Text 2. Organising

There can be no doubt that good people and those who want to cooperate will work together most effectively if they are acquainted with the parts they are to play in any team operation and the way their roles relate to one another. Designing and maintaining these systems of roles is the managerial function of organising.

An organisational role incorporates different objectives, which are the most important part of planning; a clear idea of the major duties or activities involved; and an understood area of discretion or authority so that the person fulfilling the role knows what he/she can do to accomplish goals.

Thus, we think of organising as the identification and classification of required activities; the grouping of activities essential to attain objectives; the assignment of each grouping to a manager with the authority necessary to supervise it; and the provision for horizontal and vertical coordination in the organisation structure.

An organisation structure should be designed to clarify who is to do what tasks and who is responsible for what results, to remove obstacles to performance caused by confusion and uncertainty of assignment and to furnish decision-making and communication networks reflecting and supporting enterprise objectives.

The word “organisation” implies a formalised intended structure of roles or positions. Many authors on management distinguish between formal and informal organisation.

Formal organisation means the intentional structure of roles in a formally organised enterprise. Formal organisation must be flexible. There should be room for discretion, for advantageous utilisation of creative talents and for recognition of individual likes and capacity in the most formal of organisation.

Informal organisation is a network of personal and social relations not established or required by a formal organisation but arising spontaneously as people associate with one another. The informal relationships established in a group of people playing ping-pong after dinner may help in the achievement of organisational goals. It is much easier to ask for help on an organisation problem from someone you know personally.

One of the aspects of organising is the establishment of departments. A department as the term is usually used for production division, the sales unit, western/southern branch, the market research section or accounts receivable unit. While the purpose of organising is to make human cooperation effective, the reason for levels of organisation is limitations of the span of management. Organisation levels exist because there is a limit to the number of persons a manager can supervise effectively, even if this limit varies depending on situations.

There exist organisations with Narrow spans and Wide spans. The relationships between the span of management and the organisational level are shown in Figures 1 and 2. A wide span of management is associated with few organisational levels; a narrow span with many levels.

The principle of the span of management affirms that there is a limit to the number of subordinates a manager can effectively supervise, but the exact number will depend on the impact of underlying factors.