Organization

What Is An Organization?
 An Organization Defined
 A deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some
specific purpose (that individuals independently could not
accomplish alone).
 Common Characteristics of Organizations
 Have a distinct purpose (goal)
 Composed of people
 Have a deliberate structure

Organization structure
The system of tasks, workflows, reporting relationships, and
communication channels that link together diverse individuals and
groups.
Guidelines for Effective
Organization
 The line of authority should be clearly stated.
 Each person should report to only one boss.
 The authority & responsibility should be clearly
stated
 The no. of levels of authority should be as few as
possible
 The organization should be simple and flexible.
 The line function & the staff function should be kept
separate.
 The span of control should be reasonable and well
established.
Span of Control
The number of subordinates a manager can
efficiently and effectively direct.

Concept:
Wider spans of management increase organizational
efficiency.

Narrow Span Drawbacks:

• Expense of additional layers of management.
• Increased complexity of vertical communication.
• Encouragement of overly tight supervision and
discouragement of employee autonomy.
Centralization:
Definition: The process of transferring and assigning decision-making
authority to higher levels of an organizational hierarchy.
In a centralized organization, the decision-making has been moved to higher
levels or tiers of the organization, such as a head office, or a corporate center.
Knowledge, information and ideas are concentrated at the top, and decisions are
cascaded down the organization.
The span of control of top managers is relatively broad, and there are relatively
many tiers in the organization.
Decentralization:
Definition: The process of transferring and assigning decision-making
authority to lower levels of an organizational hierarchy.
In a decentralized organization, the decision-making has been moved to lower
levels or tiers of the organization, such as divisions, branches, departments or
subsidiaries.
Knowledge, information and ideas are flowing from the bottom to the top of the
organization.
The span of control of top managers is relatively small, and there are relatively
few tiers in the organization, because there is more autonomy in the lower
ranks.
 Centralizati
on:
 Facilitates coordination
 Ensure decisions
consistent with
organization’s objectives
 Top-level managers have
means to bring about
organizational change
 Avoids duplication of
activities
 Decentraliza
tion:
 Overburdened top
management
 Motivational research
favors decentralization
 Permits greater flexibility
 Can result in better
decisions
 Can increase control
 Bureaucracy
 Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulation in place to control activity,
usually in large organizations and government. It is characterized by rule
following procedures, formal division of responsibility, hierarchy and
impersonal relationships.
 Bureaucracy is a concept in sociology and political science referring to the
way that the administrative execution and enforcement of legal rules are
socially organized.

Key characteristics of Bureaucracy

 Specification of jobs with detailed rights, obligations, responsibilities, scope
of authority.
 System of supervision and subordination.
 Unity of Command.
 Extensive use of written documents.
 Training in job requirements and skills.
 Application of consistent and complete rules (company manual).
 Assign work and hire personnel based on competence and experience.
Advantages of
Bureaucracy
Precision.
 Speed.
 Clarity in communication.
 Reduction of friction.
 Reduction of personal costs.
Disadvantages of
Bureaucracy
 Multiplication of administrative functions
 Many levels of management
 Much paperwork, routine and "red tape“ (The collection or sequence of
forms and procedures required to gain bureaucratic approval for something,
especially when complex and time-consuming. )
 Impersonal officials working to a fixed routine without necessarily
exercising intelligent judgment.
Mechanistic Organizations
Mechanistic organizations are often appropriate in stable
environments and for routine tasks and technologies. In
some ways similar to bureaucratic structures,
mechanistic organizations have clear, well-defined,
centralized, vertical hierarchies of command, authority,
and control. Efficiency and predictability are emphasized
through specialization, standardization, and
formalization. This results in rigidly defined jobs,
technologies, and processes. The term mechanistic
suggests that organizational structures, processes, and
roles are like a machine in which each part of the
organization does what it is designed to do.
Organic Organization
The term "organic" suggests that, like living things, organizations change
their structures, roles, and processes to respond and adapt to their
environments. Organic structures are appropriate in unstable, turbulent,
unpredictable environments and for non-routine tasks and technologies.
For organizations coping with such uncertainty, finding appropriate,
effective, and timely responses to environmental challenges is of critical
importance.

Organic organizations are characterized by:

 Decentralization
 flexible, broadly defined jobs
 interdependence among employees and units
 multi-directional communication
 employee initiative
 relatively few and broadly defined rules, regulations, procedures, and
processes
 employee participation in problem solving and decision making, often
interactively and in groups
Design Configuration
Mintzberg defined organisational structure as "the sum total of the ways in
which it divides its labour into distinct tasks and then achieves
coordination among them". Each configuration contains six
components:
 Operating core: the people directly related to the production of services or
products;

 Strategic apex: serves the needs of those people who control the
organisation;
 Middle line: the managers who connect the strategic apex with the operating
core;
 Techno-structure: the analysts who design, plan, change or train the
operating core;
 Support staff: the specialists who provide support to the organisation outside
of the operating core's activities;

 Ideology: the traditions and beliefs that make the organisation unique.