UNIT- 8.

ORGANISING FOR OPTIMISATION

Contents Page No
Broad Objective 3
Learning Outcomes 3
Introduction 3
8.4.1 Organising: Concept & Process 4
(A) Organising Concept 4
 Characteristics of Organising
 Importance of Organising
(B) Process of Organising 6
 Identification and enumeration of activities
 Division of activities
 Grouping-up of activities
 Assignment of group of activities
 Granting necessary rights
 Coordinating the functioning of various departments
Practice Test 7
Feedback 7
8.4.2 Organisation Structure and Design 8
(A)Organisational Structure  8

(B)Organisation Design 8
 Bureaucracy basics
 Mechanistic structure of an institution
 Organic structure of an institution
 Factors affecting organisational design in an institute
 Approaches to Organisational Design in an institute

Practice Test 19
Feedback 19

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8.4.3Role of Responsibility, Authority and Delegation in 21
Institutional Effectiveness
 Delegation of Authority
 Management triad - of Authority, Responsibility
and Accountability
 Principles of Delegation
 Process of delegation
 Advantages of Delegation
 Barriers to Delegation
 Guidelines for Effective Delegation
Practice Test 27
Feedback 28
Conclusion 29
Bibliography 29

UNIT- 8.4

ORGANISING FOR OPTIMISATION

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 Author: Dr Rakesh K Wats
NITTTR, Chandigarh
Broad Objective
The broad objective of this unit is to make the learners aware
about the importance of organising for optimisation of
institutional resources. This learning material shall also make
them aware about the concepts of organisational design and
structures using the triad of delegation of authority-
responsibility and accountability for the effectiveness of an
educational institution.

Learning Outcomes
After going through this unit the learner will be able to :

 Explain the concept of organising and its role in the optimisation of institutional resources.
 Explain the process of organising.
 Understand the concept of organisation design and organisational structure.
 Identify relevant organisational structure for his own institution based on application, advantages
and disadvantages of different organisational structures.
 Understand the importance of delegation of authority for enhancing the effectiveness and
efficiency of the institution.
 Identify the importance of authority , responsibility and accountability in the management of an
institution and correlate the same in his own institution.

Introduction
Organising in an institute involves coordination of activities, integration of actions and balanced approach
of all individuals working for achieving institutional objectives. It focuses on the optimum utilisation of
all types of resources present in and around the institution. To achieve the desired goals, the people
belonging to various hierarchical levels are delegated powers and responsibilities. The institutions are
designed differently on the basis of nature of responsibilities, delegations of authorities and size of
institution.
In this unit you will be have the understanding of the importance organising, its features and the process
in an institution. You shall learn the concept of the organisational structure of an institution along with the
delegation of authority and responsibility - accountability relationship for the smooth running of an
educational institution.

8.4.1Organising: Concept & Process

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(A) Organising Concept:

Organising means collective working of two or more individuals. It involves coordination of activities,
integration of actionsand balanced approach of various people working in unison for the achievements of
common goals of an institution. It’s the function of an institutional management which incorporates
univocally all varied inputs from institutional resources like human, physical, financial and informational
in synchronisation, combination and coordination. The ultimate objective of organising is to achieve
institutional objectives by optimum utilization of institutional resources.

According to Chester Barnard, management guru, “Organising is a function by which an institute is able
to define its role positions, the jobs related and the co-ordination between authority and responsibility”.
Hence, it become imperative for an institutional head to organise all possible resources required in
performing his role in an effective and efficient manner.

“Organising” in an institute involves the establishment of a healthy working relationship amongst the
employees, delegation of tasks/duties alongwith adequate authority to undertake those tasks. Thus,
“organizing” establishes a network of authority and responsibility relationship amongst the members like
Director/Principal, Heads of units or departments, faculty, staff etc.. The person who delegates the
authority is considered as ‘superior or boss’ and other following the instructions and to whom the
authority are referred as ‘subordinates’.

 Characteristics of Organising:some of the important feature of organising are-

 Basic function of any institutional management
 Sub-process of any institutional management
 Continuous process
 Collective functioning of all authorities
 Involve coordination of all resources
 Goal oriented
 Team effort
 Lay foundation of authority-responsibility relationship

 Importance of Organising

The organising function is an establishment of a network amongst various members of the institute
for playing their specific roles by owing responsibilities for achieving institutional objectives

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 collectively. It’s a mechanism which is undertaken by the collective efforts of a team to reach up to
predetermined and planned institutional goals.

