Unit 4 - The Organization and Organizing Function

Unit 4 - The Organization

and Organizing Function
Introduction
The management process starts from planning; i.e., in planning, objectives that are going
to be achieved are identified / established and courses of action have been determined.
Then, the manager continues his activities by giving practical shape to the activities/works
to be performed identifying the roles where by workers are supposed to play, and making
known to the group what their duties and responsibilities are therefore, to design and
maintain such systems of roles is the managerial function of organizing.
4.1. Concept of organizing and organization
To begin with the definition of organizing, there is no universally accepted definition of
organizing. Different authors gave various but supplementary definitions. Among others the
following are a few:

-It is the establishing of effective behavioral relationships among persons so that they may
work together efficiently and gain personal satisfaction in doing selected tasks under given
environmental conditions for the purpose of achieving some goals and objectives.
-It is one of the functions of management, the one concerned with choosing what tasks are
to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who is to report to whom
and where decisions are to be made.
effective to the purpose of the enterprise.
-Organizing is the part of managing that involves establishing an intentional structure of
roles for people to fill in an organization.
Hence, it is a function of identifying, classifying, grouping, and assigning various activities
and prescribing authority relationships to create an organism or structure capable of
accomplishing predetermined objectives.
-It is the grouping of activities necessary to attain objectives, the assignment of each
grouping to a manager with authority to supervise it, and the provision of co-ordination
vertically and horizontally in the enterprise structure.
-It defines the part, which each member of an enterprise is expected to perform and the
relation between such members to the end that their consorted endeavor shall be most
Organizing involves,
i) The identification and classification of required activities necessary to attain
objectives.
ii) The grouping of activities necessary to attain objectives.

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iii) The assignment of each grouping to a manager with authority necessary to

supervise it.
iv) The provision for co-ordination horizontally and vertically in the organizational
structure.
The process of Organizing
Organizing function can follow the following steps.
(1) Determine tasks /activities necessary to attain objectives
(2) Create jobs and define their duties and responsibilities.
(3) Group jobs in to practical units/departments based on similarities,
Importance,which will do the work, etc.
(4) Create authority/reporting relationships
(5) Delegate authority
4.2. Formal and Informal Organization

The organizing function results in an intentional formal organization structure of roles in a

legally and formally organized enterprise.
The design (framework) of an organization can be divided into two categories: The formal
and informal organization.

Formal Organization:
 It is an organization, which is established with intentional structure of roles in a formally
organized enterprise. It is one, which is drafted by top management. It is the organization
structure, which defines everything clearly, and explicitly. It is consciously, deliberately,
and rationally designed by management to achieve predetermined objectives.
Thus, formal organization has the following important points:
 It is consciously brought in to existence for the achievement of predetermined objectives.
 Authority and responsibility are clearly defined.
 The line of communication is also formalized (It is shown in organization charts)
 The relationship of the superior and the subordinate is fixed. (it is deliberately impersonal it
is bureaucratic in nature and operated by the rules & regulations; personal issues are not
entertained.)
 It exists in a written form.

Informal Organization:
- It is a network of personal and social relations not established or required by the
formal organization but arising spontaneously as people associate with one another.

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- It is undocumented and officially unrecognized relationship between members of an

organization that inevitably emerges out of the personal & group needs of employees. It
is an organization, which consists of small social groups and friendly associations with in
the formal organization. It is genuine that whenever formal organizations are formed,
informal social groups are created within its framework. such groups are created on the
basis of similarity of status, interests, beliefs, attitudes, back grounds, etc.
Such small groups are results of the need of people for social interaction, & for friendly
associations. They affect the formal organization positively or negatively, however,
management neither creates nor abolishes them. Therefore, managers should learn how to
live with it, how to influence it, and how to direct its energy and initiative towards
constructive channels.
Managers, to deal with informal organizations the following general suggestions are
helpful:
- Managers accept and understand the informal organizations
- Consider possible effects on informal organizations when they take any action.
- Integrate, as far as possible, the interests of informal groups with those of the formal
organization.

