adeyl khan, faculty, bba, nsu basic elements of organizing

Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU

Ch 11Basic Elements of

Organizing


Organizational Structure

Factors determining organizational

structure

•Purpose•Mission•Strategy•Size•Technology•External Environment

Specification of the jobs to be done within an organization and how those jobs relate to one another

Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU3

Job SpecializationAlternatives to

SpecializationGrouping Jobs:

DepartmentalizationEstablishing Reporting

RelationshipsDistributing AuthorityCoordinating Activities

The Basic Elements of Organizing


The Basic Elements of Organizing

Organization Structure and Design The overall set of structural elements and the relationships among those elements used to configure the total organization. A means to implement strategies and plans to achieve organizational goals.

Job Specialization The degree to which the overall task of the organization is broken down and divided into smaller component parts.


Job Specialization

Benefits of Specialization•Workers can become proficient at a task.•Transfer time between tasks is decreased.•Specialized equipment can be more easily developed.•Employee replacement becomes easier.

Limitations of Specialization

•Employee boredom and dissatisfaction with mundane tasks.•Anticipated benefits of specialization do not always occur.


Alternatives to Specialization

Job Rotation Systematically moving employees from one job to another. Most frequent use today is as a training device for skills and flexibility.

Job Enlargement An increase in the total number of tasks performed.

Increases training costs, unions want workers paid more pay for doing more tasks, and work may still be dull and routine.

Job Enrichment Increasing both the number of tasks the worker does and the control the worker has over the job.


Alternatives to Specialization …Job Characteristics ApproachCore Dimensions

Skill variety—the number of tasks a person does in a job.

Task identity—the extent to which the worker does a complete or identifiable portion of the total job.

Task significance—the perceived importance of the task.

Autonomy—the degree of control the worker has over how the work is performed.

Feedback— the extent to which the worker knows how well the job is being performed.

Growth-Need Strength The desire of some people to grow, develop, and

expand their capabilities that is their response to the core dimensions.


The Job Characteristics Approach


Alternatives to Specialization …Work Teams

An alternative to job specialization that allows the entire group to design the work system it will use to perform an interrelated set of tasks.


Grouping Jobs: DepartmentalizationDepartmentalization

The process of grouping jobs according to some logical arrangement.

Rationale for Departmentalization Organizational growth exceeds

the owner-manager’s capacity to personally supervise all of the organization.

Additional managers are employed and assigned specific employees to supervise.

Departmentalization

•Functional•Geographic•Customer•Product•Process


DesignMarketingMarketing

Computers

President

Software

Manufacturing FinanceFinance

PhoenixDallas

Consumer salesIndustrial sales

St. LouisChicago

Southwest U.S. Southeast U.S. Northeast U.S.Northwest U.S. Central U.S.


Functional DepartmentalizationJobs involving the similar activities

Advantages•Each department can be staffed by functional-area experts.•Supervision is facilitated in that managers only need be familiar with a narrow set of skills.•Coordination inside each department is easier.

Disadvantages

•Decision making becomes slow and bureaucratic.•Employees narrow their focus to the department and lose sight of organizational goals/ issues.•Accountability and performance are difficult to monitor.


Product DepartmentalizationGrouping around product groups

Advantages

•All activities associated with one product can be integrated and coordinated.•Speed and effectiveness of decision making are enhanced. •Performance of individual products or product groups can be assessed.

Disadvantages

•Managers may focus on their product to the exclusion of the rest of the organization.•Administrative costs may increase due to each department having its own functional-area experts.


Customer DepartmentalizationRespond/interact with customer groups

Advantage

• Skilled specialists can deal with unique customers orcustomer groups.

Disadvantage

• A large administrative staff is needed to integrate activities of various departments.


Location Departmentalization

The grouping of jobs on the basis of defined geographic sites or areas.Advantage

Enables the organization to respond easily to unique customer and environmental characteristics.

Disadvantage Large administrative staff

may be needed to keep trackof units in scattered locations.


Establishing Reporting Relationships

Chain of Command A clear and distinct line of authority among the positions in an organization. Unity of Command

Each person within an organization must have a clear reporting relationship to one and only one boss.