 Importance of organising in an institution:

 Provides framework: for various functions of institutional management to work in efficient

and effective way by establishing cordial relationships between “Superiors” and
“Subordinates” by directing, controlling, monitoring and planning.
 Facilitates coordination:amongst various resourcesof an institution. In educational institute
each department has its designated role and organising function will help in polling the
efforts of all departments in one common output in the form of an objective of that institute.
 Leads to specialisation:division of work also leads to specialization of tasks amongst
different competent people or departments in an institute as per their resources and
competencies. This help in establishing specialised departments or human resource.
 Helps in achieving efficiency:division of roles leads to efficient use of all types of resources,
be it human or physical resource and there by enhance overall efficiency of institute
 Promotes Employee development:decentralization of powers strengthen and develop each
faculty member to take independent decision, solve problems at his/her own level, tackle
problems single handedly and all these individual contribution ultimately leads to overall
growth of the institute
 Well defined jobs–are demarcated by institutional structure by placing “Right Man for Right
Job’, as per their qualifications, skills and experience. Thus roles and responsibilities become
clear of every individual in the institution.
 Increases clarity of authority and responsibility:duty without delegation of authority de-
motivates faculty in any institute but this problem can be overcome by the process of
organising. Precision of roles helps in generating precise ideas and sense of responsibility
which can be materlised within given authoritative frame
 Facilitates adaptation to change:as the change is inevitable, hence new setting and resetting
of institutional structure, process and goals are matter of routine. This change can be easily
coped up with organising functions.

(B) Process of Organising

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The process of organising in an institution involves the following steps, where all leads to achievement of
the goals/objectives of an institution.:

 Identification and enumeration of activities:It is the first stage

 Identification and determination of broad objectives
 Identification and determination of broad activities
 Identification and determination of common goals.
 E.g. student’s admission, teaching learning, evaluation, placement, budgeting and finance,
purchase, staff development etc.

 Division of activities:
 Division and sub-division of broad activities into smaller fractions
 Each fraction is called as “jobs or tasks”

 Grouping-up of activities:
 Jobs or tasks are grouped on the basis of similarity and relationships
 E.g. teaching and learning group- includes all jobs and taskspertaining to teaching

 Assignment of group of activities:

 Specific groups with allocated jobs are assigned specific department/faculty/staff
 Allocation of department/faculty/staff is based on the competence and resources

 Granting necessary rights:

 Dissemination of power/authorities/rights to department/faculty/staff to undertake the given
task effectively
 Powers/authorities/rights are delegated from highest to the lowest level of management.

 Coordinating the functioning of various departments:

 Organising deals with making all possible co ordinations at every level till the common goals
of the institute are achieved
 E.g. coordinating the working of individuals with their departments and those of departments
with institutional head

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Practice Test

Q1. Short Questions

a)What is Organising in an institution?

b) Mention briefly the characteristics of Organising.

c) What is the importance of organising in an institute?

Feedback

Ans. a) Organising means collective working of two or more individuals. It involves coordination of
activities, integration of actions and balanced approach of various people working in unison for the
achievements of common goals of an institution.

Ans.b) Characteristics of Organising are:

 It is the basic function of any institutional management

 It is a continuous process
 It involves collective functioning of all authorities
 It involves coordination of all resources
 It is goal oriented
Ans.c) Importance of Organising in an institution

 Provides framework for superiors and subordinates to work effectively

 Facilitates coordination: amongst various resources of an institution.
 Leads to specialisation or division of work amongst different competent people.
 Helps in achieving efficiency of the institute

8.4.2 Organisation Structure and Design

(A) Organisational Structure of an educational institution is the formal arrangement of roles of

faculty and staff in a hierarchical way. It’s an institutional configuration showing relationships amongst
different departments and positions. The structure follows a set trend to descend information or

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instructions or guidelines where every unit or department has its organized role and activities to
undertake. Each organisation has its own structured “Organisational Chart” indicating its formal split up
of composition, official lines of communication and authoritative positions.

(B) Organisation Design is a change in the organisational structure, showing its intension to
respond to change, incorporation of new ideas, techniques, procedures, approaches to have an edge over
in changing and challenging society. The design of an organisation or institute is a sequentially followed
procedure, wherein all existing misfits in the institute like work flow, procedures, structures and systems
are identified which are realigned in new frame to achieve institutional goals or targets. The design of any
institute focuses on the improvement and empowerment of work force (faculty, staff and administrator)
and technical resources of that institute. The design should have a holistic approach towards institutional
improvement.

