Understanding that business is organized primarily for efficiency purposes, only if we consider an organization to be an automated and direct system,

organizational effectiveness would be a logical consequence of organizational structure. This is because organizational structure is only one of the elements that have influence in determining the effectiveness of an organization (Stanford, 2007). However, the decision of choosing an organizational structure plays an important role in defining and helping the evolution of human factors within an organization, thereby indirectly influencing the management of projects (University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education, 2013, p.2), hence that effective leadership is also important for improving its effectiveness. Consequently, the goal of the leadership is then to make what Drucker (2002) defines as an effective decision: choose among the different organizational structures which one will work best for the organization, comparing each against organizational premises such as speed, integration, flexibility, innovation and control (Stanford, 2007). The chosen structure would then define how tasks are going to be allocated, who reports to whom and how, the different types of influence, and decision making and coordination processes, all in order to better accomplish the organizations goals (University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education, 2013). It should be noted that this choice is determined by the situation, but even so is partly intuitive (Meredith and Mantel, 2009, p.202); hence, it is expected for the structure of an organization to evolve with time in order to keep up with in its effectiveness criteria. What would be the key characteristic elements of an effective organizational structure? An efficient organization structure would produce clear communication within the company, supports a transparent decision-making and escalation processes, and fosters a culture that encourage cohesiveness and good morale (Anderson, n.d.). Moreover, an efficient organization would frequently survey the environment and would seek to innovate to address challenges (University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education, 2013). As acutely pointed out by Meredith and Mantel (2009), project managers rarely if ever have the opportunity to voice their input for the choice of the organizational structure. This is why project managers need to be constantly readying contingency plans to address outside issues that impact optimal organizational staffing (University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education, 2013, p.4). Here is where the elements of transformational leadership, as described by Bass and Avolio (1994), would greatly help translate (or cascade) to the different levels the changes in organizational culture. Reference List Anderson, A. (n.d.) Elements of Efficient Organizational Structure [Online]. Available from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/elements-of-organizational-structure/ (Accessed: 19 April 2013). Bass, B. & Avolio, B. (1994) Improving Organizational Effectiveness Through Transformational Leadership . 1 ed. London: Sage Publications, Inc. Drucker, P. (2002) The Effective Executive. 1 ed. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. Meredith, J. R. & Mantel, S. J. Jr. (2009) Project Management: A Managerial Approach. 7 ed. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing. Stanford, N. (2007) Guide to Organization Design: Creating High-Performing and Adaptable Enterprises. University of Liverpool Catalogue [Online]. Available from: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/liverpool/Doc?id=10235176 (Accessed: 19 April 2013). University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education (2013) Lecture Notes Week 3: Effective project management in an organisational context [Online]. Available from: University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education VLE (Accessed: 19 April 2013).
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