4.3. Organizational Structure, chart and

Manual
Organizational Structure: - can be defined as the arrangement and interrelationship of
the component parts and positions of a company. It is the established pattern of
relationships among different components or parts of the organization. There are different
forms of organizational structure: - line / military, functional organization line & staff.
Organizational Charts: - are diagrams of the organizational structure, showing the
functions, departments, or positions of the organization and how they are related.
Organizational Manual:- is the description of the organizational chart, and is designed
to promote, understanding of the basic organizational structure by means of descriptions
of the various jobs that may be listed only by title on the charts.

4.4. Departmentalization: Meaning and

Bases
Departmentation is a part of the organizing process. In the context of management, it
means dividing and grouping the activities and employees of an enterprise into various

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departments. All organizations divide their overall operations in to sub activities and
combine these sub activities in to working groups. This grouping process of specialized
activities in a logical manner is called Departmentation. It implies the division of the total
work of an enterprise into individual functions and sub functions. Then, either on the
basis of similarity of work, or efficiency, these various functions or sub-function is
grouped together into work units. The work units so formed may b called departments,
divisions, units, or any other name.It results:
 In division of work
 In organizational units to be manageable size and
 Utilization of managerial ability based on specialization to secure maximum results.
The basic need of departmentation arises from the limitation on the number of
subordinates that can be directly managed by a superior. If there is no departmentation, it
would seriously put limitations on the size of the organization.
Departmentation makes organizations to expand to an indefinite degree.It also helps
increasing efficiency of organization in the following ways:
 Specialization
 Fixation of responsibility
 Feeling of autonomy
 Development of management
 Facility in appraisal
The most common bases of departmentation used by organizations are:
 Functional Departmentation
 Product Departmentation
 Geographic / Territorial Departmentation
 Customer Departmentation
 Process Departmentation
 Matrix /project/ and task force
1. Functional Departmentation:
Functions refer to the various responsibility areas of an organizational component. It is
the process of grouping the organization's activities in to units in logical manner on the
basis of essential functions that must be performed to attain organizational
objectives/goals.
These functions include marketing, finance, operations, manufacturing personnel,
engineering etc.

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CEO/President
General Manager

Marketing Finance Manufacturing Personnel

Advantages: -It is logical, scientific and - Workers may develop highly

time-tested method because it groups specialized skills, but not general
like or similar activities together which managerial abilities. Consequently,
facilitates specialization. (Efficiency is functional Departmentation is not an
fostered through specialization.) ideal training ground for top level
managers.
- It makes supervision easier, since
each manager is an expert in only a - Although there is strong relationship
narrow range of skills. between within a function, co-
ordination between functions is
- Tight control of all functional units is reduced.
assured, because the top managers are
responsible for the end results. - Sometimes conflict develops among
departments as each unit competes
- It simplifies training. for resources.
Disadvantage: - The geographic area served; or the
type of product or product line
- People in a functional department
produced may require a different
may lose sight of the overall
type of Departmentation.
operations of the business; it in turn
invites employees to de-emphasize - Responsibility for profit is at the top.
the overall company objective.
Despite its disadvantages, it is widely
used by various managers.

2. Product Departmentation
It is the grouping of activities on the basis of product or product line. It is adopted by
(commonly used by) manufacturers who produce and sell a number of product lines made
up of several different items; such as drug, food, clothing, machines, automobiles. etc.

e.g. Product Departmentation of an automobile management enterprise.

General Manager

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Car Division Truck Division Bus. Division

Production Marketing

Finance Personnel

Advantage: - Facilitates use of specialized capital,

facilities, skills and knowledge.
- It enables the enterprise to focus
attention effort on product lines, Disadvantages:
making it easier for to management
to see the efficiency and - Requires more persons with general
effectiveness of production manager abilities.
determining which product is
- There is an ever-present danger of
profitable or not.
duplication of activities.
- It improves co-ordination between - It presents increased problem of top
functions relating to a particular product. management control.
- Furnishes measurable training
ground for general managers.

