Organizing Technical Activities (Chapter 4)
Answer the following based on the video.
1. Enumerate the reason for organizing.
Organizing is undertaken to facilitate the implementation of plans
In effective organizing, steps are undertaken to breakdown the total job into
more manageable man-size jobs.
These will help facilitate the assignment of authority, responsibility, and
accountability for certain functions and tasks.
2. How organizing is defined.
Organizing is a management function which refers to “the structuring of resources and
activities to accomplish objectives in an efficient and effective manner.”
Structure is the arrangement or relationship of positions within an organization
The result or organizing process is the structure
3. What is the purpose of the structure
They are the following:
It defines the relationships between tasks and authority for individuals and
departments.
It defines formal reporting relationships, the number of levels in the hierarchy of the
organization, and the span of control
It defines the groupings of individuals into departments and departments into
organization.
It defines the system to effect coordination of effort in both vertical (authority) and
horizontal (tasks) directions.
When structuring an organization, the engineer manager may be concerned with the following:
Division of Labor – determining the scope of work and how it is combined in a job
Delegation of authority – the process of assigning various degrees of decision-making authority
to subordinates.
Department ion – the grouping of related jobs, activities, or processes into major organizational
sub-units.
Span of Control- the number of people who report directly to a given manager
Coordination- the linking of activities in the organization that serves to achieve a common goal
or objective
4. How the formal organization is described based on the following:
THE FORMAL ORGANIZATION
The formal organization is “the structure that details lines of responsibilities, authority, and
position”
The formal structure is described by management through:
a. Organizational Chart – is a diagram of the organization’s official positions and formal
lines of authority
b. Organizational Manual – provides written descriptions of authority relationships, details
the functions of major organizational units, and describes job procedures.
c. Policy Manual – describes personnel activities and company policies
5. What is an informal group and how it is normally created.
INFORMAL GROUPS
Informal Group – are instances when members of an organization spontaneously form a group
with friendship as a principal reason for belonging.
Oftentimes very useful in the accomplishment of major tasks, especially if these tasks conform
with the expectations of the members of the informal group
Reasons or factors for joining or forming a group:
Friendship
Common interest – like concern for environment or love of classical music
Proximity – which gives people the chance to share ideas, opinions, and feelings
Need satisfaction- which are derived from unions, cultural societies, fraternities, etc.
Collective Power – which are derived from the unions, fraternities, etc.
Group Goals – which attract individuals like: consumer society, sports club, etc.
TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES
Classification of Organizations
i. Functional Organization
ii. Product or market Organization
iii. Matrix organization
I. Functional Organization
Functional Group
Functional organization structures are very effective in a smaller firms, especially “single-
business firms where key activities revolve around well-defined skills and areas of specialization.
Advantages:
The grouping of employees who perform a common task permit economies of scale and
efficient resource use
Since the chain of command converges at the top of the organization, decision-making is
centralized, providing a unified direction from the top
Communication and coordination among employees within each department are
excellent
The structure promotes high-quality technical problem-solving
The organization is provided with in depth skill specialization and development
Employees are provided with career progress within functional departments
Disadvantages:
Communication and coordination between the departments are often poor
Decisions involving more than one department pile up at the top management level
and are often delayed
Work specialization and division of labor, which are stressed in a functional
organization, produce routine, non-motivating employee tasks
It is difficult to identify which section or group is responsible for certain problems
There is limited view of organizational goals by employees
There is limited general management training for employees
PRODUCT OR MARKET ORGANIIZATION
The product or market organization, with its feature of operating by divisions, is “appropriate for
a large corporation with many product lines in several related industries”
Advantages:
The organization is flexible and responsive to change
The organization provides a high concern for customer’s needs
The organization provides excellent coordination across functional departments
There is easy pinpointing of responsibility for product problems
There is emphasis on overall product and division goals
The opportunity for the development of general management skills is provided
Disadvantges:
There is a high possibility of duplication of resources across divisions
There is less technical depth and specialization in divisions
There is poor coordination across divisions
There is less top management control
There is competition for corporate resources
MATRIX ORGANIZATION
According to Thompson and Strickland, “is a structure with two (or more) channels of command,
two lines of budget authority, and two sources of performance and reward”
According to Higgins, “the matrix structure was designed to keep employees in a central pool
and to allocate them to various projects in the firm according to the length of time they were
needed.”
Advantages
There is more efficient use of resources than the divisional structure
There is flexibility and adaptability to changing environment
The development of both general and functional management skills are present
There is interdisciplinary cooperation and any expertise is available to all divisions
There are enlarged tasks for employees which motivate them better
Disadvantages:
There is frustration and confusion from dual chain of command
There is high conflict between divisional and functional interests
There are many meetings and more discussion than action
There is a need for human relations training for key employees and managers
There is a tendency for power dominance by one side of the matrix
6. What is the function of a group
7. What is matrix organization
8. What are the types of authority
TYPES OF AUTHORITY
Line Authority
Perform tasks that reflects the organization’s primary goal and mission
In construction firm, it negotiates and secures contracts for the firm
Staff Authority
Includes all those that provide specialized skills in support of line departments
Examples:
• Those perform strategic planning
• Labor relations
• Research
• Accounting
• Personnel
Classification:
Personal Staff
Specialized Staff
Functional Authority
Given to a person or a work group to make decisions related to their expertise
even if these decisions concern other department
Given to budget officers of the organizations
9. Purpose of committees
A COMMMITTEE is a formal group of persons formed for a specific purpose
Classification:
Ad hoc Committee
Standing Committee
Committees may not work properly, however, if they are not correctly managed.
Delaney suggests that “it might be useful to set up procedures to make the committee a more
effective tool to accomplish our goals.”
10. Describe your reflections based on what you have learned in the video
