ORGANIZING TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES

ORGANIZING TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES

The engineer manager needs to acquire various skills in management, including those
for organizing technical activities. In this highly competitive environment , the unskilled manager
will not be able to bring his unit, or his company, as the case may be, to success.

REASONS FOR ORGANIZING

Organizing is undertaken to facilitate the implementation of plans. In effective organizing,
steps are undertaken 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.

ORGANIZING DEFINED
Organizing is a management function which refers to “the structuring of resources and
activities to accomplish objectives in an efficient and effective manner.”

The arrangement or relationship of position within an organization is called the structure.

The result of the organizing process is the structure.

THE PURPOSE OF THE STRUCTURE

The structure serves some very useful purposes. They are the following:

1. It defines relationship 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
horizontals (tasks) directions.

When structuring organizations, 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 FORMAL ORGANIZATION

After a plan is adapted, management will proceed to form an organization to carry out
the activities indicated in the plan.

The formal organization is “the structure that details lines of responsibilities, authority,
and position.” What is depicted in the organization chart is the formal organization. It is “the
planned structure” and it “represents the deliberate attempt to establish patterned relationships
among components that will meet the objectives effectively.”

The formal structure is described by management though:

1. Organization chart
2. Organizational manual and
3. Policy manuals.

The organization chart is a diagram of the organization’s official positions and formal
lines of authority.

The organizational manual provides written description of authority relationships, details

the functions of major organizational units, and describes job procedures.

The policy manual describes personnel activities and company policies.

INFORMAL GROUPS
Formal organizations require the formation of formal groups which will be assigned to
perform specific tasks aimed at achieving organizational objectives. The formal group is a part
of the organization’s structure.

There are instances when members of an organization spontaneously form a group with
friendship as a principal reason for belonging. This group is called an informal group. It is not a
part of the formal organization and it does not have a formal performance purpose.

Informal groups are oftentimes very useful in the accomplishment of major tasks,
especially if these tasks conform to the expectations of the members of the informal group.
 The informal organization, useful as it is, is “vulnerable to expediency, manipulation, and
opportunism,” according to Valentine. Its low visibility, Valentine added, makes it “difficult for
management to detect these perversions, and considerable harm can be done to the company.”

The engineer manager is, therefore, warned that he must be on the lookout for the
possible difficulties that the informal groups may do to the organization. It will be to his best
interest if he could make the informal groups work for the organization.

TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES

Before the commencement of activities, the decision makers in an organization will have
to decide on what the structure to adapt. Depending on the size and type of operations, a
certain structural type may be best fit the requirements.

Organizations may be classified into three types. They are the following:

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 division
that brings together all those involved with a certain type of product or customer.

3. Matrix organization – an organization structure in which each employee reports to both a

functional or division manager and to a project or group manager.

Functional Organization

Functional organization structures are very effective in smaller firms, especially “single-
business firms where key activities revolve around well-defined skills and areas of
specialization.”

What is a Functional Organizational Structure?

A functional structure divides the organization into departments based on their function.
Each is headed by a functional manager and employees are grouped as per their role.
Functional managers have experience in the roles they supervise. This ensures that employees
are using their skills effectively. It helps organizations in achieving their business objectives.

Employees are classified according to their function in this structure. The organizational
chart for a functional structure shows the role hierarchy: for example, president, vice president,
finance department, sales department, customer service, administration, and others.
 Each department has a head responsible for it. This helps the organization control the
quality and uniformity of their performance. These employees are very skilled. They are
experienced in the same work and they perform excellently; productivity is high in a functional
structure.

Functional departments are sometimes referred to as “silos.” This means the system is
vertical and disconnected, communication flows through the department heads to the top
management.

Here, all authority stays with the functional manager. Usually, the project manager does
not have any role in this structure. Their role will be minimal, even if they exist. They will need
the functional manager’s approval to use resources and they may act as a coordinator or an
expediter.

The functional organization structure is suitable for a business dealing with operations,
like manufacturing industries.

Most small industries with only a few products use this structure. The employees are
highly skilled due to repetitive work which means high efficiency and the best performance.

Figure 1.

Functional Organizational Chart

 Functional organizations have certain advantages. They are the following:

1. The grouping of employees who perform a common task permits economies of scale
and efficient resource use.
2. Since the chain of command converges at the top of the organization, decision-making is
centralized, providing a unified direction from the top.
3. Communication and coordination among employees within each department are
excellent.
4. The structure promotes high-quality technical problem-solving.
5. The organization is provided with in-depth skills specialization and development.
6. Employees are provided with career progress within functional departments.

The disadvantages of the functional organization are the following:

1. Communication and coordination between the departments are often poor.

2. Decisions involving more than one department pile up at the top management level and
are often delayed.
3. Work specialization and division of labor, which are stressed in a functional organization,
produce routine, non-motivating employee tasks.
4. It is difficult to identify which section or group is responsible for certain problems.
5. There is limited view of organization goals by employees.
6. There is limited general management training for employees.

Product or Market Organization

The product or market organization, with its feature of operating by divisions, is

“appropriate for a large corporation with many product lines in several related industries.

Product Organizational Structure

Another common structure is to be organized by a specific product type. Each product

group falls within the reporting structure of an executive and that person oversees everything
related to that particular product line.

For example an executive over Kraft products would be responsible for every product
under that label – dressings, meats, sauces, etc.

