2. An organization, or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling
differences), is an entity – such as a company, an institution, or an association
– comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
Organization (British English: Organisation) is the idea of putting things
together in a logical order. The verb is "to organize".
An organization is a group of people who work together. Organizations exist
because people working together can achieve more than a person working
alone.
3. Some definitions
Louis Allen, “Organization is the process of identifying and grouping work to
be performed, defining and delegating responsibility and authority and
establishing relationships for the purpose of enabling people to work most
effectively together in accomplishing objectives.”
In the words of Allen, organization is an instrument for achieving
organizational goals.
The work of each and every person is defined and authority and responsibility
is fixed for accomplishing the same.
4. Wheeler, “Internal organization is the structural framework of duties and
responsibilities required of personnel in performing various functions within
the company………… It is essentially a blue print for action resulting in a
mechanism for carrying out function to achieve the goals set up by company
management”.
In Wheeler’s view, organization is a process of fixing duties and
responsibilities of persons in an enterprise so that business goals are
achieved.
Koontz and O’Donnell, ‘The establishment of authority relationships with
provision for co-ordination between them, both vertically and horizontally in
the enterprise structure.” These authors view organization as a coordinating
point among various persons in the business.
5. Concepts of Organization:
There are two concepts of organization:
1. Static concept-Under static concept the term ‘organization’ is used as a
structure, an entity or a network of specified relationship.
In this sense, organization is a group of people bound together in a formal
relationship to achieve common objectives.
It lays emphasis on position and not on individuals.
.
6. 2. Dynamic concept-Under dynamic concept, the term ‘organization’ is used
as a process of an on-going activity.
In this sense, organisation is a process of organizing work, people and the
systems.
It is concerned with the process of determining activities which may be
necessary for achieving an objective and arranging them in suitable groups so
as to be assigned to individuals.
It considers organisation as an open adoptive system and not as a closed
system.
Dynamic concept lays emphasis on individuals and considers organisation as a
continuous process
7. Characteristics of Organizations:
Different authors look at the word ‘organisation’ from their own angle. One
thing which is common in all the viewpoints is that organisation is the
establishment of authority relationship among persons so that it helps in the
achievement of organizational objectives.
1. Division of Work:
Organisation deals with the whole task of business. The total work of the
enterprise is divided into activities and functions. Various activities are
assigned to different persons for their efficient accomplishment. This brings
in division of labour. It is not that one person cannot carry out many functions
but specialization in different activities is necessary to improve one’s
efficiency. Organisation helps in dividing the work into related activities so
that they are assigned to different individuals.
8. 2. Co-Ordination:
Co-ordination of various activities is as essential as their division. It helps in
integrating and harmonizing various activities.
Co-ordination also avoids duplications and delays. In fact, various functions in
an organisation depend upon one another and the performance of one
influences the other.
Unless all of them are properly coordinated, the performance of all segments
is adversely affected.
9. 3. Common Objectives:
All organizational structure is a means towards the achievement of enterprise
goals.
The goals of various segments lead to the achievement of major business
goals. The organizational structure should build around common and clear cut
objectives.
This will help in their proper accomplishment.
10. 4. Co-operative Relationship:
An organisation creates co-operative relationship among various members of
the group. An organisation cannot be constituted by one person. It requires at
least two or more persons.
Organisation is a system which helps in creating meaningful relationship
among persons.
The relationship should be both vertical and horizontal among members of
various departments.
The structure should be designed that it motivates people to perform their
part of work together.
11. 5. Well-Defined Authority-Responsibility Relationships:
An organisation consists of various positions arranged in a hierarchy with well
defined authority and responsibility.
There is always a central authority from which a chain of authority
relationship stretches throughout the organisation.
The hierarchy of positions defines the lines of communication and pattern of
relationships.
12. Scope of Organisation
Organisation, as an element of management, is concerned with the
following aspects, called as scope of organisation:
1. Identifying and grouping of activities to attain corporate objectives and
goals.
2. Assigning these activities to appropriate divisions, departments, sections
and individuals.
3. Providing authority, delegation, co-ordination and communication
4.Providing facilities and equipment, i.e. physical factors of good work
environment. There are four basic elements of all forms of living
organizations around which any organisation centers – (i) The work (ii) The
People, (iii) The authority, responsibility and (iv) The relationships.
13. Clear-cut division of work defines and prescribes each part of the work to be
handled by each person, giving allocation of duties and responsibilities and
defining authority or power at each position in the organisation chart.
Co-ordination and integration ensure elimination of duplication of work and
unity of action.
14. A good organisation has to fulfill four special functions:
1. It must enable the management to maximize the outputs through provision
of an efficient man-machine system.
2. It must ensure smooth and effective net-work of communication and
information.
3. It must offer interesting and meaningful jobs to all individuals working in
the organisation. This alone will ensure job satisfaction. Organisation is
developed for people. It must, therefore, be humanistic also and not merely
mechanistic. Both the approaches can be reconciled.
4. It must create, maintain and develop its own image or individuality. This
ensures customer goodwill. Investors will also have confidence in the
enterprise. Employees can develop a sense of belonging to the organisation.
15. Organizational structure
Organisation structure specifies division of work and shows how different
functions or activities are linked; to some extent it also shows the level of
specialization of work activities.
It also indicates the organization’s hierarchy and authority structure and
shows its reporting relationships. — Robert H. Miles
Organizing as a structure is a network of relationships (authority-
responsibility structure) amongst all those who are part of the organisation,
working at different levels in different departments.
Organisation defines relationships amongst jobs and people working at the
jobs at various levels. It emphasizes more on positions than people
16. Traditional organizational structures come in four general types – functional,
divisional, matrix and flat – but with the rise of the digital marketplace,
decentralized, team-based org structures are disrupting old business models.
Before you establish an innovative way to manage your enterprise, take some
time to understand the old mold – then blaze a trail.
17. Functional Organization Structure
Under a functional organization structure, people who do similar tasks are
grouped together based on specialty.
So all the accountants are placed in the finance department and so on for the
marketing, operations, senior management and human resources
departments.
The advantages of this kind of structure include quick decision making,
because the group members can easily communicate.
They can also learn from each other, since they already possess similar skill
sets and interests.
18. Divisional Structure Based on Products
In a divisional structure, your company groups workers into teams based on
the products or projects that meet the needs of a certain type of customer.
For example, a bakery with a catering operation might structure the
workforce based on key clientele, such as a wedding department and a
wholesale-retail department.
The division of labor in this kind of structure ensures workers making similar
products can achieve greater efficiency and higher output
19. Matrix Structure Combines Functional and Divisional Models
A matrix structure combines elements of the functional and divisional models,
so it’s more complex.
It groups people into functional departments of specialization, then further
separates them into divisional projects and products.
In a matrix structure the team members are given more autonomy and
expected to take on more responsibility for their work.
20. This increases the productivity of the team, fosters greater innovation and
creativity, and allows managers to cooperatively solve decision-making
problems through group interaction.
This type of organizational structure takes lots of planning and effort, making
it appropriate for large companies that have the resources to devote to
managing a complex business framework.
21. Flat Organizational Structure
A flat organizational structure attempts to disrupt the traditional top-down
management system of most companies. Management is decentralized so there is
no everyday “boss.”
Each employee is the boss of themselves, eliminating bureaucracy and red tape
and improving direct communication.
For example, an employee who has an idea doesn’t have to wade through three
levels of upper managers to get the idea to the key person making the decision.
The employee simply communicates directly with the target on a peer-based
level.
A company adopting this type of structure for everyday purposes typically
establishes a special top-down management system for temporary projects or
events.