Organizing - I

Organizing - I 

According to Chester Barnard, an organization is a system of consciously coordinated activities or efforts of two or more persons.



A formal organization is a system of co-operation in which people gather together and formally agree to combine their efforts for a common purpose.



And the key element is the conscious co-ordination.



Bedeian and Zamnuto have defined organization as “Social entities that are goal directed , deliberately structured activity system with a permeable boundary.”

The key elements of an organization are: 1. Social entity 2. Goal directed 3. Deliberately structured activity system 4. Permeable boundary



Importance of organization:-



1. It helps achieving objectives. 2. It establishes clear lines of authority. 3. It helps establishment of roles, responsibility and accountability of members. 4. It helps in delegation of authority. 5. It helps co-ordination of efforts of members and in turn creates synergy. 6. It improves communication and motivates members. 7. It helps establishment of effective span of management and control system.

     

Guidelines for effective communication 1. Lines of authority are to be clearly stated. 2. Usually each person is expected to report to one boss 3. Responsibility and authority of each person to be established clearly. 4. Higher managers are to be made responsible for work of their subordinates. 5. Authority and responsibility to be delegated as far down the hierarchy as objectively possible.



6. Number of levels of authority should be as few as possible.



7. Principle of specialization wherever possible.



8. Line function and staff functions to be kept separately.



9. Span of control to be reasonable and well established.



10. Organization should be simple and flexible.

to

be

applied

Organizational objectives

Mission

Objectives

Plans

Mission Mission tells why does the organization exist and what should it be doing.

It guides managers, work units and employees throughout the organization in their operation.

A clear mission statement is expected to be concise, focused, worthy, imaginative and realistic.



In addition to Mission statement, modern organizations also state their ‘vision” statement which signifies “what the organization wants to become in future”.



Whereas goals of an organization are refinements of its mission. They are open ended statements of purpose. Though goals are more specific than mission they address, in general, such key issues like market share, productivity, profitability etc.



However, objectives are specific statement about anticipated end result of an activity.

 Example:-

 1. Mission :- We want to be a market leader in power generation.

 2. Vision :- Our company will made significant contribution in overall

economic development of India.  3. Goal : - Our goal is to increase our capacity utilization in power

generation.  4. Objective :- By the year end we will achieve 80% capacity

utilization in our power generation.

Characteristics of sound objectives Diagram: In writing

Time bound Measurable Attainable

Mutually supportive

Sound objectives



To make objective and realistic the following factors are to be taken into account:-



1. Environmental conditions



2. Economic conditions



3. Internal resources



4. Anticipation of future events



Organization’s overall objectives are further broken down in departmental / divisional / work group and individual objectives objectives and a hierarchy of objectives are created.

Organizational process 1

2

Reviewing plans and objectives

Feedback

Determining activities

5 Evaluating results

3

3

Classifying and grouping activities 4 Assigning work and resources

Formal vs Informal Organization Formal Organization

Informal Organization

Contains a mechanistic hierarchical structure, marked by position, responsibility, accountability, authority, unity of command etc.

It is a kind of informal group which comes into existence due to social interactions and interpersonal relationships and exists outside formal authority structure, without any set of rules. It is a system of well defined rigid It exists in the shadow of formal jobs with a prescribed pattern of structure and interpersonal communication, coordination relationship creates a bond of and control friendship among the members which are very strong and can not be ignored by the formal organization. Informal organization is a powerful instrument in all organization and influences success and failure of formal organization. It also serves as a

Span of management Span of management or span of control refers to the number of people a manager directly manages. The number of subordinates, one manager can manage depends on a number of factors such as :1. Similarity of functions. 2. Complexity of function 3. Geographical closeness of employees 4. Requirement of direction and coordination 5. Capacity of subordinates 6. Supportive staff of managers