4.3.3 Analysis of existing management structures

Issues of designing and forming organizational structures are relevant not only for newly created organizational and legal forms of enterprises, but also for existing ones, since they will operate in other conditions that change the composition and structure of management functions. Consequently, the entire formal organizational structure ^{* of the} enterprise, the composition of the structural units, the number of employees employed in them, their correspondence to the complexity and the structure of the work to be performed, etc., should be analyzed.

In this regard, it is advisable to briefly review the existing foreign experience and methods of analysis. [] When analyzing, it is necessary to consistently study all structural elements of an enterprise, which include: organizational structure ^* , structure of working functions, structure of service exchange, information structure, resource-technological structure, structure of labor resources. Consider the essential side of the analysis of the organizational structure and structure of the working functions.

When considering the organizational structure, it is recommended to use two fruitful approaches: a concise organizational analysis and the specific setting of personal goals and objectives for the performers. Both approaches are aimed at identifying the relationship between the personal contribution of employees and the main task of the enterprise.

The first “top down” approach is called INTROSPECT (“look into yourself”, “self-analysis”). The second one - “from the bottom up” - was called the UOC (goal management).

The method of organizational analysis was developed by INTROSPECT in 1975. The focus of this research method is on managerial and administrative personnel ^* in order to increase the efficiency of knowledge workers. The focus is on those types of work that contribute to the objectives, goals and strategies ^{* of the} enterprise.

The analysis of the organizational structure of this method is performed in the following sequence: the objectives of the enterprise, strategy, goals, functional organization, positions, employees, their goals and objectives.

The method allows to develop recommendations aimed at improving the organizational structure and increasing the productivity of the organization by: reducing management costs; reduce duplication of work; reduce the fragmentation of the functions of performers; regulating the workload of managers to avoid underloading and overloading; switching efforts to the main strategic tasks; developing a rational plan for the structure of employment and distribution of functions between employees in accordance with changes in the structure and scale of the enterprise’s activities.

In their approach to the management structure, the developers of INTROSPECT proceeded from the following basic principles and concepts:

1. A manager receives a salary for exercising real management and providing guidance to this organization, therefore, he must, for the majority of his time, engage in this or that type of management activity. To manage means to lead, direct, direct, train, measure, and also engage in any other activities: planning, organizational work, drawing up financial plans, analyzing financial condition, etc.

2. A manager must have enough people under his control so that the management of them takes all his attention, but at the same time is enough for him to pay attention to everyone.

3. The number of management units in any organization should be minimal.

4. Artists must deal with a limited number of well-thought-out tasks, the solution of which directly contributes to the achievement of the goals of the organization.

5. A clear understanding of the tasks may be distorted due to the inefficient transfer of information. One of the reasons for this distortion may be too many control links. As a result, the ability to make changes, solve problems independently, look for other ways decreases.

6. Based on the experience of the developers, research on this method usually takes 14-18 weeks and is applicable to any organization - only tools and specialists are needed. The study usually involves 3-4 people. It includes six stages: 1 - preparatory; 2 - data collection; 3 - data processing; 4 - analysis; 5 - preparation of the report; 6 - follow up. The result of the 5th stage is written recommendations for improving the organizational structure submitted to the head of the enterprise (organization), on whose initiative the study was conducted. It should be borne in mind that even in those rare cases when the organizational structure ^{* is} built successfully, that is, it is highly expedient, it cannot remain unchanged for a long time. The changing conditions of an enterprise's activity require constant improvement of its organizational structure. Therefore, all enterprises should periodically evaluate the organizational structure and change it in such a way that   increase its expediency.

The bottom-up method of analysis (DRM) is carried out in the opposite direction, that is, from an individual worker and the formulation of his goals and objectives. It allows you to link the work of each employee with the objectives of the enterprise, its strategy and the main task. This approach has found wide application (since 1945) and almost always gives good results in its development. The reasons for failures lie not in its principles, but in the way in which it is implemented in practice.