3. Departmentation by Geographical
Area/Territory
It is often referred to as area or territorial Departmentation, and it groups business
activities on the basis of geographic region or territory, enabling a firm to adapt to local
customs and laws and to survey customer more quickly. It is especially attractive to
large-scale firms or other enterprises whose activities are physically or geographically
dispersed.

President

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Western Region Southern Region Central Region Eastern Region

Engineering Production Accounting Sales

Advantages: - Duplication of effort

- Results in great saving in time and - Increase problem of top management
money. The enterprise can benefit control (This is because of having
from lower freight, lower rents and flat span of management.)
lower labor costs. Thus, it takes
advantages of economics of local Sometimes, the decision to set up
operations (places emphasis on local geographic departments is based on
markets and operations) economic considerations; such as,
transportation costs for raw
- Places responsibility at lower level materials, for distribution, etc.
(There will be quick decision.)
- Places measurable training ground
for general managers.
- Better face to face communication
with local interests.
Disadvantages:
- Requires more persons with general
manager abilities /it is costly to
implement./

4. Customer Departmentation:
It is the grouping of enterprise activities based on customers' interests. Companies that
must provide special services to different groups set up departments by types of customers,
using customer departmentation. For example, a manufacturer may have both an industrial
products division for its industrial customers and consumer products division for other
consumers. An airlines company may make departments its selling departments for
travelling agencies, government passengers, tourists and other customers. Normally,
setting up departments by customers is not a primary form of departmentation. It is used
instead within some other framework.

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 President
Unit 4 - The Organization and Organizing Function

Production
Manager General
Manager

Production Marketing Finance Personnel

Spinning Dyeing Weaving Processing

Whole Sale Retail Installment Export

Advantages: - Requires managers and staff expert

in customer's problems
- Encourages concentration on
customer needs  It may result in underutilization
of resources in some
- Giving customers feeling that they departments.
have an understanding supplier - Customer groups may not always be
- Develops expertise in customer area. clearly defined.

Disadvantage:  There may be duplication of

activities.
- May be difficult to coordinate
operations between competing
customer demands.
5. Process or Equipment Departmentation
It is the grouping of enterprise activities according to the products' manufacturing
process. This method of departmentation is logical and used when the machines or
equipment used require special skill for operating and are of large capacity which
eliminate organizational diving or have technical facilities which strongly suggest a
concentrated location. For example, a textile factory.may be classified in to Spinning,
Walling, processing, etc.

- Economic andTechnological considerations are the foremost reasons for adopting

process departmentation.
- It is mostly found in production departments.

Advantage: Disadvantage:

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- Achieves economic advantage

- Uses specialized knowledge
- Coordination of departments is difficult
- Simplifies training
- Responsibility for profit is at the top
- Sues specialized technology
- It is unsuitable for developing
general managers

6. Matrix Departmentation
It is an organizational arrangement that developed because of the need for quick
completion of highly technical projects that required significant contributions by two or
more functional groups.
It begins with functional stricture and then another structure organized by product or by
client /customer or by project is overlaid upon the original structure.
The result is that employees are assigned to a basic functional department and, at the
same time, they are assigned to work on a particular product/project or for a particular
customer/client.
The essence of matrix organization normally is the combining of functional and product
departmentation in the same organization structure.

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President

Production Manager

Marketing Production Engineering Finance

Project A Marketing Production Engineering

Manager Specialist-1 Specialist-1 Specialist-1

Project B Marketing Production Engineering

Specialist-2
Manager Specialist-2 Specialist-2

Advantage Disadvantage
 Since there are a number of managers, there are  Conflict in organization authority exists
more channels of information (it lends itself to power struggle.
 It is oriented toward end results. (The project  Possibility of disunity of command exists
objectives are clear.)  It also /results in higher over head costs
 Professional identification is maintained. because more managerial positions are created.
 Resources are used efficiently because workers  Requires manager effective in human relations.
are assigned to different projects as needed and
groups or projects can share equipment.
4.5. Span of Management
Span of Management /span of control/- refers to the number of subordinates that a single
manager can directly, immediately and effectively supervise. It is related to the levels. We can
have wide span, which is associated with few organizational levels; and a narrow span which
results in many levels.
Organizations with wide span

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Advantage: Disadvantage:
 Supervisors are forced to delegate  Tendency of overloaded superiors
 Clear policies must be made to become decision bottlenecks.
 Subordinates must be carefully selected  Dangers of superior's loses of control
 Requires exceptional quality of managers.

