Chapter 6
Organizing and
Delegating Work
PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook
The University of West Alabama
Copyright © 2006 Thomson Business and Economics.
All rights reserved.
Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Explain the difference between a flat organization and a tall
organization.
2. Describe the similarities and differences among liaisons,
integrators, and people in boundary roles.
3. Discuss the difference between formal and informal authority
and centralized and decentralized authority.
4. List and briefly explain the four levels of authority.
5. Describe the relationship between line authority and staff
authority.
6. Explain what an organization chart is and list the four aspects of
a firm that it shows.
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6–2
Learning Outcomes (cont’d)
7. Discuss the difference between internal and external
departmentalization.
8. State the similarities and differences between matrix and
divisional departmentalization.
9. Explain the difference between job simplification and job
expansion.
10. Describe the job characteristics model.
11. Explain how to set priorities by answering three priority
questions and determining whether activities have high,
medium, or low priority.
12. List the four steps in the delegation process.
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6–3
Learning Outcomes (cont’d)
13. Define the following key terms:
span of management
responsibility
authority
delegation
levels of authority
line authority
staff authority
centralized authority
decentralized authority
organization chart
departmentalization
divisional structure
job design
job enrichment
job characteristics model
priority-determination questions
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6–4
Ideas on Management at Post and Schell
1. What key organizational principles guided Post &
Schell in its reorganization?
2. How has authority changed at Post & Schell?
3. What organizational design did Post & Schell adopt?
4. What type of job design does Post & Schell use?
5. What prioritization and delegating issues does Post &
Schell face?
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6–5
Organizing Questions
Questions for Managers
Chapter Topic
Who should departments
and individuals report to?
Chain of command;
organization chart
How many individuals should
report to each manager?
Span of management
How should we subdivide
the work?
Division of labor;
departmentalization
How do we get everyone to
work together as a system?
Coordination
At what level should decisions
be made?
Centralization vs. decentralization
of authority
How do we organize to meet
our mission and strategy?
Departmentalization
Exhibit 6–1
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6–6
Principles of Organization
• Unity of Command and Direction
• Chain of Command
• Span of Management (flat and tall
organizations)
• Division of Labor (specialization,
departmentalization, integration)
• Coordination
• Balanced Responsibility and Authority
• Delegation
• Flexibility
Exhibit 6–2
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6–7
Balanced Responsibility and Authority
• Responsibility
– The obligation to achieve objectives by
performing required activities.
• Authority
– The right to make decisions, issue orders, and
use resources.
• Accountability
– The evaluation of how well individuals meet
their responsibilities.
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6–8
Balanced Responsibility and Authority (cont’d)
• Delegation
– The process of assigning responsibility and
authority for accomplishing objectives.
• Flexibility
– The ability to adapt to exceptions to the rules,
policies, and procedures of the organization.
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6–9
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6–10
Authority
• Formal Authority (or Structure)
– The organizationally-sanctioned way of getting
the job done.
– Organizational charts illustrate formal lines of
authority in firms.
•
Informal Authority
– The patterns of relationships and
communication that evolve as employees
interact and communicate that is not sanctioned
by the organization.
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6–11
Authority (cont’d)
• Scope of Authority
– A hierarchy as it
flows down the
organization.
Exhibit 6–3
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6–12
Levels of Authority
• Authority to Inform
– Inform a superior of action alternatives and the
superior makes the decision.
• Authority to Recommend
– List alternatives/actions and recommend one
action; superior makes action decision.
• Authority to Report
– Select and implement a course of action,
reporting action to superior.
• Full Authority
– Acting independently without supervision.
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6–13
Line and Staff Authority
•
Line Authority
–
•
The responsibility to make decisions and issue orders
down the chain of command.
Staff Authority
–
–
The responsibility to advise and assist line and other
personnel.
Functional authority
• The right of staff personnel to issue
orders to line personnel in established
areas of responsibility.
–
Dual line and staff authority
• Staff personnel exercise line authority
within their own departments.
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6–14
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Line and Staff Authority (cont’d)
• General staff
– Work for only one manager and help the
manager in any way needed.
• Specialist staff
– Help anyone in the organization who needs it.
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Centralized and Decentralized Authority
• Centralized Authority
– Important decisions are made by top managers.