 Bureaucracy basics

Bureaucracies are age old system of administrative hierarchy, based on formal authorities, used to
delegate orderly, fair and logical instructions to subordinates. Such a set up has clear cut division of
roles, authorities, rules, promotional avenues, but based on competencies.

Although, bureaucracies are highly structured due to clearly defined rules and procedures, but the
success of such rigid set up in today’s fast changing environment is comparatively less. The non
flexibility of this system makes it slow responsive, less adaptable and inefficient to rapidly changing
scenario. Following the system in its original fixed frame may make the institute to perish or lag in
the long run.

Like two sides of the coin, the bureaucratic structure has also been advocated by many experts. They
are of the opinion that in all the situations, the system is no failure and if the institution does not
follow such a system, do we have any other suitable alternative available? The answer of this
question was given by research in 1960, which indicated that an organization’s environment impacted
the way it is managed. Accordingly a structure of the institution which may be suitable for the stable
environment may not be the same for a constantly changing one. While for the former a bureaucratic
set up is effective, the later requires a system which is continuously evolving, responsive and creative.
Based on the above analysis, two distinct frameworks viz. the mechanistic structure and organic
structure were identified.

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 Mechanistic structure of an institution- has following features
 Resembles bureaucratic structure
 Follows a clearly outlined formal framework of authority
 Precisely outlined tasks/jobs
 Clearly defined rights and obligations of its faculty and staff
 Clear demarcation of line and staff positions with formal relationships amongst them
 Communication in such an organisation structure is primarily formal communication

Mechanistic set up is found in most of the Indian educational institutions or universities which
tend to follow a very rigid and formal rules and regulations because such institutions are to deal
with very large number of students. So to provide them uniform and equitable treatment they
have to follow clearly defined rules and standard operating procedures. Though such operational
procedures need investment of more time, have slow pace due to stringent hierarchical decision
making processes so ultimately make the system inefficient and irritable to many stakeholders.
This also sometimes delays the start of the teaching learning process in the institutions.

Mechanistic organisational set up are fairly appropriate in those situations when the external
environment is quite stable where clearly defined rules and regulations help them in streamlining
their activities, but when external situations are regularly changing and there are ongoing new
challenges for the system to meet the newly cropping needs, then lack of flexibility may make
result in collapse of such rigid systems.

 Organic structureof an institution: has following features

 Work better in dynamism and mutual cooperation
 Based on cooperation of all members of an institution
 Has knowledge based heads or team leaders
 Less formal in composition
 More flexible and less reliance on formal authorities
 Has power decentralization
 Roles of members may flip but remain defined
 Continuous feedback help in reframing roles of individuals
 Promptness in decision making
 Has informal environment

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 Factors affecting organisational design in an institute: design of organisation structure is
multi factorial but the more important ones are-

 Size of the institute - larger organizations have more complex structure than smaller ones

Small institute Large institute

 Don’t have formal structure
 Don’t have organisational chart or
specified job functions
 Individual role is based on abilities, likes
and dislikes or need of the organisation
 Rules and regulations make boundaries
within which members can work freely
 Generally have organic system
 Works on the principle of harmony
 Have formal structure of organisation
 Clearly formed organisational chart with
specified job functions
 Tasks are specialized and training based
 Clearly laid rules and regulations dictate
work procedures
 Communication within the organisation
follow proper hierarchy
 Authorities are well designated
 Works on the principle of efficiency
 Generally have mechanistic system

 Life cycle of institution: just like human beings, the organizations also take birth, grow and
mature. Each stage is characterized by its own features. Mostly organisation undergoes
sequentially into each stage but sometimes the phase may be skipped or mutually swiped by
changing its structure. The stages of life cycle shows relationship between its size and age.
With every progressive stage of life cycle, the organisation become more specialized and
move from its organic to mechanistic structure.