Organizations with narrow span

Advantages: Disadvantage:
 Close supervision  Superiors tend to get too much involved in subordinate's
 Close control work
 Fast communication between  Many levels of management
subordinates and superiors  High costs due to many levels
 Excessive distance between lowest level
and top level.
4.6. Authority and power: source of power

Authority is the right to command subordinates action. It is defined as the legitimate power
a manager possesses to act and make decisions in caring out responsibilities. Responsibility
is the obligation of the manager to carry out assigned duties.
Thus, the organization structure; the result of organizing, should consist of various
positions arranged in a hierarchy with a clear definition of authority and responsibility.

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4.6.1 Line and staff authority

The concept of line and staff is related to authority and positions/functions.

This is the relationship between different types of authority exercised by managers of an

organization. These three forms of authority are called line staff and functional authority.

Line authority: the authority of those managers directly responsible, throughout the
organization chain of command, for achieving organizational goals. It enables a manager
to tell subordinates what to do. This authority is represented by the chain of command,
which links superiors and subordinates from top to bottom in an organization. Both line
and staff managers have line authority over their subordinates.

Staff authority: The authority of those groups of individuals who provide line managers
with advice and services. People in staff positions assist and advise line managers. They
relieve some of the line managers' burdens by giving them the information they need to
make operational decisions. People in these positions have the authority to offer advice
and make recommendations; they have staff authority.

Functional Authority: The authority of staff department members to control the

activities of workers of other departments that are related to specific staff responsibilities.
This authority is exercised over people or activities in other departments. Usually limited
in scope and duration; it is exercised one level below the person wholes it.
4.6.2 Line and staff positions/functions:To classify a position as line or staff, it is
related to the degree to which the function in question contributes to the direct
achievement of organizational objectives. The line functions contribute directly to
accomplishing to firm's objectives, while staff functions facilitate the accomplishment of
the major organizational objectives.
- The line functions of an organization are those functions that contribute directly to the
creation and distribution of the goods or services of the organization.
- People with line positions are responsible for physically producing the product or
service and for selling it.
- Staffs people advice and assist line people. That is the only reason these positions
exist.
All staff positions are advisory, staff people may make recommendations, but line
managers retain formal authority and decide what to do with a staff person's advice.
4.7. Delegation, centralization and decentralization

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Because of human limitation, a single person can't do all tasks necessary for
accomplishing a group purpose. By the same taken, as enterprises grow, it is difficult for
one person to exercise all the authority for making decisions. To solve these problems
managers share their authority and responsibility to their subordinates which is
delegation.
Managers get things done through other people. Since top managers cannot personally
oversee all the activities of an organization, they delegate authority to their subordinate
managers. It is this delegation of authority that gives subordinate managers the means
with which to act.
Delegation is the act of assigning formal authority and responsibility for completion of
specific activities to a subordinate.
 Delegation is the assignment to another person of authority and responsibility to carry
out specific activities.
 Delegation is the process of allocating tasks to subordinates giving them adequate
authority to carry out those assignments and making obligated to complete the tasks
satisfactorily.
 To delegate means to entrust authority to a deputy so as to enable him to accomplish
the tasks assigned to him.
The Importance of Delegation:

 It frees a manager from some time-consuming duties that can be adequately handled
by subordinates and lets the manager devote more time to problems requiring his/her
full attention.
 Decisions made by lower level managers are more timely than those that go through
scalar layers of management.
 Subordinate managers can reach their full potential of and only if they are given the
chance to make decisions and to assume responsibility for them.
Delegation process involves;
1. The allocation of duties:-
Duties are the tasks and activities that a supervisor desires to have someone else do.
Before authority can be delegated, the duties over which the authority rests must be
allocated to a subordinate.
2. The delegation of authority:-
The essence of the delegation process is empowering another person to act for the
manager. This is a passing of formal rights to act on behalf of another.
3. The assignment of responsibility:-
When authority is delegated, we must assign responsibility. That is, when one is
given "rights", one must also be assigned a corresponding "obligation" to perform. To

