ORGANISING --- 2
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
Organising requires following certain principles ,many of which have been
time tested but these are also undergoing evolution/metamorphosis & have to
be critically examined for relevance of time /place/ organisational
needs/alignments/government policy etc. Most of these have been drawn from
ancient rigid structures like the armed forces/ Roman Catholic church
However basic pyramidal structure still remains & internal
communication/decision making/delegation & relationships still [Link]
PRINCIPLES of THE FORMAL ORGANISATION STRUCTURE are :
[Link] PRINCIPLE- CHAIN OF COMMAND
this principle states that there are clear lines of AUTHORITY running from the
top to the bottom of the formal [Link] follows the hierarchIcal
positions/levels [Link] this is strictly followed in the
army/church,in business organisations other sources of INFORMAL power can
be observed viz trade unions & their right to rebel with collective bargaining
power which has been formally recognised by law/ information
ownership/charisma or regulation,/govt/courts intervention authority.
[Link] OF COMMAND
Each subordinate should have only one superior whose orders he/she obeys
i,e every person has only one boss.
However we can see this often violated where different facets of a job are
directed by different bosses/service [Link] is risky & dual subordination
must be avoided or else it will be difficult to pinpoint responsibility/overlap of
authority/absence of accountability. & makes control difficult
Sometimes for control/exigency purposes authority may need to be shared viz
joint signatures on cheques/ purchase orders/empowered committees
[Link] & RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility & authority are two sides of the same coin
Authority in an organisation is the right to do something derived from
institutional position or delegated specifically by superiors. It is the power of
the chair,and is called coercive power to reward or punish subordinate
[Link] degree to which it is delegated depends on the boss.
Responsibility is the duties you have been assigned to perform and cannot be
transferred/ [Link] take full ownership of them.
Accountability is answerability to your boss for the Use/Abuse/Misuse or non-
use of your authority.
Your subordinates acceptance of your orders/ authority may depend on
i) how well they perceived & understand [Link]-no ambiguity
ii) can they physically carry it out/
iii) is it legally/morally correct/
iv)Is it socially acceptable
v) does it reflect organisation's objectives/policies/rules
vi)the economic & time constraints entailed
[Link] SHOULD BE DELEGATED AS FAR DOWN THE LINE AS
POSSIBLE
This is very especially important in this competitive time & dynamic age when
many decisions may have to be taken down the line by the man on the spot
Delegation can
# act as a MOTIVATOR & helps groom people in decision making & readiness
for higher responsibilities
# relieves senior management of concentrating on less important issues to
dwell on others
# facilitates diversification
#allows for quick adaptation to changing business conditions
Limitations/barriers could be
# subordinate may lack knowledge/experience-need training
# takes time to explain exactly what you wish to them to accomplish
#- costliness of mistakes--Mistake made by subordinate can be costly
#employee is already saddled with too much responsibility /very busy
# employee terrified of decision making of new orders
# loss of some control by boss/increases- control mechanisms needed
# depends on organisation culture
# availability of managerial talent
# Uniformity of [Link]
5. CONCEPT OF LINE & STAFF POSITIONS
All positions that follow the direct line of authority & are directly responsible
for meeting the [Link] primary corporate outcomes are referred to as
line positions
All positions that support / service/assist /provide info/data,expertise to line
are dubbed as staff positions.
Line functions can be readily seen in Porter's construction of the Value chain
where he states them as Primar activities while all secondary Activities would
serve as [Link] within staff functional areas there would be line
positions. Staff functions derive their authority from the line.
Line positions make the operating decisions while staff functions act as think
tanks/idea reservoirs/specialists/investigative preparation & help to improve
the quality of line decisions.
[Link] OF FUNCTIONAL AUTHORITY
This concept is related to point 5) above. and prima facie tends to violate
[Link] in the
larger interests of the organisation & with the full backing of the line staff
positions in order to save time/cost/bureaucracy in given situations ,may be
given authority to direct a line position to perform a specified task.
[Link] BY EXCEPTION
there should not be a concentration of routine work at higher levels,as you will
find in proprietary concerns where every detail is supervised & scrutinised by
the higher [Link] is also a tendency by incompetent subordinates to
refer all matters to the [Link] the top managers should concer themselves
is in noting significant deviations in outcomes /performance below-the issue
should be an exception to norma lroutine functioning
[Link] CHECK
Here one position is designed to serve as a countercheck on another by virtue
of the organisational structure/procedure
[Link]
Committees are a created structural device/forum to
# Many heads are better than one
# to obtain a wider diverse perspective on an issue-different
levels/backgrounds/attitudes
# permit thesis & anti-thesis to operate &provide synthesis-permit debate
# to allow freedom of expression-exposition of new ideas- a listening platform
#to get diverse sections to participate in joint decision making if not
consensus decisions
This can motivate diverse sections in the organisation to enthusiastically
execute a decision
#Acts to share authority because different expertise needed to make single
decision-Product development Committee
The limitations could be
# Too many cooks spoil the broth
# Expensive in terms of time & money-can be inconclusive
# can be used as a device to postpone /bury an issue- Indian Parliamentary
committees
# the decision of the committee may be of the strongest/most powerful person
on the committee
# the committee's decision may water down a decision to accommodate the
weakest members-it may average out at the least common denominator
# Decisions are in written minutes-Board of Directors
10. SPAN OF CONTROL
This refers to the number of positions reporting to one position
It was traditionally felt that the maximum span should be seven,. for efficiency
& productivity to be maintained.
However the number actually depends on many factors
# How similar are the jobs of the subordinates ? the more dis similar the fewer
# calibre of the subordinate-may require more or less supervision
# motivation levels of juniors
# how much can be delegated?
# degree of teamwork physical/location of subordinates
#time available of the superior/need for meetings/reports/monitoring
Today with Internet as a communication medium both
time/distance/monitioring/work from home etc have permitted wider spans
[Link]
Organisation has 2 dimensions-HORIZONTAL ( GROUPING OF ACTIVITIES
(DEPARTMENTS) &VERTICAL( HIERARCHY)
This depends on
# degree of Specialisation
#Expansion needs-more Deparmentments/hierarchy
#degree of departmental autonomy
#Ease of Appraisal of Depts- SBU
# Management development goals