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 Birth
inception stage
without formal structure
no specific delegation of
authoroties

Maturity Youth
focus on stableility and steady growth of
security institution

losses innovation and Life cycle main focus is to become

alarge organisation
creativity of it becomes customer
focus on profits and institution oriented
efficiancies develop organic structure
gradually undergo delegation of authorities
sanility stars

Mid-life
with a large and comple
organisation
structure becomes more comple
and formal
hierchy becomes more comple
gradually becomes mechanistic

Fig. Stages of life cycle of institution and their features

 Strategy of an institute - gives it smart move to go ahead in the current race and place itself
in top position in giving product or service. Any of the following strategies can be followed,
based on its structure:
 Differentiation strategy: may be opted to the newest and best service or product. It
helps the organisation to quickly respond to societal changes and needs. This
approach can be opted by organizations with organic structure

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  Cost-leadership strategy: may be opted to provide already existing services or
products more efficiently and at lower cost. This is mainly followed by the
organisation with mechanistic structure.

 Environment in an institute: conditions which influence the environment of an organisation

includes-
 Its economic status
 Surrounding socio-cultural conditions
 Legal and political conditions regulating its functioning
 Natural environmental conditions

There are generally two types of environment for the organisation to work in: -

1. Stable environment
 Need and desires of the customers are clear and well understood
 Need and desires of the customers probably will remain consistent for a relatively
long time.
 Working and administrative structure remain constant
 Find mechanistic structure more suitable for their functioning
 Focuses on long term performances

2. Dynamic environment
 Needs and desires of customers’ continuously keep on changing
 Working and administrative condition generally remain in turbulent.
 Regular up gradation of technology
 Find organic structure more suitable for their goals
 Make organisation proactive for change

 Approaches to Organisational Design in an institute:

Organisational design of any institute is to make efficient team to meet institutional goals. The best
design incorporates plus points of both mechanistic and organic structure. In today’s scenario the
most acceptable design includes more of organic and lass or bureaucratic features with lesser and

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flexible rules and regulations, decentralized authority structure etc. Team making or departmental
grouping revolves around five main approaches:

 Functional organisational design- works on the principle of clubbing specialized working

people in a unit called department. It has features like:
 Functional groups are designated as departments
 Departmental categorization is based on skills, expertise and resources, hence specialized
 Duties and responsibilities are fixed as per departmental strengths
 Single authority of each department
 Departments are further regulated by another top authority
 It has well defined channels of communication
 Categorical delegations of authorities and responsibilities
 Avoid duplication of roles, resources, hence enhances institutional productivity

Functional Structure

► Grouping of people by similar work specialty

► In a functional structure, people with similar
occupational specialties are put together in formal
groups
Director Structure for
an Educational
Institute
Dy. Director Dy. Director Dy. Director Dy. Director
Administration Finance Academics R&D

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 Fig. Functional organisational design in an institution

The approach has both advantages and disadvantages, like:

Advantages Disadvantages
 Each department becomes a specialized  Non performers don’t get fixed
group of members and head responsibility
 Proper division of labor, hence clarity of  Division of authority may interfere with
orders and instructions institutional discipline
 Economic approach due to optimum  Delayed decision making owing to many
utilization of resources experts in ach department

 Provide environment of skills development  May leads to conflict, lack of coordination,

and scope for growth blame games and trend of disowning

 Lessens the burden of top management responsibility

 Inter departmental clashes may arise
 Due to specialization of heads, effective
 Feeling of subordination may hamper the
and efficient planning and execution is
achievement of organisational goals
possible

 Divisional organisational design – works on the principle of grouping of people based on

similarity of purpose. Its main features are:
 Formal groups are made by clustering people with diverse occupational specialties
 Divisions of departments are as per their product or service outputs
 This design is generally found in large organisation
 Heads of departments are mainly concerned with results and resources
 The design is pro-change
 Division of work make goals achievable
 Monitoring of progress is easy

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 Divisional Structure of an Edu. Institute
Service
Director Based
divisional
structure
Consultancy
Education & Instructional
Research and and
Training Material
Development Community
Programmes Development
Services

Customer
Director
divisional
structure
Industrial Foreign
Fresh Students Community
Manpower Students
Training Training
Training Training

Geographic
Director
divisional
structure
Western Northern Southern
Eastern Region
Region Region Region

Fig. Divisional organisational design in an institution

The design, too have advantages and disadvantages, like:
Advantages Disadvantages
 Development of variety of skills in one  Not a cost-effective approach
department  Duplicity of resources or facilities for
 Ample autonomy to work without pressure each division
 Fast decision making and better operational  Differential allocation of resource lead
efficiency to conflict
 Diverse enrichment of head’s experience in  Duplication of activities waste time,
respect to their product or service energy and resources
 Make heads accountable  Lack of functional specialization leads
 Divisional head only being accountable to dissatisfaction of functional
 Gauging of performance measurement is specialists
possible