• Decentralized Authority
– Important decisions are made by middle and
first-line managers.
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6–17
Authority
Exhibit 6–4
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6–18
Organization Design
• Contingency Factors Affecting Structure
–
–
–
–
Environment (mechanistic versus organic)
Production technology
Strategy (“structure follows strategy”)
Size of the organization (larger = more formal)
• Organization Chart
– A graphic illustration of the organization’s
management hierarchy and departments and
their working relationships.
•
Management level, chain of command, division and
type of work, and departmentalization.
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6–19
Organization Chart
Exhibit 6–5
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6–20
Departmentalization
• Departmentalization
– The grouping of related activities into units.
• Functional departmentalization
– Based on the internal operations or functions
that the employees perform and the resources
needed to accomplish that work.
• External, or output, departmentalization
– Based on activities or factors outside the
organization: product, customer, or territory.
• Multiple Departmentalization
– Hybrid structure: matrix and divisional (SBUs)
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6–21
Types of Departmentalization
Exhibit 6–6
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6–22
Types of Departmentalization (cont’d)
Exhibit 6–6 cont’d
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6–23
Multiple Departmentalization
• Hybrid structures using combinations of
functional and product departmentalization
• Matrix Departmentalization
– Unity of command
– Coordination issues
• Divisional Departmentalization
– Strategic business units (SBUs)
– Conglomerate structures: profit centers
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6–24
Matrix Departmentalization
Exhibit 6–7
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New Approaches to Departmentalization
• Horizontal Team Organization
– Has an all-directional focus to increase speed of
response, individual accountability, flexibility,
knowledge sharing, and coordination.
– Networks
•
Boundaryless interrelationships among different
organizations.
– Virtual Organization
•
A continually evolving group of companies that unite
temporarily to exploit specific opportunities or to
attain strategic advantages and then disband when
objectives are met.
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6–28
Job Design
• Job Design
• Job Design Options
– The process of
identifying tasks that
each employee is
responsible for
completing.
– Job Simplification
• Eliminate tasks
• Combine tasks
• Change task sequence
– Job Expansion
• Rotate jobs
• Add tasks
• Job enrichment (increase
task variety and
employee responsibility)
– Work Teams
• Integrated
• Self-managed
Exhibit 6–8
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6–29
The Job Characteristics Model
Exhibit 6–9
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6–30
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6–31
Setting Priorities
•
Priority-Determination Questions
1.
2.
3.
•
Do I need to be personally involved because of my unique
knowledge or skills?
Is the task my responsibility, or will it affect the performance or
finances of my department?
When is the deadline—is quick action needed?
Assigning Priorities
–
–
–
–
Delegate (D) priority: The task is delegated if the answer to
question 1 is no.
High (H) priority: Assign the task a high priority if you answer
yes to all three questions.
Medium (M) priority: Assign the task a medium priority if you
answer yes to question 1 but no to one of the remaining two
questions.
Low (L) priority: Assign the task a low priority if you answer yes
to question 1 but no to both questions 2 and 3.
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6–32
Prioritized To-Do List
1. Write the task that you must perform on the task
line.
2. Answer the three priority questions by placing
a Y (yes) or N (no) in the relevant column.
3. 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.
Exhibit 6–10
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6–33
Delegation
• Benefits
• Obstacles
– More time for other
high-priority tasks.
– Trains employees
and improves their
self-esteem.
– Enriches jobs and
improves personal
and work outcomes.
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– Reluctance to stop
doing tasks
personally.
– Fear of employee’s
failure to accomplish
task.
– Threatened by
employee’s success.
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What to Delegate and What Not to Delegate
• What to Delegate
• What Not to Delegate
– Paperwork
– Routine tasks
– Technical matters
– Tasks that develop
employees
– Tasks associated with
solving employee’s
problems
– Anything that you need
to be involved with
because of your unique
knowledge or skill
– Personnel matters
(evaluating, disciplining,
firing)
– Confidential matters
– Projects or tasks in
crisis
– Activities delegated to
you personally
Exhibit 6–11
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6–35
Steps in the Delegation Model
1. Explain the need for delegating and the
reasons for selecting the employee.
2. Set objectives that define responsibility,
the level of authority, and the deadline.
3. Develop a plan.
4. Establish control checkpoints and hold
employees accountable.
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6–36