ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT: ORGANIZING

ORGANIZING

A management function involving the structuring of resources and activities to accomplish objectives efficiently and effectively.

Designing Jobs
Grouping Jobs
Establishing Reporting Relationships
Distributing Authority
Coordinating Activities
Differentiating Between Positions

BASIC ELEMENTS OF ORGANIZING

Designing Jobs

• Determines an individual's work-related responsibilities.

• Most common approach: job specialization.

Grouping Jobs

After jobs are designed, they are grouped into departments.

• Function

• Product

• Customer

• Location

4 Common bases for departmentalization:

Establishing Reporting Relationships

Starts with clarifying the chain of command.

Span of management helps determine whether an organization is:

• Tall

• Flat

Distributing Authority

• Starts with delegation.

• Delegation = manager assigns a portion of total workload to others.

Coordinating Activities

Links activities of various departments.

Differentiating Between Positions

Line position

• Direct chain of command.

• Responsible for achievement of organizational goals
  
  

Staff position

• Provides expertise, advice, and support to line positions.

1. Defines relationships between tasks and authority for individuals and departments.
   
   

2. Defines:

• Formal reporting relationships

• Number of hierarchy levels

• Span of control
  
  

3. Defines groupings of individuals into departments and departments into the organization.
   
   

4. Defines the system used to coordinate effort in both:

• Vertical

• Horizontal directions.

PURPOSE OF THE STRUCTURE

Formal Organization

-Is the structure that details line of responsibilities, authority and

position

- Is described by the management through organizational chart,

organizational manual and policy manuals.

Informal Group

• Group that is spontaneously formed by members of an

organization with friendship as a principal reason for belonging

• It is not part of the formal organization

• It does not have a formal performance purpose

• Structure detailing:

  • Responsibilities

  • Authority

  • Position

• Described by management through:

  • Organizational chart

  • Organizational manual

  • Policy manuals

Formal Organization Difference

• Spontaneously formed by organization members.

• Friendship is a principal reason for belonging.

• Not part of the formal organization.

• Has no formal performance purpose.

Informal Group Difference

FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION
PRODUCT OR MARKET ORGANIZATION
MATRIX ORGANIZATION

TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES

• Employees performing a common task allow economies of scale and efficient resource use.

• Chain of command converges at the top -> unified direction.

• Promotes high-quality technical problem-solving.

• Provides in-depth skill specialization and development.

• Career progress is provided within functional departments.

FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION

• Flexible and responsive to change.

• High concern for customer needs.

• Excellent coordination across functional departments.

• Easy pinpointing of responsibility for product problems.

• Emphasis on overall product/division goals.

• Develops general management skills.

PRODUCT OR MARKET ORGANIZATION CHARACTERISTICS

• More efficient resource use than divisional structure.

• Flexible and adaptable to changing environment.

• Develops both general and functional management skills.

• Encourages interdisciplinary cooperation.

• Expertise is available to all divisions.

• Enlarged employee tasks can improve motivation.

MATRIX ORGANIZATION CHARACTERISTICS

Line Authority

Staff Authority

Functional Authority

TYPES OF AUTHORITY

Line Authority

A manager’s right to tell subordinates what to do and then see that

they do it.

Staff Authority

A staff specialist’s right to give advice to a superior

Functional Authority

A specialist's right to oversee lower-level personnel involved in that specialty, regardless of where they are in the organization.

COMMITTEES

is a formal group of persons formed for a specific purpose.

Ad Hoc Committee

Standing Committee

Types of Committees

Ad Hoc Committee

• Created for a short-term purpose.

• Has a limited life.

Standing Committee

• Relatively permanent.

• Deals with issues on an ongoing basis.