Organisation and Management

Organization and
Management
By the end of the lesson you should be able to draw and
interpret simple organizational charts:
Organizational structure
• Organizational structure refers to the levels of management and division of
responsibilities within a business. They can be represented on organizational charts.
• Advantages:
• All employees are aware of which communication channel is used to reach them
with messages
• Everyone knows their position in the business. They know who they are accountable
to and who they are accountable for
• It shows the links and relationship between the different departments
• Gives everyone a sense of belonging as they appear on the organizational chart
• The span of control is the number of subordinates working directly under a

manager in the organizational structure. In the above figure, the managing
director’s span of control is four. The marketing director’s span of control is the
number of marketing managers working under him (it is not specified how many,
in the figure).
• The chain of command is the structure of an organization that allows instructions

to be passed on from senior managers to lower levels of management. In the
above figure, there is a short chain of command since there are only four levels of
management shown.
• Now, if you look closely, there is a link between the span of

control and chain of command. The wider the span of control the
shorter the chain of command since more people will appear
horizontally aligned on the chart than vertically. A short span of
control often leads to long chain of command. (If you don’t
understand, try visualizing it on an organizational chart).
Advantages of a short chain of command
• Communication is quicker and more accurate
• Top managers are less remote from lower employees, so employees will be more
motivated and top managers can always stay in touch with the employees
• Spans of control will be wider, This means managers have more people to control
This is beneficial because it will encourage them to delegate responsibility (give
work to subordinates) and so the subordinates will be more motivated and feel
trusted. However there is the risk that managers may lose control over the
tasks.
Organizational structures
• Line Managers have authority over people directly below them in

the organizational structure. Traditional
marketing/operations/sales managers are good examples.
• Staff Managers are specialists who provide support, information

and assistance to line managers. The IT department manager in
most organizations act as staff managers.
Management
So, what role do managers really have in an organization? Here are their
five primary roles:
• Planning: setting aims and targets for the organizations/department
to achieve. It will give the department and it’s employees a clear
sense of purpose and direction. Managers should also plan for
resources required to achieve these targets – the number of people
required, the finance needed etc.
• Organizing: managers should then organize the resources. This will
include allocating responsibilities to employees, possibly delegating.
Management
• Coordinating: managers should ensure that each department is

coordinating with one another to achieve the organization’s aims.
This will involve effective communication between departments
and managers and decision making. For example, the sales
department will need to tell the operations dept. how much they
should produce in order to reach the target sales level. The
operations dept. will in turn tell the finance dept. how much
money they need for production of those goods. They need to come
together regularly and make decisions that will help achieve each
department’s aims as well as the organization’s.
Management
• Commanding: managers need to guide, lead and supervise their

employees in the tasks they do and make sure they are keeping to
their deadlines and achieving targets.
• Controlling: managers must try to assess and evaluate the

performance of each of their employees. If some employees fail to
achieve their target, the manager must see why it has occurred
and what he can do to correct it- maybe some training will be
required or better equipment.
Delegation
• Delegation is giving a subordinate the authority to perform some tasks.
Advantages to managers
• managers cannot do all work by themselves
• managers can measure the efficiency and effectiveness of their subordinates’
work
However, managers may be reluctant to delegate as they may lose their control
over the work.
Advantages to subordinates:
• The work becomes more interesting and rewarding- increased job

satisfaction
• Employees feel more important and feel trusted– increasing
loyalty to firm
• Can act as a method of training and opportunities for promotions,
if they do a good job.
Leadership Styles
• Leaderships styles refer to the different approaches used when dealing with
people when in a position of authority. There are mainly three styles you need to
learn: the autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire styles.
• Autocratic style is where the managers expects to be in charge of the business and
have their orders followed. They do all the decision-making, not involving
employees at all. Communication is thus, mainly one way- from top to bottom.
This is standard in police and armed forces organizations.
• Democratic style is where managers involve employees in the decision-making and
communication is two-way from top to bottom as well as bottom to top.
Information about future plans is openly communicated and discussed with
employees and a final decision is made by the manager.
Leadership Styles
• Laissez-faire style makes the broad objectives of the business

known to employees and leaves them to do their own decision-
making and organize tasks. Communication is rather difficult
since a clear direction is not given. The manager has a very
limited role to play.
Leadership Styles
Trade Unions
• A trade union is a group of workers who have joined together to ensure
their interest are protected. They negotiate with the employer (firm) for
better conditions and treatment and can threaten to take industrial action
if their requests are denied. Industrial action can include overtime ban
(refusing to work overtime), go slow (working at the slowest speed as is
required by the employment contract), strike (refusing to work at all and
protesting instead) etc. Trade unions can also seek to put forward their
views to the media and influence government decisions relating to
employment
Benefits to workers of joining a trade union:
• strength in number- a sense of belonging and unity
• improved conditions of employment, for example, better pay, holidays, hours
of work etc
• improved working conditions, for example, health and safety
• improved benefits for workers who are not working, because they’re sick,
retired or made redundant (dismissed not because of any fault of their own)
• financial support if a member thinks he/she has been unfairly dismissed or
treated
• benefits that have been negotiated for union member such as discounts on
firm’s products, provision of health services.

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Organization and

• The span of control is the number of subordinates working directly under a

• The chain of command is the structure of an organization that allows instructions

• Now, if you look closely, there is a link between the span of

• Communication is quicker and more accurate

• Line Managers have authority over people directly below them in

• Staff Managers are specialists who provide support, information

• Coordinating: managers should ensure that each department is

• Commanding: managers need to guide, lead and supervise their

• Controlling: managers must try to assess and evaluate the

• Delegation is giving a subordinate the authority to perform some tasks.

• The work becomes more interesting and rewarding- increased job

• Laissez-faire style makes the broad objectives of the business

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