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allocate authority without responsibility creates opportunities for abuse, and of

course, no one should be held responsible for what he/she has no authority.
4. The creation of accountability:-
To complete the delegation process, the manager must create accountability; that is,
subordinates must be held answerable to properly carryout their duties. They must
accept credit or blame for their action. So while responsibility represents a
subordinate's obligation to carry out what is assigned, accountability is the obligation
to his or her superior to carry out the assignment in a satisfactory manner.
Subordinates are responsible for the completion of tasks assigned to them and are
accountable to their superiors for the satisfactory performance of that work.
Obstacles to Effective Delegation:
It takes two parties for delegation to be effective, a manager willing to delegate and a
subordinate willing to accept operating responsibility. Either party can be an obstacle
to effective delegation.
Management Obstacle
There are, nevertheless, several reasons why managers hesitate to delegate authority
to subordinates.
 Some managers feel the need to be in total control of every aspect of the organization
 Others lack confidence in their subordinates
 Fear the consequences of having subordinates make decisions
Subordinate Obstacles
In some cases / instances, subordinates are reluctant to assume an equal amount of
responsibility because of either of the following reasons.
 Subordinates usually feel that making decisions is the boss's job.
 Subordinates fear criticisms for making bad decisions
 Subordinate managers do not have enough factual information on which to base a
decision.
 Subordinates are already overworked
 Subordinates lack self-confidence.
 There is a lack of incentive or reward for assuming a greater workload.
Centralization is the tendency to disperse decision-making authority in an organized
structure. It is a fundamental aspect of delegation, i.e., to the extent authority is not
delegated, it is centralized.
Decentralization is the opposite of centralization. In a centralized set up, decision
making authority is concentrated in a few hands at the top. Contrary to this, is a
decentralized organization, there is dispersal of decision making authority.
Reasons for Decentralizing:

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(i) One major reason for decentralizing is to tap the knowledge and expertise
of managers, it provides the basis for greater innovation. It does so because it
allows for the utilization of specialized knowledge. Additionally, it provides
greater flexibility for the organization to respond to new ideas and test them.
(ii) To enable the organization to respond to a social environment faster.
(iii) To help participate non-managerial employees in decision making process,
consequently, it can increase such employees' performance and commitment to
decisions and promote better overall relations between non-managerial employees
and managers.
Advantages:  Aids in adaptation to fast changing
environment.
 Relives top management of some
Limitations of Decentralization:
burden of decision making and
forces upper level managers to let  It increases the chances that a lower-
go. level manager will take undesirable
 Encourages decision making and action.
assumption of authority &  It decreases control and monitoring
responsibility. of subordinates' activities and also
 Gives managers more freedom and may hinder co-ordination between
independence in decision making. diverse units.
 Makes comparison of performance  Makes it more difficult to have a
of different organizational units uniform policy.
possible.  Can be limited by the availability of
 Promotes development of general qualified managers.
managers.  Involves considerable expenses for
training managers.
4.8. Groups and committees
The collection of individuals or group of individuals may consider as groups. Groups of a
given organization may serve as represented committees if they have duties and
responsibilities to make some decisions about their organization and about their own
issues in particular. The main variation between groups and committees is that the
formers can have a decision making authority on their group members and the
committees are represented from different groups, departments or any other functional
units with decision making authority of their organization. The committees of a given
company can serve as higher board of all over issues of the company.

Difference between groups and committees

 The committee has a strong, clearly focused leader. The group has shared
leadership role.
 The committee has individual accountable. The group has individual and mutual
accountability.

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 The committee’s purpose is same as that of the organization. The group has
specific purpose.
 The committees run efficient meeting. The group/team encourages open ended
active problem solving meetings.
 The committees discusses decides and delegate. The group discusses decides and
does real work.

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