DESIGNING AN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR ACHIEVING BUSINESS EXCELLENCE IN MANUFACTURING COMPANIES

In the contemporary business environment characterized by risk and uncertainty, manufacturing companies need to focus on improving quality in every single aspect of their business model, with a focus on reaching the level of business excellence. As the central dimension of organizational design, organizational structure has the status of important support for achieving business excellence in the following areas: the success of the quality management system, process management, orientation towards employees (their satisfaction and motivation), the development of partnership relations with suppliers and customers, supply chain management, innovation, and social responsibility. The goal of the research is to identify the parameters of the organizational structure which have the highest influence on the success of manufacturing companies in terms of achieving business excellence. The results of the research conducted on a sample of 94 manufacturing companies in the territory of the Republic of Serbia showed the statistically significant influence of the organizational structure on each of the business excellence determinants, whereby the following parameters have the most important role: specialization, coordination (based on a combination of mechanisms) and formalization (based on compliance with QMS requirements – Quality Management System and the ISO 9001 standards).