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Lecture One

1. What is an organization and why do organizations exist?


Organizations in one form or another have always been an integral feature of human
civilization. Farnham and Horton define organizations as: ‘social constructs created
by groups in society to achieve specific purposes by means of planned and
coordinated activities. These activities involve using human resources to act in
association with other inanimate resources in order to achieve the aims of the
organization.’
Organizations exist in order to achieve objectives and to provide satisfaction for their
members. Organizations enable objectives to be achieved that could not be achieved
by the efforts of individuals on their own. It must be remembered that organizations
are structures of people. Through cooperative action, members of an organization can
provide a synergistic effect. Organizations are an integral part of society involving
both public and private sectors. There are then many different organizations which
are set up to serve a number of different purposes and to meet a variety of needs. The
structure, management and functioning of these organizations will all vary because of
differences in the nature and type of the organization, their respective goals and
objectives, and the behavior of people who work in them. For example; firm of
accountants, school, retail shop, local authority, air-port, motor-car manufacturer,
hospital, hotel, leisure centre, quarry works, government department, pharmaceutical
company, and nationalized industry.

2. What are the common factors in any organization?


Not only are there many different types of organizations, there is some suggestion
that cultural differences in countries can reflect different conceptions of what actually
is an organization. However, despite the differences, there are at least three common
factors in any organization:
i. People,
ii. Objectives, and
iii. Structure
It is the interaction of people in order to achieve objectives which form the basis of an
organization. Some form of structure is needed by which people’s interactions and
efforts are channeled and coordinated. To which we can add a fourth factor:
iv. management
Some process of management is required by which the activities of the organization,
and the efforts of its members, are directed and controlled towards the pursuit of
objectives. The actual effectiveness of the organization will be dependent upon the
quality of its people, its objectives and structure, and the resources available to it.
There are two broad categories of resources:
i. Non-human physical assets, materials and facilities; and
ii. Human – members’ abilities and influence, and their management
The inter-relationship of people, objectives and structure together with the efficient
use of available non-human and human – resources, will determine the success or
failure of the organization and the extent of its effectiveness.

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