The formulation of personal goals and objectives establishes the main thing, what is the contribution of each employee to the implementation of organizational tasks, namely:

• creates the necessary conditions for integrating the work of each with objectives, strategies and goals, ensuring the adequacy of the functional organization;
• creates prerequisites for the personal interest of employees in the success of the common cause;
• serves as the basis for the assessment of individual labor. The correctness of setting personal goals and objectives requires a preliminary study of the main task of the enterprise, its strategy ^* and goals.

The UOC is not only an approach to analysis, but also a way to continuously perform such work by managers ^* . The UOC allows to solve several key problems related to the management of an enterprise (organization):

• focuses the attention of employees on expectations, formed as a goal of activity;
• sets the program of work performance by determining the timing of the solution of individual tasks;
• determines the process of achieving the goal through a dialogue about setting goals and achieving them;
• facilitates wage management ^* , providing a reasonable basis for rewards for good performance and achievement;
• helps to assess the grounds for promotion, allowing you to identify opportunities for the employee.

We can assume that the UOC is a management method, according to which managers at different levels determine the main areas of their responsibility, where they will work.

The next structural element of the organization is the structure of work functions, which includes: functions, subfunctions, activities, positions, tasks, operations, actions. Their analysis is carried out in three ways: bottom up, intermediate and top down.

The analysis of working functions should be started from the top down, from the analysis of the functional organization, measurement of functional activities and ending with the rationing of work. That is, this approach analyzes: distribution of work among employees; distribution of work by function; a summary of costs (for each function, labor costs and costs are indicated); distribution of work between departments and others.

The top-down approach is used in practice very successfully. It allows one to get amazing results when it is possible to determine the list of necessary functions, the main activities related to the performance of these functions, to find direct or indirect measures of the causes of these activities.

The intermediate approach is based on the use of regressive models using past experience. It allows you to predict the need for labor, provided that the level of performance and the efficiency of labor in the future remains at the same level as in the period to which the source data relate. In the conditions of transition to a market economy and its formation, there is no similar experience of the past. This significantly limits the application of this method at this stage.

The bottom-up approach is based on the valuation of labor. It involves the measurement of work and aims to develop cost-effective working methods that are used as standard, and measure the time to perform standard conditions or operations compared with the norm. At the same time, integrated time-consuming standards can be used, taking into account the essential differences between the labor of management personnel and the labor of workers. There are at least three such significant differences. First, it is not so monotonous; secondly, in any situation, a variety of different and alternative actions that contribute to the implementation of the tasks are permissible; thirdly, between the action and its result, contributing to the realization of the main task of the enterprise, may pass a considerable time.

Using the rationing of labor, we should not forget about other recommendations aimed at developing personal motivation by giving performers greater freedom in choosing their actions and, of course, responsibility. This gives the employee a sense of ownership and fosters personal involvement and interest.

Labor valuation as the most important tool of the economic management method is necessary when concluding personal contracts with an executive director for a certain period. Under contracts should work all management personnel of the enterprise. In the contract, first of all, the scope of work and duties of the specialist must be defined; wage conditions; mode and conditions of work; the duration of the working day, vacation; the conditions under which an employee may be dismissed; other conditions related to the specifics of the enterprise and specialists. At the same time, the amount of work is determined on the basis of labor standards or expert assessments (in all cases it must be coordinated with the employee employed). In necessary cases, the contract is accompanied by a personal job description and a list of works to be performed for the heads of structural divisions - the provision on the unit or service. It is necessary in the contract to specify the criteria (indicators) and methods for evaluating the activities of a specialist, the possible timing of such assessments, their frequency.

The methods of analyzing the organizational structure and working functions used in foreign practice are ultimately aimed at finding reserves for improving the efficiency of workers and achieving the main goal - obtaining sufficient profit and avoiding bankruptcy in a competitive environment. Undoubtedly, these methods should be mastered by entrepreneurs and specialists of the management personnel of all enterprises and used in their work.