Organizing Technical Activities
Reasons for organizing
-It is undertaken to facilitate the implementation of plans. It
helps facilitate the assignment of authority, responsibility,
and accountability.
A job is break down into manageable man-sized jobs to easily
assign tasks to assigned persons.
Organizing defined
-Organizing refers to “the structuring of resources and
activities to accomplish objectives in an efficient and
effective manner.”
The “arrangement or relationship of positions within an
organization” is called a structure.
Purpose of structure
It defines:
The relationships between tasks and authority.
Formal reporting relationships, the number of levels in the
hierarchy of an organization, and the span of control.
The groupings of individuals into departments and
departments into organization.
The system to effect coordination of effort in both vertical
(authority) and horizontal (tasks) directions.
Concerns of Structure
 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
 Departmentation-the grouping of related jobs,
activities, or processes into major organizational
subunits
 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
The formal Organization
Formal organization is “the structure that details lines of
responsibilities, authority, and positions.”
It is described by management through:
 Organizational chart - A diagram of the organization’s
official positions.
 Organizational manual - It provides written descriptions
of authority relationships, details the functions of major
organizational units, and describes job procedures.
 Policy manuals - It describes personnel activities and
company policies.
Informal groups
When members of an organization spontaneously form a
group with friendship as a principal reason for belonging, this
group is called informal group.
It is useful in the accomplishments of major tasks, but
vulnerable to expediency, manipulation, and opportunism.
Types of organizational structures
 Functional organization
 Product or market organization
 Matrix organization
Functional organization
– this is a form of departmentalization in which everyone
engaged in one functional activity is grouped into one unit.
It is very effective in smaller firms where key activities
revolve around well-defined skills and areas of specialization.
Advantage:
Groups performing a common task permit economies of
scale and efficient resource use.
Decision-making is centralized.
Excellent communication and coordination among
employees.
Promotes high-quality technical problem-solving.
Provided with in depth skill specialization and development.
Provided with career progress.
Disadvantage:
Poor communication and coordination between
departments.
Decisions involving more than one department pile up at the
top management level.
Work specialization produce nonmotivating employee tasks.
Difficult to identify which section is responsible for certain
problems.
Limited view of organizational goals.
Limited general management training.
Product or market organization
– this refers to the organization of a company by divisions
that brings together all those involved with a certain types of
product or customer.
It is appropriate for a large corporation with many product
lines in several related industries.
Advantages:
Flexible and responsive to change.
Provides high concern for customer’s needs.
Provides excellent coordination across functional
departments.
Easy pinpointing of responsibility for product problems.
Emphasis on overall product and division goals.
Opportunity for the development of general management
skills is provided.
Disadvantages:
High possibility of duplication of resources across divisions.
Less technical depth and specialization in divisions.
Poor coordination across divisions.
Less top management control.
Competition for corporate resources.
Matrix organization
– an organizational structure in which each employee reports
to both a functional or division manager and to a project or
group manager.
It is a structure with two (or more) channels of command,
two lines of budget authority, and two sources of
performance and reward.
Advantage:
Efficient use of resources.
Flexibility and adaptability to changing environment.
Development of both general and functional management
skills are present.
Cooperation and expertise is available to all divisions.
Enlarged tasks for employees which motivate them better
Disadvantage:
Frustration and confusion from dual chain of command.
High conflict between divisional and functional interests.
Many meetings and more discussion than action.
Need for human relations training for key employees and
managers.
Tendency for power dominance by one side of the matrix.

Types of authority
 Line authority
 Staff authority
 Functional authority
Line departments
Line department perform tasks that reflect the organization’s
primary goal and mission.
A department that negotiates and secures contracts for the
firm is a line department.
A construction division is a line function.
STAFF departments
Staff departments include all those that provide specialized
skills in support of line departments, like perform strategic
planning, labor relations, research, accounting, and
personnel.
Classified into:
Personal staff
Specialized staff
Functional authority
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.

Purpose of committees
Committee is a formal group of persons formed for a specific
purpose.
When certain formal groups are deemed inappropriate to
meet expectations, committees are harnessed to achieve
organizational goals.
Committees are very useful most especially to engineering
and manufacturing firms.

Classification of committees
 Ad hoc committee – one created for a short term
purpose and have a limited life. Ex. The committee
created to manage the anniversary festivities of a
certain firm.
 Standing committee – it is a relatively permanent
committee that deals with issues on an ongoing basis.
Ex. Grievance committee set up to handle initially
complains from employees of the organization.