Organizing: Bringing Together People and Resources
Discuss why organizing is an important management function.
Good organizational skills are essential for managers to
bring together people and resources productively. Organizing
jobs clarifies individual performance expectations and focuses
effort on the task needed to accomplish the company's
objectives. well&-organized companies define authority,
create a logical division of work, and allocate resources
efficiently. Organizing also produces a logical flow of
activities and establishes communication channels for decision
making and control, an essential aspect of organizing is to
develop a structure for a company that coincides with its
technology and work environment.
Explain the concepts of job enlargement and job enrichment.
Job enlargement is the process of combining tasks to
create a new job with broader activities. The goals are to
reduce job boredom and mental fatigue, relieve stress, and make
jobs more interesting for employees. Job enlargement does not
expand a person's decision&-making authority, only the
activities associated with the job. Job enrichment is the
process of expanding decision&-making authority so that
individuals have greater responsibility
for their job and the results of their work. Its aim is
to increase the depth of
a job.
Describe and contrast bureaucratic and organic structures.
Some characteristics of the stereotyped bureaucracy are:
(1) a fixed
and official jurisdiction of authority; (2) a firmly
established rational chain of command; (3) quantified and
thoroughly documented information; (4) a supposition of
expertise whereby positions are filled according to skills
rather than personal attributes; and (5) a technically
scientific management process. The bureaucracy is viewed as
inflexible, formal, coldly rational, and dehumanizing. In
contrast the organization is conceived to be flexible, devoid of
fixed lines of authority responsive to change, and overseen by
managers attentive to individual needs.
Explain the environmental factors that influence
organizational structure
The age of a company, or an industry, influences
organizational structure The size of a company influences the
degree of formal systems needed to control it. perhaps the most
influential factor is a company's technology. Other environment
influences are legislation, politics, economics, competitors,
and changes in information technology.
Discuss the nature of informal patterns or organizational
structures.
Formal structures are those with established rules,
procedures and channels of
communication, clear lines of decision&-making authority,
and well defined jobs. Informal structures are shadow
organizations that evolve through personal interactions,
sentiments, and social activities of individuals working in
proximity. These informal relationships create patterns of
behavior that influence decision making and alter formal
management authority.
Examine how firms grow and change in dynamic environments.
Most companies go through several stages of development.
Entrepreneurial firms start with a creative stage in which they
are often headed by one person who "is" the company.
The enterprise grows and reaches the direction stage: The
founder must turn to other managers to shoulder some of the
decision&-making responsibilities, The third stage
of growth is called delegation because managers must find ways
to diffuse authority as
the company diversifies into new product lines and new markets.
The fourth stage, coordination, suggests a transaction away from
bureaucratic paralysis toward more flexible and adaptive forms
of organization. The fifth stage, collaboration, is
characterized by participative systems of decision making, with
collaborative goal setting, employee work groups, and integrated
team management to encourage innovation.
Describe the characteristics of service organizations.
Service organizations provide people with intangible
benefits. Service firms sell results, perceptions, or images to
customers or clientele, often through the personal efforts or
expertise of professionals. Not&-for&-profit service
organizations serve a public constituency and therefore must
account carefully for resources and results. This can lead to
formality in procedures and authority structures; however, most
service firms are profit&-oriented, requiring a customer
service relationship with adaptable and responsive managers.
