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ESTABLISHING THE OPTIMAL NUMBER OF PRIORITY COMMUNICATION LEVELS IN AN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE BASED ON MINING COMPANIES

M. Wyganowska

Abstract

This article aims at determining the optimal number of organizational levels in a company's hierarchical structure. Based on this, the author establishes a certain number of managerial levels that simultaneously create the levels in the structure of the priority communication system ? information exchange ? in an organization. Also, the role of managers in an efficient and effective information flow is presented. Businesses that operate by market principles must strive for the highest possible efficiency and effectiveness. This requires an efficient and effective system of both organization and management, and consequently ? an internal order and cooperation between its individual components [4]. One of the factors that allows the implementation of these objectives is an accurate organizational structure. It defines the separation of powers and the number of hierarchical levels, among other concepts; regulates the relationship between individual departments of an organization; and finally constitutes the basic "map" for the formal flow of internal information. With regard to the foregoing, the author presents a mathematical model used to establish the optimal number of priority communication levels (number of managers) for a given organization based on the designated number of hierarchical levels in its organizational structure. The optimal number of levels indicates the smallest probability of non-performance of planned tasks. The optimal number of hierarchical levels in the presented case "depicts" the optimal downward information channel in the internal communication system. This allows the design and rationalization of the course of formal communication through the span of control. The span of control refers to the number of subordinates that a given supervisor has and can efficiently manage. This mathematical model enables a given organization to have the following established: ? Optimal number of information recipients ? the optimal number of subordinates to 1 manager for the communication to be both effective and efficient. ? Optimal number of managers subordinated to 1 senior manager to guarantee the smallest probability of non-performance of planned tasks within the adopted timeframe. ? Establishing the number of hierarchical levels - downward information levels in the formal communication system. The higher the number of hierarchical levels, the longer the downward channel of formal information and the greater the probability of its distortion, detention, or making it outdated. Therefore, the optimization of hierarchical levels allows for the increase in efficiency of information flow and quality, which in turn contributes to the effectiveness of employees.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2018/1.3/s03.050

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