The advantage of this type of structure is that it organizes products by category but can
create completely separate processes from other product lines within the organization.
The advantages of a product or market organization are as follows:

1. The organization is flexible and responsive to change.

2. The organization provides a high concern for customer’s needs.

3. The organization provides excellent coordination across functional departments.

4. There is easy pinpointing of responsibility for product problems.

5. There is emphasis on overall product and division goals.

6. The opportunity for the development of general management skills is provided.

The disadvantages of the product or market organization are as follows.

1. There is a high possibility of duplication of resources across divisions.

2. There is less technical depth and specialization in divisions.

3. There is poor coordination across divisions.

4. There is less management control.

5. There is competition for corporate resources.

Matrix Organization

A matrix organization, according to Thompson and Strickland, “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.

A matrix organizational structure is a company structure in which the reporting

relationships are set up as a grid, or matrix, rather than in the traditional hierarchy. In other
words, employees have dual reporting relationships - generally to both a functional manager
and a product manager.

Example
In the 1970s, Philips, a Dutch multinational electronics company, set up matrix management
with its managers reporting to both a geographical manager and a product division manager.
Many other large corporations, including Caterpillar Tractor, Hughes Aircraft, and Texas
Instruments, also set up reporting along both functional and project lines around that time.

Figure 3,
Matrix Organizational Chart
Advantages

The matrix organization is afforded with the following advantages:

1. There is more efficient use of resources than the divisional structure.

2. There is flexibility and adaptability to changing environment.

3. The development of both general and functional management skills are present.

4. There is interdisciplinary cooperation and any expertise is available to all divisions.

5. There are enlarged tasks for employees which motivate them better.

6. Products and projects are formally coordinated across functional departments.

7. Information flows both across and up through the organization.

8. Employees are in contact with many people, which helps with sharing of information and

can speed the decision process.

9. Staffers have to work autonomously and do some self-management between their

competing bosses; this can enhance motivation and decision making in employees who
enjoy it.

Disadvantages

The matrix organization also has some disadvantages. They are the following:

1. There is frustration and confusion from dual chain of command.

2. There is high conflict between divisional and functional interests.

3. There are many meetings and more discussion than action.

4. There is a need for human relations training for key employees and managers.

5. There is a tendency for power dominance by one side of the matrix.

TYPES OF AUTHORITY
The delegation of authority is a requisite for effective organizing. It consists of three
types:

1. Line authority - a manager’s right to tell subordinates what to do and then see that

they do it.

2. Staff authority - a staff specialist’s right to give advice to a superior.

3. Functional authority - a specialist’s right to oversee lower level personnel involved in

that specialty, regardless of where the personnel are in the organization.

Line departments perform tasks that reflect he organization’s primary goal and mission.
In a construction firm, the department that negotiates and secures contracts for the firm is a line
department. The construction division is also a line function.

Staff departments include all those that provide specialized skills in support of line
departments. Examples of staff departments include those which perform strategic planning,
labor relations, research, accounting, and personnel.

Staff officers may be classified into the following:

1. Personal staff – those individuals assigned to a specific manager to provide needed

staff services.

2. Specialized staff - those individuals providing needed staff services for the whole
organization.

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. This authority is given to
most budget officers of organizations, as well as other officers.

THE PURPOSE OF COMMITTEES

When certain formal groups are deemed inappropriate to meet expectations, committees
are oftentimes harnessed to achieve organizational goals. Many organizations, large or small,
make use of committees.

A committee is a formal group of persons formed for a specific purpose

Committees are very useful most especially to engineering and manufacturing firms.
When a certain concern, like product development, is under consideration, a committee is
usually formed to provide the necessary line up of expertise needed to achieve certain
objectives.

Committees may be classified as follows:

1. Ad hoc committee – one created for a short-tern purpose and have a limited life. An
example is the committee created to manage the anniversary festivities of certain firm.

2. Standing committee – a relatively permanent committee that deals with issues on an

ongoing basis. An example is the grievance committee set up to handle initially complaints from
employees of the organization.

Committees may not work properly, however, if they are not correctly managed. Delaney
suggests that “it might be useful to set up some procedures to make the committee a more
effective tool to accomplish our goals.

SUMMARY

The proper management of engineering activities, whether at the unit, department, or

firm level, requires effective organizing. The organizing function is undertaken to facilitate the
implementation of plans.

Organizing refers to the structuring of resources and activities to accomplish objectives.

The structure serves as a way to reach the organization’s goals.

The formal organization is the structure that will carry out the plan. It is described
through the organization chart, the organization manual, and the policy manual.

Informal groups oftentimes find their way to exist side by side with formal organizations.
These groups may make it easy or make it hard for the organization to achieve its objectives.

Organizations may be classified into: (!) functional, (2) product or market, or (3) matrix.

Authority delegated to the members of the organization may be classified into: (1) line
authority, (2) staff authority, and (3) functional authority.

Committees are used as a supplement to the existing formal organization. Committees

are formed to perform specific tasks and classified into: (1) ad hoc, and (2) standing.
REFERENCES:

Medina, R.G. (1999). Engineering Management, 1st Edition. Rex Book Store

Usmani, F. (2019, December 15).What is a Functional Organization Structure?.

Retrieved from https://pmstudycircle.com/2012/08/what-is-a-functional-organization-
structure/.

Matrix Organizational Structure: Advantages, Disadvantages & Examples.

Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/matrix-organizational-structure-advantages-
disadvantages-examples.html