An organization is a group of people who work together with coordinated efforts to achieve certain objectives or goals. Organizational goals and objectives are of various categories, and it is this variation of the goals and objectives which classify organizations into three main categories, namely profit-making, service-based, and social responsibility based organizations. Organizational culture refers to shared beliefs, values, norms, and practices which characterize an organization. Norms are informal rules which are institutionalized by organizations. The norms govern the conduct of employees and constitute what is permitted and prohibited in different organizations. One of the important aspects of organizational culture is teamwork. Organizations encourage employees to work in groups instead of working independently. Teamwork makes organizations benefit from the synergy found in groups. Working in groups gives employees an opportunity to exercise their creativity, innovativeness, skills, and talents. It also enables the group members to learn from the strengths of each Continue reading
Principles of Management
Three Major Organizational Management Paradigms
The social understanding of organizations in the economic system has been evolving with time. Several theories have been put forward in an attempt to explain the role of organizations in society, their effect on the socio-economic and political systems as well as the relationship between society and the organizations. Models of organization theory have been elaborated with the paradigm of organizational management being developed over the years. The inclusion of technology in the management of organizations has been a key in the development of new theories and postulates on how organizations are managed and their relationship with the environment as well as society in general. Three major paradigms of perception on organizations have been elaborated below; rational, natural, and open paradigms. The rational system is the most dominant perspective embraced by most real-world managers and practitioners. The rational system is characterized by two structural features that set it apart from Continue reading
Charles Handy’s Model of Organizational Culture
Organizational culture influences the behavior of organisations but as it is intangible it is difficult to define and understand. Organisational culture introduces unspoken rituals and tacit rules and addresses the actions, values, and behaviors, which, in combination, contribute to the overall philosophy and environment of the organisation. It shapes the way in which employees behave and make decisions and is formed over time as a result of the experiences and values of the organisation and the way in which it reacts to internal and external circumstances. A key role of organizational culture is to differentiate the organisation from others and provide a sense of identity for its members. Cultures do not have to be logical or consistent, in fact they seldom are and can appear quite haphazard and chaotic to the outsider. A strong culture is one that is internally consistent, is widely shared, and makes it clear what it Continue reading
Comparison of Classical and Behavioral Approaches to Management
Management has been as old as the human beings and with the evolvement of humans management has also evolved. The history of management and its theories can be traced back to thousands of years. However, systematic development of the theories of management is generally viewed from the end of nineteenth century with the emergence of large industrial organizations and the ensuing problems associated with their structure and management. This is the time when work of various writers on the management has started to come into the light. These works can be clubbed together to form different approaches to the theory of management. Two of the most popular and widely accepted approaches to management are: Classical Approach to Management, and Behavioral Approach or Human Relation Approach to Management In order to be able to compare and understand the contrast of these two approaches to management, let’s understand the basics of these Continue reading
12 Principles of Organization Structure
Traditional organisation theorists developed certain principles of organization structure. These principles are intended for universal application to all enterprises. The most important of these principles of organization structure can be listed under the following heads: 1. Division of Labor or Specialization The classicists viewed specialization as the basis of efficiency. A group of individuals can secure better results by having division of work. F.W. taylor applied by breaking down jobs into single repetitive tasks performed on specialized tools. At higher levels, however, grouping jobs into manageable units and their co-ordination can pose serious problems. The principle of specializations has been challenged by the behaviorists and others. Fatigue, monotony and boredom are the inevitable outcomes of division of labor. While specializations cause great function interdependency among operatives, it also depersonalizes their activities so that individuals find little meaning in the work. Moreover, functional interdependency among work activities causes strains and tensions. Continue reading
Geographical Organizational Structure
Geographical organizational structure involves grouping of the activities according to regional or geographical locations. The territorial divisions become a complete administrative unit to cater to the need of the localities. The Regional Manager will practically be the chief controller of his region. He is given full powers of managing his own region or zone. His office functions as a head office for all practical purposes. The functions pertaining to finance, marketing, personnel and production development of low-level employees are completely vested in the zonal office which has separate departments of these functions to guide and control the respective activities of the zone. The zonal office may have several divisional offices for executive functions. The area population and size of business in a zone will decide the number of divisional offices, their functional activities, and amount of authority and responsibility to be vested in the divisional managers. Continue reading