Question

Q7** Examine the implications of four (4) organizational design elements on employees’ perceptions and attitudes at the workplace.

Answer 1

The implications of organizational design elements on employees' perceptions and attitudes at the workplace are:

1) Work specialization: This gives employees a right to make decision and be creative at work. They develop a positive attitude at work and try to increase relevant work knowledge so that they have better idea to improve their own share of work. This makes the employees perceive authority at work which makes them more productive.

2) Departmentalization: This increases employee innovativeness and decreases response time. There is a good balance between human resources and technology thereby making work less stressful.

3) Formalization: This refers to the articulation of the company's rules and regulations which are needed to followed by its employees. Very strict formalization leads to employees losing their autonomy on work. They become dependent on company rules and policies and resort to them in case of problems. Due to this, there could be reduced innovativeness among employees. There is reduced job satisfaction due to lack of autonomy and slow decision making skills.

4) Decentralization: This makes employees feel important, recognized and productive. They get specialized in their own work due to the achieved authority. This improves their self esteem and thereby they perceive it to be a postive change in their attitude.