a firm will need. The firm then plans recruitment, training or redeployment to close any gap.

5. 5

   Why are people especially important to a professional business services firm?

   Model answer

   A professional services firm sells the knowledge and time of its staff rather than physical goods. The quality of its people largely determines the quality of its service.

6. 6

   How can effective HR management raise a firm's productivity?

   Model answer

   Good HR management puts skilled, well-trained and motivated staff in the right roles. Output per employee rises and fewer errors reach clients.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Organisational Structure and Culture revision questions

What does Organisational Structure and Culture cover in CCEA A-Level Professional Business Services?

5 subtopics: human resources and effective hr management, tall, flat, centralised and decentralised structures, roles, chain of command, span of control and delayering, changing and comparing organisational structures and culture, schein's model and the mckinsey 7s framework. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Organisational Structure and Culture organised?

By the CCEA 3210 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.