 Matrix organisational design- is based on grouping people in an institution on the basis of

their functions and divisions. Like:
 It makes a of functional & divisional structure

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  It forms two chains of commands
 Provide provision of cross-functional teams
 Integrate functional expertise of many people
 Reporting to two authorities, a functional group and a team head
 Motivate people working in the department
 Proper technical and general management training with focus on functional areas

Matrix Structure President Functional

An example of an industry Structure

Vice President, Vice President, Vice President, Vice President,

Project Engineering Finance Production Marketing
Structure

Project
Manager,
I

Project
Manager,
II

Project
Manager,
III

Project
Manager,
IV

Subordinate reports to both VP of Marketing (above) and Project Manager IV

Fig. Matirx organisational design in an institution

The design, too have advantages and disadvantages, like:

Advantages Disadvantages
 Better cooperation  Two boss system leads to power clash
 Better problem solving  Task confusion by two sets of
 More flexibility. instructions
 Better customer service  Splitting of teams under two bosses
 Efficient performance accountability. will lead to loss of institutional
 Better strategic management objectives
.
 Team organisational design– works on making groupings by elimination functional
barriers. It is characterized by:

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  Formation of both temporary or permanent teams
 Teams work in harmony, improve horizontal relationships and solve institutional
problems in any department
 These teams are designated as “cross‐functional teams”
 Existence of effective relationships in an institute, without departmental barriers

Team-based structure of an
industry
President
Functional
structure
Vice President, Vice President, Vice President, Vice President,
R&D Design Engineering Marketing

Project Team Project Team Project Team

Project Manager, Manager, Manager,
teams Manufacturing Manufacturing Manufacturing
Product I Product II Product III

Project team
members

Fig. Team organisational design in an institution

The design, too have advantages and disadvantages, like:
Advantages Disadvantages
 Break down of intradepartmental barriers  Conflict of loyalties among faculty
 Faster decision‐making and response times members
 Employees are motivated.  Problem of time management
 Elimination of levels of authorities  Much time gets wasted in meetings.
 Its cost-effective Administration

 Networking organisational design- is based on inter-organisational networking or “Virtual

Organisation”. It is featured by:
 Involve complex networking of institutions by computer connections
 Many independent institutions work in unison

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  The working principle is hiring or delegating specialized role to specific institute
 Duties are on contract basis
 Distribution of specified duties with no duplication
 Accountability of role by each institution for its job

Network structure
Example of a personal computer company

Parts
Design Office:
assembly:
USA
China

Core of
Computer
Company
Engineering USA
Distribution
company:
Unit: Sweden
Germany

Accounting &
finance: India

Fig. Networking organisational design in an institution

Like other design, this too has some advantages and disadvantages. Like:

Advantage Disadvantage
 Small sized  Unpredictability of supply
 Flexible in functioning, due to  Lack of control over out-sourced agencies
independence  Contractual workers may not be aware of
 Reduction of overhead expenses actual institutional goals
 Easy to operate, owing to specific role  Technical snags may interfere with target
 Specialized role of each institution dates
 Accountability is delegated  Interpretation of date from multiple sources

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 in varied formats

Practice Test
Q1. Fill in the blanks:
a) The __________ of an educational institution is the formal arrangement of roles of faculty and staff
in a hierarchical way.
b) The organisational design should have a _____towards institutional improvement.
c) _________are age old system of administrative hierarchy, based on formal authorities, used to
delegate orderly, fair and logical instructions to subordinates.
d) An institution may have a __________ or a __________ structure.
Q2. Short questions
a) What is Organisational structure?
b) What do you understand by organisational design?
c) Define Bureaucracies.
d) Name three factors affecting Design of an institution.
e) What are the features of Organic structure (mention any three)

Feedback
Ans. 1. Fill in the blanks
a) Organisational Structure
b) A holistic approach
c) Bureaucracies
d) Mechanistic structure, organic structure

Ans. 2 Short answers

Ans. a) The Organisational Structure of an educational institution is the formal arrangement of roles of
faculty and staff in a hierarchical way. It’s an institutional configuration showing relationships
amongst different departments and positions.

Ans. b) Organisation Design is a change in the organisational structure, showing its intension to
respond to change, incorporation of new ideas, techniques, procedures, approaches to have an edge
over in changing and challenging society.

