CHAPTER FOUR:

ORGANIZING TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES

 PLANNING TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES

Organizing Defined
Reasons for Organizing
The Purpose of the Structure
Types of Organizational Structure
ORGANIZATION
 are systems created to achieve common goals through people-to-people and
people-to-work relationships.
 are made up of people and their relationships with one another.

 Managers deliberately structure and coordinate organizational resources to

achieve the organization’s purpose.
 Organizing Defined

ORGANIZING
 A management function which refers to the structuring of
resources and activities to accomplish objectives in an
efficient and effective manner
 is the function of management that involves developing an
organizational structure and allocating human resources to
ensure the accomplishment of objectives.
 Reasons for Organizing

Organizing is undertaken to facilitate the

implementation of plans. In effective organizing, steps are
under taken to breakdown the total job into more manageable
man-size jobs. Doing these will make it possible to assign
particular tasks to particular persons. In turn, these will help
facilitate the assignment of authority, responsibility, and
accountability for certain functions and tasks.
 Reasons for Organizing

 Organizing creates the framework needed to reach a company’s

objectives and goals.
 The Purpose of the Structure

The arrangement or relationship of positions within an organization is

called the:

STRUCTURE
- the result of the organizing process
 The Purpose of the Structure
The structure serves some very useful purposes. They are the
following:

1. It defines the relationships between tasks and authority for

individuals and departments.
2. It defines formal reporting relationships, the number of levels in the
hierarchy of the organization, and the span of control.
3. It defines the groupings of individuals into departments and
departments into organization.
4. It defines the system to effect coordination of effort in both vertical
(authority) and horizontal (tasks) directions
 The Purpose of the Structure
When structuring an organization, the engineer manager must be
concerned with the following:
1. Division of labor-determining the scope of work and how it is
combined in a job.
2. Delegation of authority -the process of assigning various degrees of
decision-making authority to subordinates.
3. Departmentation - the grouping 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.
 The Types of Organizational Structure

Before the commencement of activities, the

decision-makers in an organization will have to decide
on what structure to adapt. Depending on the size and
type of operations, a certain structural type may best
fit the requirements.
 The Types of Organizational Structure

1. Functional organization - this is a form of departmentalization in

which everyone engaged in one functional activity, such as
engineering or marketing, is grouped into one unit.

2. Product or market organization - this refers to the organization of a

company by divisions that brings together all those involved with a
certain type of product or customer.

3. Matrix organization - an organizational structure in which each

employee reports to both a functional or division manager and to a
project or group manager.
 The Types of Organizational Structure

1. Functional organization – are very effective in smaller firms

Advantages:
a. The grouping of employees who perform a common task permit economies of
scale and efficient resource use.
b. Since the chain of command converges at the top of the organization, decision-
making is centralized, providing a unified direction from the top.
c. Communication and coordination among employees within each department
are excellent.
d. The structure promotes high-quality technical problem-solving.
e. The organization is provided with in depth skill specialization and development.
f. Employees are provided with career progress within functional departments.
 The Types of Organizational Structure

1. Functional organization – are very effective in smaller firms

Disadvantages:
a. Communication and coordination between the departments are often poor.
b. Decisions involving more than one department pile up at the top management
level and are often delayed.
c. Work specialization and division of labor, which are stressed in a functional
organization, produce routine, nonmotivating employee tasks.
d. It is difficult to identify which section or group is responsible for certain
problems.
e. There is limited view of organizational goals by employee.
f. There is limited general management training for employees.
The Types of Organizational Structure
 The Types of Organizational Structure

2. Product or Market Organization - appropriate for a large

corporation with many product lines in several related industries

Advantages:
a. The organization is flexible and responsive to change.
b. The organization provides a high concern for customer's needs.
c. The organization provides excellent coordination across functional
departments.
d. There is easy pinpointing of responsibility for product problems.
e. There is emphasis on overall product and division goals.
f. The opportunity for the development of general management skills is provided.
 The Types of Organizational Structure

2. Product or Market Organization - appropriate for a large

corporation with many product lines in several related industries

Disadvantages:
a. There is a high possibility of duplication of resources across divisions.
b. There is less technical depth and specialization in divisions.
c. There is poor coordination across divisions.
d. There is less top management control.
e. There is competition for corporate resources.
The Types of Organizational Structure
 The Types of Organizational Structure

3. Matrix Organization - is a structure with two (or more) channels of

command, two lines of budget authority, and two sources of
performance and reward. " Higgins declared that "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. "
 The Types of Organizational Structure

2. Matrix Organization

Advantages:
a. There is more efficient use of resources than the divisional structure.
b. There is flexibility and adaptability to changing environment.
c. The development of both general and functional management skills are
present.
d. There is interdisciplinary cooperation and any expertise is available to all
divisions.
e. There are enlarged tasks for employees which motivate them better.
 The Types of Organizational Structure

2. Matrix Organization

Disadvantages:
a. There is frustration and confusion from dual chain of command.
b. There is high conflict between divisional and functional interests.
c. There are many meetings and more discussion than action.
d. There is a need for human relations training for key employees and managers.
e. There is a tendency for power dominance by one side of the matrix.
The Types of Organizational Structure
Approaches in Solving Problems

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