Scalar Principle A clear and unbroken line of authority

must extend from the lowest to the highest of the organization.


Establishing Reporting Relationships (cont’d)Span of Management (or Span of Control)

The number of people who report to a particular manager.

There is no ideal or optimal span of management.


Relatively narrow span of control

Relatively wide span of control


Establishing Reporting Relationships: Tall Versus Flat Organizations

Tall Organizations

•Are more expensive because of the number of managers involved.•Foster more communication problems because of the number of people through whom information must pass.

Flat Organizations

•Lead to higher levels of employee morale and productivity.•Create more administrative responsibility for the relatively few managers.•Create more supervisory responsibility for managers due to wider spans of control.


Distributing Authority

Authority Power that has been legitimized by the organization.

Delegation The process by which managers assign a portion of their total workload to others.

Reasons for Delegation To enable the manager to get more work done by utilizing the skills and talents of subordinates. To foster the development of subordinates by having them participate in decision making and problem solving.


Steps in the Delegation Process

Manager

Step 1Assigning

responsibility

Step 3Creating

accountability

Step 2Grantingauthority

Manager

Subordinate

Manager

Subordinate

ManagerManager

Subordinate


Problems in Delegation

Manager•Reluctant to delegate.•Disorganization prevents planning work in advance.•Subordinate’s success threatens superior’s advancement.•Lack of trust in the subordinate to do well.

Subordinate

•Reluctant to accept delegation for fear of failure.•Perceives no rewards for accepting additional responsibility.•Prefers to avoid any risk and responsibility.


Problems in Delegation

Small Business Owners:

•Employees can’t do anything as well as you can•Something will go wrong if someone else takes over a job•Lack of time for long range planning•Sense of being in the dark about industry trends and competition

Big Business Managers:

•Fear that subordinates don’t really know how to do the job•Fear that a subordinate might “show up” the manager by doing well•Desire for control•Lack of delegating ability


Decentralization and Centralization

Decentralization The process of systematically delegating power and authority throughout the organization to middle and lower level managers.

Centralization The process of systematically retaining

power and authority in the hands of higher-level managers.


Centralized and Decentralized Organizations

Centralized

Decentralized

Lower level managers hold significant decision-making

authority

Top managers hold most decision-making authority


Decentralization and Centralization …Factors Determining the Choice of

Centralization The complexity and uncertainty of the

external environment. The history of the organization. The nature (cost and risk)

of the decisions to be made.


Coordinating Activities

Coordination The process of linking the activities of the various departments of the organization.

The Need for Coordination Departments and work groups are interdependent; the greater the interdependence, the greater

the need for coordination.


Coordinating Activities:Three Major Forms of Interdependence

Pooled interdependence When units operate with little interaction; their output is simply pooled at the organizational level.

Sequential interdependence When the output of one unit becomes the input of another unit in sequential fashion.

Reciprocal interdependence When activities flow both ways

between units.


Structural Coordination Techniques

The Managerial Hierarchy Placing one manager in charge of interdependent departments or units.

Rules and Procedures Coordinating routine activities

via rules and procedures that set priorities and guidelines for actions.

Liaison Roles A manager coordinates interdependent units by acting

as a common point of contact, facilitating the flow of information.


Structural Coordination Techniques …Task Forces

Used with multiple units when coordination is complex requiring more than one individualand the need for coordination is acute.

Disbanded when the need for coordination has been met.

Integrating Departments Permanent organizational units

that maintain internal integration and coordination on an ongoing basis.

May have authority and budgetary controls.


Electronic Coordination Techniques

Electronic Information Technology E-mail and instant messaging Electronic scheduling to coordinate arrangements for group meetings Local networks structured around a common web-based communication system. Video-conferencing Wireless networks


Line AuthorityLine Departments

Staff AuthorityStaff Members

Committee and Team Authority

Forms of Authority

adeyl khan, faculty, bba, nsu basic elements of organizing

Documents

adeyl khan

specialization job rotation

total job

job enlargement

job enrichment

nsu alternatives

specialization work

total number of tasks