ORGANIZING AND DELEGATING WORK
Lecture Outline
I.
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
Unity of Command and Direction
Chain of Command
Span of Management
Division of Labor
Coordination
Balanced Responsibility and Authority
Delegation
Flexibility
II. AUTHORITY
A.
B.
C.
D.
Formal and Informal Authority
Levels of Authority
Line and Staff Authority
Centralized and Decentralized Authority
III. ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
A.
B.
C.
D.
Organization Chart
Departmentalization
Multiple Departmentalization
New Approaches to Departmentalization
IV. JOB DESIGN
A.
B.
C.
D.
Job Simplification
Job Expansion
Work Teams
The Job Characteristics Model
V. ORGANIZING YOURSELF AND DELEGATING
A.
B.
C.
D.
Setting Priorities
Delegation
Delegation Decisions
Delegating with the Use of a Model
107
Lecture Outline
I. PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION
Organizing is the second function of management and was defined as the process of delegating and coordinating
tasks and resources to achieve objectives. On an organizationwide basis, organizing refers to grouping activities and
resources.
Henri Fayol did pioneering work in administrative theory (Appendix A). Many of the principles of organization that
Fayol developed are still used today.
A. Unity of Command and Direction
Unity of command means that each employee should report to only one boss. Unity of direction means that all
activities should be directed toward the same objective.
B. Chain of Command
Chain of command, also known as the Scalar Principle, is the clear line of authority from the top to the bottom of the
organization. All members of the firm should know to whom they report and who, if anyone, reports to them.
C. Span of Management
The span of management refers to the number of employees reporting to a manager. The fewer employees
supervised, the smaller or narrower the span of management.
With the span of management comes the height of the organizational levels. A flat organization exists when there
are few levels with wide spans of management. A tall organization exists when there are many levels with narrow
spans of management.
D. Division of Labor
With the division of labor, employees have specialized jobs.
Lawrence and Lorsch coined the terms differentiation and integration. Differentiation refers to the need to break the
organization into departments, while integration refers to the need to coordinate the departmental activities.
E. Coordination
Coordination means that all departments and individuals within the organization should work together to
accomplish the strategic and operational objectives and plans. Coordination is the process of integrating
organizational/departmental tasks and resources to meet objectives.
Other means of coordination include:
 Direct contact between people within and between departments.
 Liaisons who work in one department and coordinate information and activities with one or more other
departments.
 Committees made up of people from the different departments being coordinated.
 Integrators who do not work for any department but coordinate departmental activities to reach an objective.
 Boundary roles in which employees coordinate efforts with people in the external environment.
F. Balanced Responsibility and Authority
Balanced responsibility and authority mean that the responsibilities of each individual in the organization are clearly
defined. Each individual is also given the authority needed to meet these responsibilities and is held accountable for
meeting them.
Responsibility is the obligation to achieve objectives by performing required activities. Authority is the right to
make decisions, issue orders, and utilize resources. Accountability is the evaluation of how well individuals meet
their responsibility.
G. Delegation
Delegation is the process of assigning responsibility and authority for accomplishing objectives. Delegation is
covered in detail later in this chapter.
H. Flexibility
Flexibility means that there will always be exceptions to the rule.
II. AUTHORITY
A. Formal and Informal Authority
1.
Formal Authority: Formal authority (or structure) includes the specified relationships among employees. It is
the sanctioned way of getting the job done. Formal authority starts at the top of the organization and is
delegated down the chain of command.
2.
Informal Authority: Informal authority (or structure) includes the patterns of relationships and
communications that evolve as employees interact and communicate to get their jobs done. It is the
unsanctioned way of getting the job done.
3.
Scope of Authority: The scope of authority narrows as it flows down the organization. Responsibility and
authority are delegated and flow down the organization, whereas accountability flows up the organization.
B. Levels of Authority
1.
2.
3.
4.
Inform authority. The person informs the boss of possible alternative actions. The boss has the authority to
make the decision.
Recommend authority. The person lists alternative actions, analyzes them, and recommends one action.
However, the manager may not implement the recommendation without the boss's okay.
Report authority. The person may freely select a course of action and carry it out. However, afterward the
person must report the action taken to the boss.
Full authority. The person may freely make decisions and act without the boss's knowledge.
C. Line and Staff Authority
Line authority is the responsibility to make decisions and issue orders down the chain of command. Staff authority
is the responsibility to advise and assist line personnel. Line managers are primarily responsible for achieving the
organization's objectives, and staff people provide them with a service to help them.
1.
Functional Authority: Functional authority is the right of staff personnel to issue orders to line personnel in
established areas of responsibility.
2.