Ans. c) Bureaucracies are age old system of administrative hierarchy, based on formal authorities,
used to delegate orderly, fair and logical instructions to subordinates. Such a set up has clear cut
division of roles, authorities, rules, promotional avenues, but based on competencies.

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 Ans. d) Factors affecting organisational design in an institute:
 Size of the institute
 Life cycle of institution
 Strategy of an institute

Ans. e) Features of organic structure

 It works better in dynamism and mutual cooperation
 It is based on cooperation of all members of an institution
 It has knowledge based heads or team leaders
 It is less formal in composition
 It is more flexible and less reliant on formal authorities

8.4.3Role of Responsibility, Authority and Delegation in

Institutional Effectiveness

 Delegation of Authority- means subletting your authority and powers downwards, from
superior to subordinates. It means that someone else is entrusted to do part/parts of your job.

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 In an education institution, the process of delegation starts from the top i.e. Director/Principal
who has the total responsibility for the achievement of institutional goals. In order to fulfill the
responsibility of accomplishing goals, he or she delegates the work to subordinates.These
subordinates can further assign some portion of it to their own subordinates and so on, if they find
that the work assigned to them by their superior is exceeding their “Span of Control”.Delegation
is the descending movement of formal authority from one superior to next subordinate(s) for the
completion of the given task.

In view of Koontz and O’Donnell:

 Delegation of authority is always result oriented

 Delegation of authority includes assignments of tasks
 Delegation of authority makes one responsible for task accomplishment
 Delegation of authority raise expectations from subordinates

 Management triad - of Authority, Responsibility and Accountability-

These three features in any educational institute revolve around one goal, achieving institutional
goals

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 The legal right of superior to command his subordinates.
The power and the right of a person to use and allocate resources
The power to take decisions and give orders
I should be clearly defined and not misused
Flows downward in hierarchy
Authority – Facilitates superiors to get the work from subordinates as per their directions, desires and expected goals
It should be always bonded to responsibility

An individual’s duty to complete allocated task

Responsibility with appropriate authority leads to successful accomplishment of tasks
Responsibility flows in ascending manner, from bottom to top.
Responsibility It lies more with middle level and lower level managements.
–

It’s an explanations for any gap between actual performance and desired expectations
It comes naturally with delegation and arise from responsibility
Ultimate accountability always lies with top authority like director or principal
Accountability cannot be delegated.
Accountability It cannot be escaped
E.g., ‘X’ is given a task with sufficient authority, and she delegates this to ‘Y’ and asks her to ensure that task
– is done well, responsibility lies with ‘Y’, but accountability still lies with ‘X’.

 Principles of Delegation:are theguidelines for effective delegation of authority in an

institution. It should have following characteristics:
 Functional Clarity: there has to be an absolute clarity from senior to subordinate
about three main aspects of task: what to do, why to do and how to do?
 Matching Authority with Responsibility:Authority and responsibility are
interlocked; hence it is very important to check that subordinates are given enough
authority as per their capabilities to perform the delegated tasks. There should not be
any mismatch between the delegated authorities, assigned responsibilities and
personal capabilities.
 Unity of Command:“Unity of Command” makes a clear bridge between a
subordinate and one superior. There should be single voice to control, means that
subordinates should be answerable or accountable to a single authority who has
delegated him or her authority to perform a set of tasks/.

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  Principle of Communication:The line of communication between seniors and
subordinates should be clear and live to avoid any kind of misunderstanding. No
instructions should have a generalised format. There should be an absolute clarity
and boundaries of delegated authorities and responsibilities. There should be an open
communication to have regular flow of feedback.
 Responsibility not Delegatable:Responsibility always lies with top administrator, in
the accomplishment of any project. So it cannot be delegated to subordinates. While
delegating authority, it becomes job of the superior to choose capable subordinate to
whom clear and achievable goals are given. After delegating authorities, he or she
cannot turn a blind eye towards the progress and accomplishment.
 Limits of Authority to be Well Defined:To avoid any ambiguity in delegating
authorities, there should a well documented administrative manual to be followed in
an institution that can give clear guidelines to delegators the scope and extent of
authority he or she can give to subordinates.
 Principle of Management by Exception:To undertake each and every task,
delegation of authority is not necessary. Certain activities, for which the senior
people of the organisation have their specailised niche, must not be delegated. To
reduce the physical and mental load to superiors, the subordinates must try to develop
their own problem solving attitude. This will prepare them to face higher challenges
and responsibilities and ultimately growth on an institute.

