Organizing Technical Activities 1.

Organization Chart – is a diagram of the

organization’s official position and formal lines of
Reasons for Organizing authority
Organizing is undertaken to facilitate the 2.Organizational Manual – provides written
implementation of plans. In effective organizing, steps descriptions of authority relationships, details the
are undertaken to breakdown the total job into more functions of major organizational units, and
manageable man-size jobs. describes job procedures.
3.Policy Manuals – describe personnel activities and
Organizing defined company policies.
Organizing is a management function which refers
to “the structuring of resources and activities to Informal Groups
accomplish objectives in an efficient and effective There are instances when members of an
manner”. organization spontaneously from a group with friendship
as a principal reason for belonging. This group is called
The arrangement or relationship of positions within an informal group. It is not a part of the formal
an organization is called the structure. The result of the organization, and it does not have a formal performance
organizing process is the structure. purpose.

The Purpose of the Structure Informal Groups are oftentimes very useful in the
The structure serves some very useful purposes. accomplishment of major tasks, especially if these tasks
They are following: conform with the expectations of the members of the
1. Defines the relationship between tasks and informal group.
authority for individuals and departments
2. Defines formal reporting relationships, the number Types of Organizational Structures
of levels in the hierarchy of the organization, and
the span of control Organization may be classified into three types.
3. Defines the groupings of individuals into They are the following:
departments and departments into organization
4. Defines the system to effect coordination of effort in 1. Functional Organization
both authority and tasks directions. A form of departmentalization in which everyone
engaged in one functional activity.
When structuring an organization, the engineer Functional organization structures are very effective.
manager must be concerned with the following: in smaller firms, especially
1.Division of Labor – determining the scope of work “single-business firms where key
and how it is combined in a job. activities revolve around well-defined skills and areas of
2.Delegation of authority – the process of assigning specialization”
various degrees of decision-making authority to
subordinates.
3.Departmentation – the groupings of related jobs,
activities, or processes into major organizational
subunits.
4.Span of control – the number of people who report
directly to a given manager.
5.Coordination – the linking of activities in the
organization that serves to achieve a common goal
or objective
Advantages:
1. The grouping of employees who perform a common
task permit economies of scale and efficient
The Formal Organization resource use.
The formal organization is “the structure that details 2. Since the chain of command converges at the top of
lines of responsibilities, authority, and position”. the organization, decision-making is centralized,
providing a unified direction from the top. A typical Product/Market Organization for a
3. Communication and coordination among employees Construction
within each department are excellent Company
4. The structure promotes high-quality technical 3. Matrix Organization
problem-solving. Organizational structure in which each employee
5. The organization is provided with in depth skill reports to both a functional or division manager and to a
specialization and development. project or group manager.
6. Employees are provided with career progress within Advantages:
functional departments. 1. There is more efficient use of resources than the
Disadvantages: divisional structure.
1. Communication and coordination between the 2. There is flexibility and adaptability to changing
departments are often poor. environment.
2. Decisions involving more than one department pile 3. The development of both general and functional
up at the top management level and are often management skills are present.
delayed. 4. There is interdisciplinary cooperation and any
3. Work specialization and division of labor, which are expertise is available to all divisions.
stressed in a functional organization, produce 5. There are enlarged tasks for employees which
routine, nonmotivating employee tasks. motivate them better.
4. It is difficult to identify which section or group is President
responsible for certain problems. Vice President for
5. There is limited view of organizational goals by Government Accounts
employees. Marketing and Finance
6. There is limited general management training for Operations and
employees. Construction
2. Product or Market Organization Human Resources and
Refers to the organization of a company divisions Administrative
that brings together all those involved with a certain type Vice President for
of Industrial Accounts
product or customer. Marketing and Finance
Advantages: Operations and
1. The organization is flexible and responsive to Construction
change Marketing and Finance
2. The organization provides a high concern for Vice President for
customer’s needs. Residential Accounts
3. The organization provides excellent coordination Marketing and Finance
across functional departments. Operations and
4. There is easy pinpointing of responsibility for Construction
product problems. Marketing and Finance
5. There is emphasis on overall product and division Disadvantages:
goals. 1. There is frustration and confusion from dual chain of
6. The opportunity for the development of general command.
management skills is provided. 2. There is high conflict between divisional and
Disadvantages: functional interests
1. There is a high possibility of duplication of resources 3. There are many meetings and more discussion than
across divisions. action.
2. There is less technical depth and specialization in 4. There is a need for human relations training for key
divisions. employees and managers.
3. There is poor coordination across divisions. 5. There is a tendency for power dominance by one
4. There is less top management control side of the matrix.
5. There is competition for corporate resources. Types of Authority
Figure 2. The delegation of authority is a requisite for
effective organizing. It consists of three types as follows;
1.
Line Authority
A manager’s right to tell subordinates what
to do and then see that they do it.
Line departments perform tasks that reflect
the organization’s primary goal and mission. In a
construction firm, the department that negotiates
and secures contracts for the firm is a line
department. The construction division is also a line
function.
2.
Staff Authority
A staff specialist’s right to give advice to a
superior. Staff departments include all those that
provide specialized skills in support of line
departments.
Personal Staff are those individuals
assigned to a specific manager to provide needed
staff services.
Specialized Staff are those individuals
providing needed staff services for the whole
organization.
3.
Functional Authority
A specialist’s right to oversee lower level
personnel involved in that specialty, regardless of
where the personnel are in the organization.
Functional authority is one given to a
person or a work group to make decisions related to
their expertise even if these decisions concern other
departments.
The Purpose of Committees
When certain formal groups are deemed
inappropriate to meet expectations, committees are
oftentimes harnessed to achieve organizational goals.
Many
organizations, large or small, make use of committees.
A committee is a formal group of persons formed for
a specific purpose. For instance, the product planning
committee is “often staffed by top executives from
marketing, production, research, engineering, and
finance,
who work part-time to evaluate and approved product
ideas”
1.
Ad hoc committee – one created for a short-term purpose
and have a limited life.
2.
Standing committee – it is a relatively permanent
committee that deals with issued on an ongoing basis.
President