Characteristics of the Group Organization Model in Enterprises

The previously favored capabilities have not been completely eliminated. According to Frank Ostroff, at the top of the organization, there are still several vertical layers of authority. These high-level hierarchical positions are held by people who direct the operations of the business, decide the overall goals for the operating process where applicable, and plan the future strategy for the business to achieve the necessary goals. [23, p. 12].

Overall, the idea of a flatter organizational model seems to have created more opportunities for shared responsibility for getting things done, more flexible and innovative problem solving, and more decision-making authority; perhaps, it answers two long-standing limitations of the previously favored functional organizational model (inflexibility and insensitivity to customer desires).

1.3.3.2. Characteristics of group organization model in enterprises

- Individuals are gathered from functional departments together into flexible working groups (typically cross-departmental working groups) around a work process.

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This is the gathering of individuals from functional departments into working groups (typically cross-departmental working groups); in a way of working and exchanging knowledge to achieve the larger goals of the enterprise. The establishment of cross-departmental working groups, however, cannot be forced by the convenience of position or personal personality; instead, the enterprise's leadership must strive to gather individuals from functional departments with the exact combination of skills needed to accomplish the main goals of the work process. Cross-departmental working groups are established to gather the appropriate skills and resources wherever they may exist in the enterprise. In that case, these working groups are task-specific, temporary, or even "virtual", they can exist for a long time.

but not permanent. Each group is flexible and is re-formed according to the needs of customers or businesses. [23, pp. 78 - 79].

- Middle managers are team managers, but in many cases also serve as team members within a defined work process.

The traditional functional organizational model, which has long been favored, has seen many middle managers at the supervisory level; however, with this new perspective, middle managers are reassigned to a “flatter” role, where they become members of cross-departmental working groups within a work process.

In this position, although middle managers are the managers of cross-departmental work teams, in many cases they also serve as team members within a pre-defined work process. Middle managers will also be the ones reporting on the team's work results to the top leaders of the enterprise. [23, pp. 80 - 81].

- Still maintain some vertical power levels at the top level of the business to control operations, and provide development orientation and strategic goals of the business.

Senior managers often play a key role in creating the vision for the enterprise. Some senior leaders are involved in strategic planning for the enterprise; others are responsible for setting goals and seeing the results that the process has produced for the enterprise.

In the cross-departmental working group organizational model, at the top of the enterprise, there must certainly still exist several vertical layers of power. These high-level positions are held by individuals who guide the operation of the enterprise, decide on the overall strategic goals for the work process, and set the future direction for the development of the enterprise. [23, p. 82].

A business manager is like a jazz bandleader who not only plays an instrument but also gets the other musicians to play together. The jazz bandleader also arranges the band members to play, makes sure the music starts, and generally keeps the beat.

In practice, many large enterprises in the world have converted to the organizational model of cross-departmental working groups and have achieved certain successes. Hewllet Packard; the world's leading supplier of information technology hardware. In order to meet the new needs of customers, senior managers have grouped functional departments together into cross-departmental working groups. In this case, those working groups are grouped together proportionally from a series of departments such as research and development, consulting, project management, and business. This non-bureaucratic form of structure, as they explain above, is " To support groups to come up with more creative solutions ". [27]. When talking about the application of this specific organizational model; there have been many figures and summaries given; According to the American magazine Forbes, there are currently more than 2,000 businesses in this country that have converted and applied the organizational model of inter-departmental working groups. Typical examples are some large-scale businesses in the US information technology and electronics industries such as Hewlett Packard (organized into 60 product groups; each product group is like a small business with full members from functional areas, responsible for generating profits and completing goals set by senior management) or General Electric (the business has built four multi-functional groups, each multi-functional group includes from 10 to 15 people from a number of unique groups; with the goal of gathering experts and middle managers from different fields to develop the company's products and services) [17, p. 35] . In the UK and Europe; According to Project Innovations [35], there is currently a trend of applying the multi-functional team organizational model in businesses in the UK.

and Europe to improve product quality as well as to meet customer needs, a typical example is a large-scale enterprise in the telecommunications industry such as British Telecom (which has built core business processes such as market management, information resource management, research and development, customer satisfaction, production and operations management, customer service response, etc. This process is operated by cross-departmental working groups from independent functional departments).

In Asia, in Japan; according to Robin Rowlley's investigation [38, p. 15], businesses in Japan's information technology and electronics industries have been very successful with multifunctional technology groups to develop, improve products, and increase the efficiency of their production processes.

1.3.3.3. Advantages and disadvantages of the organizational model based on working groups (specifically on inter-departmental working groups) in enterprises

As mentioned above, in general, the organizational model based on working groups (specifically on inter-departmental working groups) in an enterprise has some basic characteristics:

o Cross-departmental work teams operate flexibly around a defined workflow.

o Middle managers are the managers of this work group, but in many cases are also members of the group.

o There are several layers of power at the top level of the business. (governing and deciding the strategic goals of the business).