 Process of delegation-occurs by following given three steps:

1. Assignment of tasks and duties

2. Granting of authority
3. Creating responsibility and accountability

 Assignment of Duties–is the most important role of any senior person of an institute
for which following points should be taken care of:
 Proper definition of tasks and duties
 Matching of task given with capability of subordinate
 Clarity about expected outcome
 Granting of authority–is very important for the execution of any task. Extent of
authority depends upon the level of senior in administrative hierarchy. It can take
place by:

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  Division of authority of senior faculty of head of the department or institution
with the subordinates.
 Delegation of enough independence to undertake the given task
 Appropriate division of powerto get effective results from the subordinates.
 Creating Responsibility and Accountability– while delegating powers a sense of
obligation, responsibility and accountability has to be inculcated amongst
subordinates. These three aspects are interlinked. It is charaterised by:
 Responsibility cannot be shifted
 It gives effectiveness to authority

delegation of powers
by senior faculty
downwards to
undertake task
Responsibility
obligation of an obligation of an
individual as per individual to work as
insturctions given by per standerds of the
senior faculty institute

Authority Accoutability

Fig. Interrelationship between authority, responsibility and accountability

For maximum efficiency and quality growth of an institute, it is mandatory to design an

appropriate system to execute the delegation process. In order to make it unambiguous
the delegate’s role should be clear in terms of his responsibility and accountability.

 Advantages of Delegation:in an institute results in its efficiency and qualitative growth,

by:

 Effective functioning  Division of work load of senior faculty

 They get ample time for jobs like policy

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 Quick decision making:
 Timely decisions are taken
 Reduction in managerial 
load
 Specialised Service:
 Enhanced Motivation:
 Employee development:
 Training Ground
Executive Ability:
 Barriers to Delegation:
planning, co ordinations, leaderships etc.
 Subordinates with qualities like willingness,
competence and knowledge can hasten the
process of decision making, as they are also
authorized to take decisions
Reduce routine work load of senior faculty
 Reduce routine minor duties of senior faculty
 Senior faculty gets time to perform major and
important responsibilities
 Delegation of authority enable harnessing of
specailised skills, knowledge and expertise of
subordinates
 Delegation of authority boost motivational level
of subordinates
 They feel proud of being assigned authority and
responsibility
 Develop positive attitude, team work culture,
dedications and responsible temperament
 Delegation of authority and responsibility
encourage subordinates to undertake new and
more challenging tasks.
for  Delegation of authority help the subordinates to
learn the ability of critical analysis of situation
during task execution and decision making
which will help them in future
 Make them capable candidates to work at higher
level in management

Many a times there has been seen reluctance in giving and accepting delegation of authority
and responsibility from both sides, from senior faculty or heads and subordinates. Various
reasons for this reluctance are:

 Reluctance of senior faculty or heads-

 A feeling of superiority amongst them
 Underestimation of subordinate’s capabilities

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  Lack of patience amongst them, as delegation process is time consuming and lot
of time is to be invested for explaining, supervising and correcting
 Lack of trust and confidence in subordinates, as he or she is ultimately
accountable
 Incapability to coordinate subordinates
 Feeling of insecurity, fear of loss of power, fear of completion from subordinates
 Lack of control system in the institute to provide early warnings and corrective
measure, if need be

 Reluctance of Subordinates:
 Lack of confidence to accept additional responsibilities.
 Fear of criticism or dismissal in case of wrong decision
 Lack of incentives and appreciations
 De-motivated subordinates
 Unavailability of adequate information and resources

 Guidelines for Effective Delegation:

The following guidelinesmay help an institution in effective delegation of authority:

Type of task to be delegated:  Tasks requiring minor decisions

 Repetitive occurring tasks
 Demanding and challenging tasks, as these may lead to the
development of subordinates
Complete and clear delegations:  What, why and how of the task should be clear and precise
 Instructions should be clear to avoid repetition of instructions
To whom task must be  Clarity of vision of senior faculty while delegating a task
delegated?:  Based on competency, appropriateness and relevance of
subordinate
 Availability of time with subordinate
Provide sufficient resources:  For effective delegation of task, provision of necessary and
suitable resources are required
Provide relevant information:  Provision of all the relevant information on the task help in clear
understanding of action plan and its expected outcome
 Clarity of vision and goal leads to free and open communication
Establish a feedback system:  Feedback gives checkpoints

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  Feedback keep superiors aware of progress of the assigned task
 Feedback help the seniors to offer advice or mid course
adjustments

Thus, by following some specific guidelines while delegating authority to faculty and staff at
varied levels in its hierarchy, the efficiency and effectiveness of any educational institution can be
attained. It will keep the employees motivated and enhance their level of sincerity and dedication
towards the objectives of the institution.

