Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Manager
Assistant
manager
Office manager/
Accountant
Horticulturalist
Greenhouse
manager
Nursery
manager
Retail store
manager
Assistant
nursery
manager
Delivery
persons
Worker
Worker
Field hands
Mechanic
Worker
Worker
GreenThumb, Inc.
Functional organizational chart
Line authority
Functional authority
Figure 16.3
Functional organization
work the way management intends. No organizational structure is better than the people in
it. Their understanding of the structure and the employee's willingness to work within it are
essential. Yet, even when people are trying to make it work, problems arise. People have
emotions, misunderstandings, ego needs and family issues that sometimes get in the way.
Effective organizations recognize the need for interpreting the formal structure in terms of
the human element, by adjusting and working through misunderstandings when they occur.
No organizational structure can be successful without a constant focus on honest but tactful
communication at all levels. Some of the basic keys to communication are that it should be
timely, consistent, and thorough. Management should attempt to make communications
“transparent,” i.e., seek input and share some reasoning for decisions. Transparency tends to
be a bit of a slippery slope—as it is often diffi cult to ascertain how much information to
share with employees—they like to be “kept in the loop.” However, some issues and deci-
sions need to be left to management and managers need to realize that they will be held
responsible for their decisions—both good and bad, and may often be blamed for decisions
that seem to be capricious, but are actually well thought out.
The informal organization
The formal organization is concerned primarily with the activities of people as they perform
their job functions. But the formal organizational structure cannot possibly control all of the
personal relationships that exist in any agribusiness. Whenever people come together, infor-
mal relationships develop that may have signifi cant impact upon the effectiveness of the
formal organization. The
informal organization
is primarily concerned with interpersonal