Dual Line and Staff Authority: Staff managers may have both staff and line authority.
3.
General and Specialist Staff: General staff work for only one manager. They are often called "assistant to"
and help the manager in any way needed. Specialist staff help anyone in the organization who needs it. Human
resources, finance, accounting, public relations, and maintenance offer specialized advice and assistance.
D. Centralized and Decentralized Authority
The major difference between centralized and decentralized authority is who makes the important decisions. With
centralized authority, important decisions are made by top managers. With decentralized authority, important
decisions are made by middle- and first-level managers.
III. ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
Organizational design refers to the arrangements of positions into work units/departments and the interrelationship
among them within the organization.
See Exhibit 6-4 Organization Chart as an illustration of an organization chart.
A. Organization Chart
An organization chart is a graphic illustration of the organization's management hierarchy and departments and
their working relationships. Each box represents a position within the organization, and each line indicates the
reporting relationships and lines of communication.
An organization chart shows four major aspects of a firm:
 The level of management hierarchy.
 Chain of command. As you follow the vertical lines you can see it.
 The division and type of work. GM divides work is by type of automobile.
 Departmentalization. An organization chart shows how the firm is divided into permanent work units.
An organization chart does not show the day-to-day activities performed or the structure of the informal
organization.
B. Departmentalization
Departmentalization is the grouping of related activities into units. Departments may be created with an internal or
external focus. Departmentalization around the internal operations or functions that the employees perform and the
resources needed to accomplish the unit's work is called functional departmentalization. External or output
departmentalization is based on activities that focus on factors outside the organization and is called product,
customer, and territory departmentalization.
1.
Functional Departmentalization: This involves organizing departments around essential input activities, such
as production, sales, and finance that are managerial or technological functions.
2.
Product (Including Service) Departmentalization: This involves organizing departments around products or
services. Product departmentalization is commonly used by companies with multiple products. Each department
may become a self-contained company, making and selling its own product or service.
3.
Customer Departmentalization: This involves organizing departments around the needs of different types of
customers. The product may be changed, and a different sales team may serve each group of customers.
4.
Territory (Geographic) Departmentalization: This involves organizing departments in each area in which the
enterprise does business.
C. Multiple Departmentalization
Many organizations, particularly large, complex organizations, use several of the departmental structures described
to create a hybrid organization. Any mixture of structures can be used.
1.
Matrix Departmentalization: This combines the functional and product departmental structures. With matrix
departmentalization, the employee works for a functional department and is also assigned to one or more
products or projects.
2.
Divisional Departmentalization: Divisional structure departmentalizes based on semiautonomous strategic
business units (Chapter 5). In essence, you have coordinated companies within a company. Within the
divisional, or M-Form structure, any mixture of the other forms of departmentalization may also be used by the
company and within divisions. Divisional structure is common for large, complex global businesses with a
diversity of products and services to aid in portfolio management (Chapter 5).
The conglomerate- holding company or H-Form- structure departmentalizes based on autonomous profit
centers. Companies with unrelated diversified business units use the conglomerate structure. Top management
focuses on portfolio management to buy and sell businesses without great concern for coordinating divisions.
employees who share responsibility, and it has a strong adaptive culture.
IV. JOB DESIGN
See Exhibit 6-7 Job Designs as an illustration of the four approaches to job design.
Job design is the process of combining tasks that each employee is responsible for completing.
A. Job Simplification
Job simplification is used to make jobs more specialized. It is based on the organizing principle of division of labor
and Taylor’s scientific management (Chapter 1). The idea behind job simplification is to work smarter, not harder.
Job simplification is the process of eliminating, combining, and/or changing the work sequence to increase
performance. Break the job down into steps (flowchart) and see if you can:
 Eliminate. Does the task have to be done at all? If not, don’t waste time doing it.
 Combine. Doing more than one thing at a time often saves time.
 Change sequence. Often a change in the order of doing things results in a lower total time.
Job that are too simple and boring can lead to lower levels of productivity. However, when used appropriately, job
simplification can be effective at motivating employees.
B. Job Expansion
Job expansion is the process of making jobs less specialized. Jobs can be expanded through job rotation, job
enlargement, and job enrichment.
1.
Job Rotation: This involves performing different jobs for a set period of time.
2.
Job Enlargement: This involves adding tasks to broaden job variety.
3.
Job Enrichment: Job enrichment is the process of building motivators into the job itself by making it more
interesting and challenging. Job enrichment works with jobs of low motivation potential with employees who
want their jobs enriched. A simple way to enrich jobs is for the manager to delegate more variety and
responsibility to employees.
C. Work Teams
The traditional approach to job design has been to focus on individual jobs. Today, the trend is shifting to designing
jobs for work teams, or rather, teams are redesigning members’ jobs. The development of work teams is a form of
job enrichment.