Practice Test

Q1. Fill in the blanks

a) ____________ means sub letting your authority and powers downwards, from superior to
subordinates.

b) __________ , ____________ and ____________ in any educational institute revolve around

achieving institutional goals.

c) Subordinates should be answerable or accountable to a single authority who has delegated him, this
is nothing but ____________.

Q2. Short questions

a) What is delegation? State the features of delegation

b) What do you understand by Matching authority with delegation?

c) "Responsibility cannot be delegated"- Comment.

d) Give the steps of delegation.

e) Enlist four main advantages of delegating.

Feedback

Ans. 1. Fill in the blanks

a) Delegation of Authority
b) Authority, Responsibility and Accountability-

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c) Unity of command

Ans. 2. Short answers

Ans. a) Delegation of authority means sub letting your authority and powers downwards, from superior to
subordinates. It means that someone else is entrusted to do part/parts of your job. It features are:
 Delegation of authority is always result oriented
 Delegation of authority includes assignments of tasks
 Delegation of authority makes one responsible for task accomplishment

Ans. b) Matching authority with delegation means that authority and responsibility are interconnected
with each other, hence it is very important to check that subordinates are given enough authority as per
their capabilities to perform the delegated tasks. There should not be any mismatch between the
delegated authorities, assigned responsibilities and personal capabilities.

Ans. c) Responsibility always lies with top administrator, in the accomplishment of any project. So it
cannot be delegated to subordinates. Only authority can be delegated not responsibility.

Ans. d) Steps in the delegation process:

 Assignment of tasks and duties
 Granting of authority
 Creating responsibility and accountability

Ans. e) Delegation helps in

 Effective functioning of the institution
 Quick decision making
 Reduction in managerial load

Conclusion

In today’s scenario, every institution has to show a competitive edge by using its resources to the
maximum. Organising is the best way to achieve this goal. Based on the objectives of an institution,
institutions can design their organisational structure. This structure should have clearly defined lines of

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delegation of authority linked with responsibility and accountability so that every member of the
institution is clear what to perform and within which boundaries, leading to the enhancement of
institutional affectivity.

Bibliography:

1. Dalton, M; Hoyle, DG & Watts, MW (2000). Human Relations. 2nd edition. United States of
America: South – Western Educational Publishing, 56-118p.
2. Dessler, G (2000). Human Resource Management. 7th Edition, New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India
Pvt. Ltd.
3. Megginson, LC; Mosley, DC and Pietri, PH (1983). Management: Concepts and application.
USA: Harper and Row Publisher.
4. Robbins, SP (1988). Management: Concepts and Application, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc.
5. Rue, LW and Byars, LL (1995). Management - skills and application. 7th Edition. Chicago:
Irwin, 350- 366p.
6. Stoner, JAF and Freeman, R E (1994). Management. 5th Edition, New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of
India Pvt. Ltd.437-468p.
7. Tripathi, PC and Reddy, PN (2001). Principles of Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company Ltd., 208-222p.
8. Hersey, P; Blanchard, KH and Johnson, DE (2000). Management of Organizational Behaviour,
7th Edition, New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India Pvt. Ltd.
9. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/principles-of-management/organizational-design-and-
structure/five-approaches-to-organizational-designFive Approaches to Organizational Design,
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/organizing_importance.htm Importance of Organizing
Function
11. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/importance_of_delegation.htm Importance of
delegation

Supportive learning material: by Dr. Rakesh K Wats

Videos on:

 Organising : Concept & Process

 Organizational Design and Structure
 Role of Responsibility, Authority and Delegation in Institutional Effectiveness

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Web resources:

 Organizing Function of Management https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yVsOSbbPhc

 Organizing - Concept & Process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDvkj7zBiOw
 Organisation Structure - Line & staff, Functional, Committee https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=dXHPqYGWIkg

 Meaning, Process and Types of Organisational Structure |#1| Organising

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrmJG_8d9Cg

 Delegation of authority | organising | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsj9EcAWwnE

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