With such characteristics, the organizational model based on working groups (specifically on inter-departmental working groups) in enterprises has many advantages and also disadvantages.

According to Frank Ostroff [20, p. 81], the new organizational model based on working groups (specifically on inter-departmental working groups) has the following main advantages:

o Flexibility, and speed; facilitates rapid response to changes in the business environment.

o Linking activities and individuals into a unified and tight entity; leading to the ability to concentrate resources on key stages.

o Orient activities towards process and end results (improving product and service quality to serve customers).

However, this organizational model also has disadvantages:

o The authority and responsibilities of middle managers can overlap, leading to internal conflicts within the business.

o Difficult to manage due to multiple dimensions and levels of management in a workflow.

- Illustrative model

Strategic orientation ACHIEVE GOALS

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

Report

Customer-oriented

CHAIRPERSON

CEO

Multi-functional Business Group 1 (Business, Engineering, Technology, Finance)

Multi-functional Business Group 2 (Business, Engineering, Technology, Finance)

Multi-functional Business Group 3 (Business, Engineering, Technology, Finance)

Figure 1.7: Organizational model according to working groups (specifically according to inter-departmental working groups) of the enterprise

The new flat organizational model with cross-functional teams, of course, cannot be suitable for every business nor solve every business problem. An organizational model must be created to fit each business (taking into account the goals, and the capabilities of the people in the business).

1.4. PROBLEMS ARISING WHEN CONVERTING TO A WORKING GROUP ORGANIZATION MODEL

The transformation of the organizational model to work groups (especially cross-departmental work groups) can have both positive and negative impacts on businesses in two aspects: people and management style.

1.4.1. For human aspect

This change in organizational structure affects the level of trust that employees (managers and employees) have in the business, it can affect the loyalty of employees to the business; however, this change will also create personal benefits for employees such as: a broader range of job-related knowledge, skills and experience and increased adaptability and closely related changes in the working environment. Specifically:

- Negative impacts

Any organization that intends to make the change to a cross-functional team structure must prepare itself for the negative effects on the human side. This change in work organization structure, according to James Parsons, Diann Decker, Gloria E Wheeler, Janell Johnson, has transformed people's job responsibilities, reduced job security, and changed career prospects and expectations. As the structure becomes less hierarchical, opportunities for advancement are also reduced. To meet the job, all members must constantly learn new skills and contribute in new ways. [33, p. 60].

Reduce personal role

Indeed, in the process of moving to a structure based on cross-departmental working groups, although different individuals may be affected in different ways, and also have different perceptions. But most people working in the enterprise will be affected by economic factors. For example, when senior managers talk about decentralizing power to lower-level employees, middle managers, who control the boundaries between levels and departments in the enterprise, will somewhat reduce or disappear their previous role and personal power. If lower-level employees are given more power to translate strategies and plans into specific actions as well as to interact directly with senior managers, will the role of middle managers not be virtually eliminated? In fact, the new environment requires fewer middle managers. So the fear they face is not only the loss of power but also the loss of jobs. [20, p. 22].

Inconvenience

An employee in a cross-departmental team seems to struggle with new tasks, they are so used to their old job that they don't need to pay attention to learning more, while a new job will require new things. Similarly, a manager does not like being transferred from one place to another because it is very inconvenient. [34, P 20]

Uncertainty.

The new way of working - in cross-departmental teams - is always unfamiliar, dangerous and fraught with uncertainty even though it is an improvement over the old. This change in working practices can raise considerable anxiety about an uncertain future. Employees may be unsure whether their existing skills and contributions will be of value in the future. [34, p. 23]

- Positive effects

Broader understanding of the business situation

Traditionally, with a siloed structure, employees (especially employees) know very little about the business of the organization itself: how does their business compare to competitors or what customers expect of the business? Without that knowledge, employees lack the means and/or often the motivation to think beyond their own work. When a cross-departmental team structure is adopted, employees begin to have a broader understanding of the business situation of the organization. [17, p. 50]

Experience working in a collaborative cross-departmental environment

With cross-functional, cross-departmental work teams, employees first learned how outdated organizations and haphazard behavior lead to increased costs and missed deadlines. They learned to always say yes to whatever senior management wanted, to avoid the stress that often led to projects going over budget and missing deadlines. They also learned how poor communication between functions led to widespread misunderstandings about the real results and expected timelines of work. [17, p. 51]

A broader range of jobs - leading to - learning related knowledge and skills

Creating stronger internal links between functions changes not only the organizational model but also the knowledge and skills of the employees. When moving to a cross-functional team model; employees will have a wider range of job-related knowledge and skills. [17, P. 51]

Career satisfaction.

Perhaps the most important personal benefit for employees when organizations restructure to work in cross-functional teams is empowerment. When employees have information, and have the power to make decisions in

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