SYSTEM STRUCTURE

Simple Structure

These are structures with low degree of departmentalisation and a wide span of control. The authority is largely centralised in a single person with very little formalisation. It is also called 'flat structure'. It usually has only two or three vertical levels, a flexible set of employees, and generally one person in whom the power of decision-making is invested. This simple structure is most widely practiced in small business settings where manager and owner happens to be the same person. Its advantage lies in its simplicity. This makes it responsive, fast, accountable and easy to maintain. However, it becomes grossly inadequate as and when the organisation grows in size. Such a simple structure is becoming popular becauseof its flexibility, responsiveness and high degree of adaptability to change.

Layered approach

The operating system is divided into a number of layers (levels), each built on top of lower layers. The bottom layer (layer 0), is the hardware; the highest (layer N) is the user interface.
With modularity, layers are selected such that each uses functions (operations) and services of only lower-level layers.

MS-DOS Layered Structure