1.
Integrated Work Teams: These are assigned a number of tasks by the manager and the team gives specific
assignments to members and is responsible for rotating jobs.
2.
Self-Managed Wok Teams: These are assigned a goal, and the team plans, organizes, leads, and controls to
achieve the goal.
4.
Employee Growth-Need Strength: This determines the employees’ interest in having the five core dimensions
improved, which determines the critical psychological states, and the personal and work outcomes. Generally,
the stronger the employees growth-need, the more interested they are in improving the five core dimensions and
the critical psychological states, and the greater the personal and work outcomes.
V. ORGANIZING YOURSELF AND DELEGATING
A. Setting Priorities
How managers select the priority order of what needs to be accomplished affects their career success.
1.
Priority Determination Questions: To determine the importance of tasks, you ask yourself three questions
about the task that needs to be completed. Priority determination questions ask: Do I need to be personally
involved? Is the task within my major area of responsibility or will it affect the performance or finances of my
department? When is the deadline, is quick action needed?
2.
Assigning Priorities: After the three questions are answered, a high, medium, or low priority can be assigned to
each activity:




3.
Delegate (D): The task is delegated if the answer to Question 1 (Do I need to be personally involved?) is
no.
High (H) Priority: A high priority is assigned if you answer yes to all three questions.
Medium (M) Priority: A medium priority is assigned if you answer yes to Question 1 (you need to be
involved) but no to Question 2 (it is not your major responsibility) or not to Question 3 (quick action is not
needed; it can wait).
Low (L) Priority: A low priority is assigned if you answer yes to question 1 (you need to be involved) but
no to both questions 2 and 3. It is not your major responsibility, and quick action is not needed.
The Prioritized To-Do List: Refer to Model 6-1 for a copy of the prioritized to-do list. The steps to using the
prioritized to-do list are:
1.
2.
3.
Write the task that you must perform on the task line.
Answer the three priority questions by placing a Y (yes) or N (no) in the column.
Assign a priority to the task by placing the letter D (delegate), H (high), M (medium), or L (low) in the priority
column.
4. Determine which task to complete now. You may have more than one high priority, so select the most important
one. When all high priorities are completed, go to medium followed by low.
Update the tasks on the prioritized to-do list and add new ones. As time passes, the items that were prioritized
medium and low become high.
Skill-Building Exercise 6-1 develops skill at setting priorities using the prioritized to-do list.
B. Delegation
Delegation is the process of assigning responsibility and authority for accomplishing objectives. Telling employees
to perform the tasks that are part of their job design is issuing orders, not delegating. Delegating refers to giving
employees new tasks.
1.
Benefits of Delegation: When managers delegate they have more time to perform high-priority tasks.
2.
Obstacles to Delegation: Managers become used to doing things themselves. Managers fear that the employee
will fail to accomplish the task.
3.
Signs of Delegating Too Little: Two of the seven signs include: taking work home, and performing employee
tasks.
C. Delegation Decisions
The following are in Exhibit 6-10
1.
What to Delegate: As a general guide, use your prioritized to-do list and delegate anything that you do not
have to be personally involved with because of your unique knowledge or skill. Some possibilities include the
following: Paperwork. Routine tasks. Technical matters. Tasks with developmental potential. Solving
employees' problems.
2.
What Not to Delegate: As a general guide, do not delegate anything that you need to be personally involved
with because of your unique knowledge or skill. Typical examples include: Personnel matters, Confidential
activities, Crises, and Activities delegated to you personally.
3.
Determining to Whom to Delegate: Once you have decided what to delegate, you must select an employee to
do the task.
D. Delegating with the Use of a Model
The delegation model steps are: (1) explaining the need for delegating and the reasons for selecting the employee;
(2) setting objectives that define responsibility, the level of authority, and the deadline; (3) developing a plan; (4)
establishing control checkpoints and holding employees accountable.
Step 1. Explain the Need for Delegating and the Reasons for Selecting the Employee: It is helpful for the
employee to understand why the assignment must be completed.
Step 2. Set Objectives That Define Responsibility, the Level of Authority, and the Deadline: The objectives
should clearly state the end result the employee is responsible for achieving by a specific deadline. You should also
define the level of authority the employee has.
Step 3. Develop a Plan: Once the objectives is set, a plan is needed to achieve them.
Step 4. Establish Control Checkpoints and Hold Employees Accountable For simple short tasks a deadline
without control checkpoints are appropriate. However, it is often advisable to check progress at predetermined times
(control checkpoints) for tasks that have multiple steps and/or will take some time to complete.