One of the greatest challenge in an organization is the management process. Selecting and implementing significant change is one of the most challenging undertakings that faces an organization. If the change involves the entire organization and also requires new rules that will replace established ways of doing business the challenge is crucial. This topic was discussed by our group and as I was researching about the assigned topic to me, I was also able to understand other factors that affects managing organization process.
Organizing, like planning, must be a carefully worked out and applied process. This process involves determining what work is needed to accomplish the goal, assigning those tasks to individuals, and arranging those individuals in a decision-making framework. According to the website http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/The-Organizational-Process.topicArticleId-8944,articleId-8875.html, the following image shows a diagram of the principles of Management Process.
I guess this diagram shows the idea correctly. As I will discuss each of the step, I will also try to relate it with my organization. Step 1 discusses about the Job design. Typically, this step refers to the objective that of the specific activities that must be completed to achieve goals. Plans shape the activities needed to reach those goals. Managers must examine plans initially and continue to do so as plans change and new goals are developed. Part of this planning is defining each job of each member of the organization. Goals and mission cannot be achieved without starting from the primary unit of the organization. In my organization, job designs are specifically designated to every employee, specially to us as instructors. Of course, our main job is to share our knowledge to our students and be a facilitator as well. But not only that. We are also responsible for guiding our students to the right path, not only in education but with their personal lives as well. As instructors, we should serve as role models to our students.
Step 2 is the Departmentalization. This is where tasks are identified and departmentalized. Although this task may seem overwhelming to some managers, it doesn't need to be. Managers simply list and analyze all the tasks that need to be accomplished in order to reach organizational goals. Then, it is also the tasks of managers to divide the tasks to whoever fits the responsibility. In industrial companies, tasks are divided by department or unit. Some of the common departments are the Finance, Audit, Human Resource, and Customer Service. In an academe such as my organization, departmentalization usually applies in the administrative offices having the same departments with industrial companies. But departmentalization also happens in the faculty and courses where we are divided our grouped as one department depending on our courses or major subjects.
Classifying and grouping the necessary work activities into manageable units is the Step 3 in this process, also known as delegation. This is similar to departmentalization, only that it involves smaller units or sub-departments. There are departments that needs to still be divided to even distribute the tasks properly. In the school where I am currently working, in every department, there are also sub-departments that represents the different programs under that department. For example, in the Department of the Business Administration, it will be divided into smaller units according to the programs namely Management Accounting, Finance, and Human Resource Management.
Step 4 then refers to the Span of Management, merely discussing about assignment of activities and delegation of authority. Managers assign the defined work activities to specific individuals. Also, they give each individual the authority (right) to carry out the assigned tasks. This part also defines the span of management of every authorized person, meaning, the boundary of his authority to people. It refers to how many people reports to one manager. Though according to research, there is no perfect number of people in one management that's why span of management refers only to how narrow or wide is the span.
The last step of the process is the chain of command which refers to the design hierarchy of relationships. A manager should determine the vertical and horizontal relationships of the organization as a whole. Since chain of command links all persons in one organization, it is important to understand the two underlying principle of this step which involves unity of command and scalar principle. In my organization, the hierarchy starts with top administrative office, then goes down to the different department chairpersons, then down to program heads, and then the faculty members.
There is no such thing as a perfect organization. But a properly implemented organizing process should result in a work environment where all team members are aware of their responsibilities. If the organizing process is not conducted well, the results may yield confusion, frustration, loss of efficiency, and limited effectiveness.
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