The three main levels of an organization regardless of the structure include operational management, tactical management, and strategic management. Firstly, the operational management level is also referred to as low-level management in the organization. This level of the organization is concerned with the running of the daily activities of the firm (Guru99, 2019) . As such, the line managers and line workers of the organization fall under this level of management. Some of the notable employees at this management level include bank tellers, cashiers at point of sale, and customer service staff. The employees working at this level take structured decisions that are already predetermined by the upper levels of management. Secondly, the tactical management level is also referred to as middle-level management. This level of management is mostly dominated by supervisors, head of departments, and middle-level managers of the company (Guru99, 2019). The employees working in this management level have the duty of overseeing the work done by employees at the operational level of the organization.
The tactical level management assumes a semi-structured decision-making approach because they use information acquired from the operational level, as well as from external sources to make decisions. As opposed to the operational level managers, the tactical level managers can use their own judgment or external sources to carry out a decision. Lastly, the strategic management level of the organization is also referred to as the executive management level. This is the topmost level of the organization and mainly consists of the senior managers and executives of the firm (Guru99, 2019). The strategic management level of the organization makes unstructured decisions that are not necessarily hinged on the information acquired within the organization. Majority of the decisions made by the executives are influenced by external information that might affect the business of the organization. This level of the organization provides long-term decision-making that delivers the firm strategy. They mainly utilize external data, as well as information from the tactical level managers.
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According to Davenport (1993), a process is a distinct organization of job activities across place and time, with well-defined outputs and inputs, and with a beginning and an end. The alignment of the process to the business involves ownership, elements of structure, measurement, focus, and customers. On the other hand, Dickson (2003) uses an analogy of biological evolution and selections of animals to portray how organizations apply the competitive market selection of managers based on the hierarchy of routines and processes in the firm. As such, Dickson (2003) compares this selection to the generic processes and routines that occur in the organization. He points out that in an organizational setting, the managers must always make deliberate and calculated moves of always devising new processes, nurturing them, and reengineering them when the need arises.
Davenport (1993) asserts that the process structure of an organization is a dynamic approach as compared to the hierarchical structure, which is a one-time activity. The dynamism of the process structure of an organization makes it relevant in ensuring that continuous improvement is done to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction. Davenport (1993) also touches on the aspect of process innovation, which is done on the basis that processes are amenable and should be altered to add value to the products and services offered to the customers. Some of the processes that are performed at the operational level include product development, order management, customer acquisition, and manufacturing. Consequently, the processes performed at the management level include asset management, human resource management, and performance management (Davenport, 1993). Conversely, Dickson (2003) highlights that processes are performed in the organization based on the hierarchy of routines, which according to him is the foundation of the perception of organization core capabilities. Organizations can choose to have vertical or horizontal hierarchies of routines, which are all geared at ensuring that all the process are performed as expected.
According to Davenport & Short (1990), processes are performed between various types of organizational entities, and they all have particular information technology benefits. There are three business processes assumed by organizations, and they include interorganizational processes, interfunctional processes, and interpersonal processes. However, only two types of these processes work within and across organizational boundaries. These are the interfunctional and interpersonal processes. Firstly, the interfunctional processes occur in the organization but take place across various department s or functional areas. These processes occur because the majority of organizational departments are interconnected; for instance, the human resource, planning, and budgeting departments are linked in functions (Mackenzie, 2000) . The interfunctional processes are significant in supporting main operational goals such as new product development, manufacturing, and asset management. However, the interfunctional processes pose a problem to the organization during the redesign of the processes. Secondly, the interpersonal processes mostly involve processes that occur across small groups or functions in the organization (Davenport & Short, 1990). These processes occur because the majority of companies are dividing their employees into teams and groups to enhance productivity. Some activities necessitate processes to take place across various teams and groups because of the interlinkages among the team functions. Lastly, the interorganizational processes do not occur within the organization, but they are performed across various organizations in the same industry (Davenport & Short, 1990). For instance, some organizations provide raw materials whereas others are engaged in the manufacturing process. As such, there will be processes occurring in all the organizations, but which are geared towards a common goal of delivering products to customers on the market.
