In a short essay, list and discuss two contingency variables that should be considered in determining an appropriate structure in organizational design

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: (any two of the following)

Strategy and structure
An organization's structure should facilitate the achievement of goals. Since goals are influenced by the organization's strategies, it's only logical that strategy and structure should be closely linked. More specifically, structure should follow strategy. If managers significantly change the organization's strategy, they will need to modify structure to accommodate and support the change.

Size and structure
There is considerable evidence that an organization's size significantly affects its structure. For instance, large organizations–those with 2,000 or more employees–tend to have more specialization, departmentalization, centralization, and rules and regulations than do small organizations. However, the relationship isn't linear. Rather, size affects structure at a decreasing rate; that is, size becomes less important as an organization grows.

Technology and structure
Every organization has at least one form of technology to convert its inputs into outputs. The processes or methods that transform an organization's inputs into outputs differ by their degree of routineness. In general, the more routine the technology, the more standardized and mechanistic the structure can be. Organizations with more nonroutine technology are more likely to have organic structures.

Environment and structure
The greater the uncertainty in the environment, the greater the need for the flexibility offered by an organic design. On the other hand, in stable, simple environments, mechanistic designs tend to be most effective.