How are businesses organised, and what new ways of working exist?
Organisational structures and different ways of working: tall and flat structures, span of control and chain of command, centralised and decentralised structures, and ways of working including full-time, part-time, flexible, remote and the gig economy.
A focused answer to OCR GCSE Business J204 topic 3.2, covering tall and flat structures, span of control and chain of command, centralisation, and modern ways of working such as flexible, remote and gig working.
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What this topic is asking
OCR J204 topic 3.2 wants you to understand organisational structures (tall versus flat, span of control, chain of command, centralised versus decentralised) and the different ways of working available today (full-time, part-time, flexible, remote and the gig economy). The exam often gives a business changing its structure or working patterns and asks you to weigh the effects.
Tall and flat structures
Many growing businesses delayer (remove levels) to become flatter, speeding up decisions and cutting cost, at the price of stretching managers.
Span of control and chain of command
The two are linked: a tall structure usually has a long chain of command and narrow spans; a flat structure has a short chain and wide spans. OCR likes you to keep the two terms clearly separate.
Centralised and decentralised structures
Centralisation gives tight control and consistency but can be slow and ignore local knowledge. Decentralisation lets local managers respond to their own market and motivates staff, but risks inconsistency and loss of central control. A supermarket chain might centralise buying (for bulk discounts) while decentralising staffing decisions to each store.
Different ways of working
Newer ways of working can cut costs and widen the talent pool for a business and improve work-life balance for staff, but they can also make communication, supervision and team spirit harder, and gig work offers workers less security. OCR wants you to weigh these for the specific business.
Try this
Q1. State one advantage of a flat organisational structure. [1 mark]
- Cue. Faster communication and decisions, lower management costs, or more responsibility for staff.
Q2. A firm has workers and each manager has a span of control of . Calculate how many managers are needed. [1 mark]
- Cue. managers.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR J204/01 20182 marksDefine the term 'span of control'. (Paper 1, Section A)Show worked answer →
A 2-mark AO1 definition. The span of control is the number of employees (subordinates) that one manager is directly responsible for. One mark for the idea of subordinates reporting to a manager, the second for the idea that it is the number directly managed. A wide span means many staff per manager; a narrow span means few. A common error is to confuse it with the chain of command (the levels of authority from top to bottom).
OCR J204/01 20226 marksA growing online retailer is considering moving from a tall organisational structure to a flatter one. Analyse two effects this change could have on the business. (Paper 1, Section B)Show worked answer →
A 6-mark "analyse" needing two developed chains applied to the online retailer. Effect one (faster communication and decisions): removing layers shortens the chain of command, so messages pass between the top and the front line more quickly, which means the retailer can respond to customers and market changes faster. Effect two (wider spans and pressure on managers): a flatter structure widens each manager's span of control, so managers supervise more staff with less close support, which means a risk of overload and less guidance for employees. Markers reward two effects, each developed into a chain that refers to the online retailer, ideally recognising the trade-off between speed and supervision.
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Sources & how we know this
- OCR GCSE Business (J204) specification — OCR (2017)