I need help in looking for research that links organization structure to decisions regarding lower level employees. For example, would taller organizations have a different shop floor incentive pattern than flatter organizations?
Organizations, certainly large organizations, make and execute thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of decisions every day. So, any investigation of organizational structure, of which there are many configurations, must first decide what type of decision is to examined. (This invites consideration of an organization's decision architecture, e.g., what, who, how, when.) On Decision Making, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266477995_On_Decision_Making, argues that decision making is a stream of inquiry, not an event. Decision-driven organizations design and manage it as such: they match decision-making styles to appropriate techniques and, wherever possible, encourage parties to play roles rife with dissent and debate; decision rights are part of the design. (On Organizational Configurations, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266477435_On_Organizational_Configurations, may be of related interest.)
Structure binds the organization through authority-responsibility relationships at different positions. Taller organization structures have longer chain of command and shorter span of control, whereas flatter organization structures have shorter chain of command and broader span of control. In both the cases lower level employees are expected to perform as per set targets.In taller organization structures, the lower level employees only perform but do not participate in shop floor decisions except for providing some suggestions to immediate superior, who may have to pass it upwards for implementation. In flatter organization structures, implementation of shop floor suggestions may be easier. Employee engagement, participation, recognition, as well as decision implementation is likely to be more effective in flatter organization structures.