unit iv ob (roll no 40)

8/7/2019 UNIT IV ob (roll no 40)

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UNIT IV:

84) DEFINE ORGANISATION?ACCORDING TO PFIFFNER AND SHERWOOD, organization is the pattern of

ways in which large number of people, too many to have intimate face to facecontacts with all others and engaged in a complexity tasks, relate themselves to

each other in the conscious, systematic establishment and accomplishment ofmutually agreed purposes.

ACCORDING TO SCHEIN, an organization is the rational coordination of theactivities of a number of people for the achievement of some common explicitpurpose or goal, through division of labour and function, and through a hierarchy ofauthority and responsibility

ACCORDING TO ROBBINS, an organization is a consciously coordinated entity,with a relatively identifiable boundary, that functions on a relatively continuous basisto achieve a common goal or a set of goal.

85) CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANISATION?The main characteristics of an organization are:Co-ordination:The fact remains that the very idea of organizing stems from

the saying, united we stand and divided we fall. Or unity is strength.Human beings require several things to survive such as food, shelter, and safety.Some of these things usually are either unattainable by individuals working alone or,if attainable individually, are achieved more efficiently through group efforts. Peoplecan do more by coordinating their efforts than one could have done singly. Common goal: Though organizational members have their own individualgoals, but they also share common goal to be achieved. The consensusorganizational goal is supported the individuals outside the organization who haveexpectation about what the organization should be doing. For e.g. Assam centraluniversity, are expected to educate people, hospitals are supposed to treat the sick,and manufacturing companies are expected to produce products. Division of labour: Organization consists of many sub-systems, popularlyknown as division of labour. Division of labour implies dividing the work into narrow

parts to perform the work effectively. In a way, the idea of division of labour is closelylinked to the idea of differentiation of operation or function. Every function isassigned to the employee who is mostly fit to perform the particular function. Herelies the one consideration of forming the organization to have people with differentskills and knowledge to perform varied types of functions to be performed to achievethe common goals. Integration: Different functions performed by different people in an organizationneeds to be combined together so as to achieve the consensual goal of theorganization. This is called as Integration. Conscious rationally:There is a deliberate attempt on the part of organizationto specify norm and standards for every action and behaviour of its members.Members behaviour is expected to be logical. The desirable behaviour is rewardedand undesirable one is penalized.

Continuing system: an organization may outlast its creator by century.Members may join and leave the organization. But the organization continues andenjoys eternal entity. These organizations are like general motors, being in existencefor centuries. Structure: The coordination and integration need a proper structure wherein theindividuals are fitted in. organization structure refers to how tasks are to beallocated, who reports to whom, and the formal coordinating mechanisms andinteraction patterns that will be followed.

86) Benefits of organizational goals


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I) Legitimacy: The official goals of an organization provide a symbolof legitimacy both to the employee and to external constituencies.Goal describes the purpose of the organization, so people knowwhat it stands for and accept its existence.

II) Employee motivation: Research on goal setting has shown that theperformance of employees can be significantly increased by

realistic goals. Operative goals provide a sense of direction andmotivation for employees.III) Decision guidelines: Goals provide a standard for evaluating

performance. These can, therefore, serve as the criteria againstwhich management decision are made.

IV) Reduce Uncertainty: The process of setting mutually acceptedgoals tends to reduce uncertainty for members for the organizationespecially for top management.

87) Determination of organizational goals: Organizational goals are often set in a complicated power play involvingthe various components of the organizational environment. Therefore, whilesetting the organizational goals, the organizations must adopt suitable strategiesfor coming to terms with the environment. Thompson and McEwen have

suggested alternative strategies for dealing with organizational environment aseither competitive or co-operative. These are competition, bargaining, co-operation, and coalition. These strategies allow outsiders to intervene and limitorganizational decisions regarding goals. However, the entry of outsiders variesfrom strategy to strategy. These strategies are discussed below:

1) Competition: The term competition implies rivalry.Competition is seen widespread in different spheres of oursociety. Organization needs to develop its competitivestrength by adapting itself to the environmental situation.

2) Bargaining: Bargaining refers to a process of arriving at anagreement between two or more parties for the exchange ofgoods and services. The often witnessed examples arriving atbargaining are management and trade union leaders, and the

university authorities and students.3) Co-operation: cooperation is defined as the process of

absorbing new elements into the policy-making structure of anorganization as a means of averting threats to its stability orexistence.

4) Coalition: The term coalition implies a combination of two ormore individuals, groups, or organizations for a common goal.Coalition is often formed to mobilize joint resources so as toinfluence the outcome of the struggle.

88) Goal succession: Organizational goals are set in tone with the given environment.Hence, goals need to be changed with change in environment. Change in goals oradoption of new goals is called as goal succession.This may happen when i)

the existing goals have been achieved and the organization still wants tocontinue; ii) the earlier goals have become irrelevant in the existing changedenvironment; iii) the existing goals can no longer be achieved. In fact,organizations which do not respond to their environment are faced withextinction.

With changing environment, goal succession has become a reality inthe organizational world. These are several famous organizations knownworldwide which had faced the situation of goal succession. Goal succession isalso called as goal expansion and goal multiplication


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89) Goal displacement: Goals are divided into two types: (i) official goals and (ii) operatinggoals. Sometimes operating goals tend to shift when environmental factorsimpinge upon the organization. Etzioni has termed this goal as GoalDisplacement. In case of goal displacement, the official goal remainsunchanged but the organization pursue goal different from the stated ones. While

goal succession is deliberate, goal displacement happens unconsciously orunintentionally. However if it is deliberate, it is not publicly announced.Goal displacement may occur in following four conditions:

i) Substitution of legitimate (official) goals for someother goals;

ii) Pursuasion of goals for which the organization wasnot created

iii) Pursuasion of goals for which resources were notallotted to it; and

iv) Seeking a goal which is not known to serve.

90) Goal distortion: Goal distortion is the extreme form of goals displacements.In other words, goal distortion is the misunderstanding or misapplication of

organizational goals. Distortions in goals may occur for different reasons likeover emphasis on certain aspects of goals, blockages in communication,mismatching of code books, sub-unit goal internalization, and remote view ofgoals at lower level. Some of these are discussed below:

1) Over emphasis on certain aspects of goals: Over emphasison certain aspects of goals leads to goal distortion as overmeasurement leads to goal displacement.

2) Blockages in communication: At times, either communicationgets blocked in the transmission process or the entire informationis not passed on the concerned parties. These createmisunderstandings between the concerned parties and thus tendto distort the organizational goals.

3) Mismatching the code books: Sometimes code of books of thesender and receiver of the communication do not match or tally.Such a mismatching affects the intended message and, in turn,tends to distort goals

4) Sub unit goal internalization: Following the division of labour,organizational tasks are assigned to employees working indifferent divisions. Accomplishment of the assigned tasksbecomes the goal of every division. At times, it so happens thatthe divisional goals assume uppermost importance for thedivisional employees which may not coincide with the main goalof the organization. Somuchso, conflict may crop up between thedivisions while striving for achieving their goals.

5) Remote view of goals at lower level: sometimes, employees

working at lower levels of organization do not have overall view oforganizational goals. This may happen because of certain reasonslike internalization of sub-goals and distance between goal settingunits and goal operating units. Obviously, such distance blocksthe understandings of the organizational goals on the part oflower level employees i.e., goal operating employees. Such asituation, then, causes distortion in organizational goals for theemployee working at lower levels.


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unit iv ob (roll no 40)

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