Organizational structure refers to a system that outlines how activities should be directed to achieve organizational goals (Ahmady et al., 2016). Some examples of organizational structure include rules, roles, and responsibilities. It also establishes the transfer of information from one level of the organization to the other.
For instance, in a centralized structure, decisions flow from top to bottom. The organizational structure ensures companies are efficient and focused. The organizational process is a sequence of tasks that can contribute to the business goals of the company (Ahmady et al., 2016). Examples of organizational processes include managerial and infrastructure processes. Companies use information technology to implement communication. Internet and intranet are used to communicate information within and outside the organization.
Process complexity refers to a measure of difficulties that delay project execution. Process complexity rests on factors such as process specificity, contextual interactions, and modulation. On the other hand, generic business processes include approaches which are designed to function outside standard application processing. They are not specific to a given component and can be used for multiple applications. Examples of generic processes are organizational management, recruitment, and payroll (Tasker, 2018).
The most common types of information systems operating at various levels of an organization include executive information systems, decision support systems, management information, and transaction processing systems. The transaction processing provides key data needed to manage operations, whereas management information systems are utilized by managers to evaluate the performance of an organization by comparing outputs over a given period. Senior managers use decision support systems to promote the creation of knowledge and integration into the organization (Olavsrud, 2020).
The executive information system, on the other hand, helps senior managers to determine the environment of the organization, and long-term trends, and lay down an appropriate course of action. Business-related processes contribute to added value of products and services, leading to accomplishment of organizational goals.
Further, training is one of the ways by which members of organizations can learn about processes. It involves the development of skills by using approaches such as lectures, hand-on-exercises, group-based assignments and simulations. Task or job rotation is another way through which employees can learn about processes (Andriotis, 2018).
It allows workers to rotate roles so as to put their skills into practice or learn new processes. Sketch assignments can be used by management to find new work for members of organization to improve their skills. Some of the factors which inhibit learning include lack of commitment from the management, job pressures, inadequate work tools, and structural inhibitors. Companies train individuals on information systems to improve business processes and provide a competitive advantage.
On the other hand, organizational management is one of the generic processes, and its related IT system is management information systems. Sequential business process is a generic operation which performs a series of actions on an element from a specific start point to a stated endpoint (Rouse & McLaughlin, 2018).
It is implemented on processes that have a limited time frame such as creation and approval of a document. A status-driven process is utilized when an action has no time frame. In practice, business process type should be chosen properly for effective task management. A sequential process is utilized to establish a simple sequence of actions, while status-driven procedure is used if a business involves multiple activities.
Finally, various steps can be used to determine whether a system meet the organizational process needs. Firstly, employees in different level of department should be consulted to understand their workflow and technology requirements (Duggan, 2020). Chronic problems related to technology should be identified and employees should be asked about their ideal workflow setup. Secondly, the company should evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of existing hardware and software technology, and how it affects the workflow problems.
The enterprise should analyze IT environment by looking at performance and usage. Additionally, the company should think about alternatives before investing on a major tech system because the tech problem can be solved by a slight change in the business processes. Before spending on major tech system, the company should assess their resources, including time and money. This will determine their choice as they may need to prioritize on their need.
References
Ahmady, G. A., Mehrpour, M., & Nikooravesh, A. (2016). Effect of organizational culture on knowledge management based on Denison model. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. Web.
Duggan, T. (2020). How to Identify Business IT Needs. Chron. Web.
Tasker, D. (2018). Well-Defined Data Part 2 – Generic Business Entities. BA Times. Web.
Rouse, M., & McLaughlin, E. (2018). Business process. SearchCIO. Web.
Andriotis, N. (2018). 5 popular employee training methods for workplace training. eLearning Industry. Web.
Olavsrud, T. (2020). Decision support systems: Sifting data for better business decisions. CIO. Web.