According to Van de Ven & Delbecq (1974), organizations assume the work-unit structure in performing their activities. The work unit or organizational unit is defined as the smallest grouping of employees fashioned to perform a given task. As such, an organizational unit is hypothesized using two dimensions that include task variability and task difficulty. Firstly, task difficulty is defined as the analyzability of an individual task, and the degree to which there is a recognized method, which portrays the steps to be followed when undertaking the given task (Van de Ven & Delbecq,1974). The task difficulty is signified by various aspects such as the extent of complexity in searching the method of performing the task, the time taken to the think about the task-related problems, and the body of knowledge that provides the rules and guidelines to be followed when carrying out the task (Van de Ven & Delbecq,1974). The task difficulty affects the amount of expertise required in completing a given work unit. Consequently, the task difficulty may also influence the participation in decision-making, the complexity of work, and coordination. Secondly, task variability is defined as the number of extraordinary cases encountered in work, which require different procedures or methods to complete the work. Task variability can be measured as the constancy and uniformity of the inputs and outputs of a work unit. Task variability affects the degree to which work activities can be performed in a routine approach. It also affects the resources used in a given work unit.
According to Wijnberg, van den Ende, & de Wit (2002), various decisions are made at the three levels of management in the organization. The decisions are made following a specific criterion based on the level of the management. Two main types of decisions are made across the three levels of management, and they include primary decisions and secondary decisions. Firstly, primary decisions are made by the strategic management level, which is the topmost organizational level. These decisions affect every aspect of the organization because they are strategic in the nature that the company must run according to such decisions. However, the decisions can still be adopted by the middle-level managers and the line workers who are the lowest level in the organization.
Secondly, the secondary decisions of the organizations are made at the tactical level and operational levels of the organization. These are decisions made for the daily operations of the firm; hence, they are highly influenced by the primary decision made by the executives of the firm. As portrayed in figure 1, the primary decisions come from the top management to the planning/mechanization department, which also offers secondary decisions to the middle-level management and the work floor. The inculcation of IT in decision-making plays a significant role in improving the accountability of the organization to its stakeholders. This is because the decisions can be shared among stakeholders. Consequently, IT also delivers the efficiency of the decision-making process because of the faster flow of information between different parties in the organization. Data processing technologies also enhance coordination and standardization of the decision-making process in the organization, which also adds to the efficiency of the organization.
The basic components of a business process include inputs, resources, constraints, activities, and outputs. The IDEFo modeling review is a significant approach to depicting that the basic components of a process must be present to have a successful process. The IDEFo model helps in modeling decisions and activities for manufacturing organizations in a structured graphical approach (Kim & Jang, 2002). The model provides its scope of analysis, for a distinct functional analysis or future analysis of the organization. The workability of the IDEFo modeling review depends on the provision of its basic components, which include inputs, outputs, controls, and mechanisms. This hierarchical structure depicts how processes work given the basic units of inputs, outputs, resources, constraints, and activities.
References
Davenport, T. H. (1993). Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology . Harvard Business Press.
Davenport, T. H., & Short, J. E. (1990). The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign . Harvard Business Press.
Dickson, P. R. (2003). The pigeon breeders' cup: a selection on selection theory of economic evolution. Journal of Evolutionary Economics , 13 (3), 259-280.
Guru99. (2019). Types of Information System: TPS, DSS & Pyramid Diagram . Retrieved from https://www.guru99.com/mis-types-information-system.html
Kim, S. H., & Jang, K. J. (2002). Designing performance analysis and IDEF0 for enterprise modelling in BPR. International Journal of production economics , 76 (2), 121-133.
Mackenzie, K. D. (2000). Processes and their frameworks. Management Science , 46 (1), 110-125.
Van de Ven, A. H., & Delbecq, A. L. (1974). A task contingent model of work-unit structure. Administrative science quarterly , 183-197.
Wijnberg, N. M., van den Ende, J., & de Wit, O. (2002). Decision making at different levels of the organization and the impact of new information technology: two cases from the financial sector. Group & Organization Management , 27 (3), 408-429.
