Modern Management: concepts and skills, 14/e

Structure

In any organizing effort, managers must choose an appropriate structure. Structure refers to the designated relationships among resources of the management system. Its purpose is to facilitate the use of each resource, individually and collectively, as the management system attempts to attain its objectives.25 The two basic types of structure within management systems are formal and informal structures. Formal structure is defined as the relationships among organizational resources as outlined by management; formal structure is represented primarily by the organization chart. In contrast, informal structure is defined as the patterns of relationships that develop because of the informal activities of organization members. It evolves ...