CHAPTER IV

ORGANIZING
TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES

INTRODUCTION
The engineer manager needs to
acquire
various
skills
in
management, including those for
organizing technical activities. In this
highly competitive environment, the
unskilled manager will not be able to
bring his unit, or his company, as the
case may be, to success.

INTRODUCTION
The value of a superior organizational
set-up has been proven dramatically
during the Second World War when a
smaller American naval force confronted
the formidable Japanese navy at Midway.
Military historians indicated that the
Americans emerged victorious because
of the superior organizational skills of
their leaders.

INTRODUCTION
Even today, skills in organizing
contribute largely to the accomplishment
of the objectives of many organizations,
whether they are private businesses or
otherwise. The positive effects of business
success becomes more pronounced when
they come as a result of international
operations.
International
businesses,
however, cannot hope to make huge
profits unless they are properly organized
to implement their plans.

INTRODUCTION
The opportunities offered by skillful
organizing are too important for the
engineer manager to ignore. This chapter
is intended to provide him with some
background and insights in organizing.

REASONS FOR ORGANIZING

Organizing is undertaken to facilitate
the implementation of plans. In effective
organizing, steps are undertaken to
breakdown the total job into more
manageable man-size jobs. Doing these
will make it possible to assign particular
tasks to particular persons.

REASONS FOR ORGANIZING

In turn, these will help facilitate the
assignment of authority, responsibility and
accountability of certain functions and
tasks.

ORGANIZING DEFINED
Organizing

is a management function
which refers to the structuring of
resources and activities to accomplish
objectives in an efficient and effective
manner.
The arrangement or relationship of
positions within an organization is called
the structure. The result of the organizing
process is the structure.

THE PURPOSE OF THE

STRUCTURE
The structure serves some very useful
purposes. They are the following:
1. It defines the relationships between
tasks and authority for individuals and
departments.

THE PURPOSE OF THE

STRUCTURE
2. It defines formal reporting relationships,
the number of levels in the hierarchy of
the organization and the span of control.
3. It defines the groupings of individuals
into departments and departments into
organization.

The Formal Organization

After a plan is adapted, management
will proceed to form an organization to
carry out the activities indicated in the
plan.
The formal organization is the
structure
that
details
lines
of
responsibilities, authority and position.
What is depicted in the organization
chart is the formal organization.

The Formal Organization

It is the planned structure an it
represents the deliberate attempt to
establish patterned relationships among
components that will meet the
objectives effectively.

The Formal Organization

The formal structure is described by
management through:
1.

organization chart

2.

organizational manual and

3.

policy manuals.

The Formal Organization

The organization chart is a diagram
of the organizations official positions
and formal lines of authority.

The Formal Organization

The organizational manual provides
written
descriptions
of
authority
relationships, details the functions of
major
organizational
units
and
describes job procedures.
The
policy
manual
describes
personnel activities and company
policies.

Informal Groups
Formal organizations require the
formation of formal groups which will be
assigned to perform specific tasks aimed
at achieving organizational objectives. The
formal group is a part of the organization
structure.

Informal Groups
There are instances when members of
an organization spontaneously form a
group with friendship as a principal reason
for belonging. This group is called an
informal group. It is not part of the formal
organization and it does not have a formal
performance purpose.

Informal Groups
Informal groups are oftentimes very
useful in the accomplishment of major
tasks, especially if these tasks conform
with the expectations of the members of
the informal group.

Informal Groups
The informal organization, useful as
it is, is vulnerable to expediency,
manipulation
and
opportunism,
according to Valentine. Its low visibility,
Valentine added, makes it difficult for
management
to
detect
these
perversions and considerable harm can
be done to the company.

Informal Groups
The engineer manager is , therefore,
warned that he must be on the lookout
for the possible difficulties that the
informal groups may do to the
organization. It will be to his best
interest if he could make the informal
groups work for the organization.

TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURES
There are three types of organizations.
They are the following:
1.

Functional organizationthis is a
form of departmentalization in
which everyone engaged in one
functional activity, such as
engineering or marketing, is
grouped into one unit.

TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURES
2.

Product or market organization

this refers to the organization of a
company by divisions that brings
together all those involved with a
certain type of product or
costumer.

Types of Organizational Structures

3.

Matrix organizationan
organizational structure in which
each
employee reports to
both a functional or division
manager and to a project or
group manager.

Functional Organization
Functional organization structures
are very effective in smaller firms,
especially single-business firms where
key activities revolve around welldefined
skills
and
areas
of
specialization.

Functional Organization
Functional
organizations
have
certain advantages. They are the
following:
1.

The grouping of employees who

perform a common task permit
economies of scale and efficient
resource use.

Functional Organization
2.

3.

Since the chain of command

converges at the top of the
organization, decision-making is
centralized, providing a unified
direction from the top.
Communication and coordination
among employees within each
department are excellent.

Functional Organization
4.

The structure promotes highquality technical problem-solving.

5.

The organization is provided with

in depth skill specialization and
development.

Functional Organization
6.

Employees are provided with career

progress within functional departments.

Functional Organization
The disadvantages of the functional
organizational are the following:
1. Communication and coordination
between the departments are
often poor.
2. Decisions involving more than one
department pile up at the top
management level and are often
delayed.

Functional Organization
3. Work specialization and division of
labor, which are stressed in a
functional organization, produce
routine, no motivating employee
tasks.
4. It is difficult to identify which section or
group is responsible for certain
problems.

Functional Organization
5.

There
is
limited
view
of
organizational goals by employees.

6.

There is limited general management

training for employees.

Product or Market Organization

The Product or market organization,
with its feature of operation by divisions,
is appropriate for a large corporation
with many product lines in several
related industries.

Product or Market Organization

The advantages of a product or market
organization are as follows:
1.

The organization is flexible and

responsive to change.

2.

The organization provides a high

concern for customers needs.

Product or Market Organization

3.

the organization provides

excellent coordination across
functional departments.

4.

There is easy pinpointing of

responsibility for product
problems.

Product or Market Organization

5.

There is emphasis on overall

product and division goals.

6.

The opportunity for the

development of general
management skills is provided.

Product or Market Organization

The disadvantages of the product or
market organization are as follows:
1.

There is a high possibility of

duplication of resources across
divisions.

2.

There is less technical depth and

specialization in divisions.

Product or Market Organization

3.

There is poor coordination across

divisions.

4.

There is less top management

control.

5.

There is competition for corporate

resources.

Matrix Organization
Matrix organization, according to
Thompson and Strickland, is a structure
with two (or more) channels of command,
two lines of budget authority, and two
sources of performance and reward.
Higgins declared that the matrix structure
was designed to keep employees in a
central pool an to allocate them to various
projects in the firm according to the length
of time they were needed.

Matrix Organization
The matrix organization is afforded with
the following advantages:
1.

There is more efficient use of

resources than the divisional
structure.

2.

There is flexibility and adaptability

to changing environment.

Matrix Organization
3.

The development of both general

and functional management
skills are present.

4.

There is interdisciplinary
cooperation and any expertise is
available to all divisions.

5.

There are enlarged tasks for

employees which motivate them
better.

Matrix Organization
The matrix organization has some
disadvantages, however. They are the
following:
1.

There is frustration and confusion

from dual chain of command.

Matrix Organization
2.

There is high conflict between

divisional and functional interests.

3.

There are many meetings and

more discussion than action.

Matrix Organization
4.

There is a need for human

relations training for key
employees and managers.

5.

There is a tendency for power

dominance by one side of the
matrix.

Types of Authority
The delegation of authority is a
requisite for effective organizing. It
consists of three types. They are as
follows:
1.

Line authoritya managers right

to tell subordinates what to do
and then see that they do it.

Types of Authority
2.

Staff authoritya staffs

specialists right to give advice to
a superior.

3.

Functional Authoritya
specialists right to oversee lower
level personnel involved in that
specialty, regardless of where the
personnel are in the organization.

Types of Authority
Line departments perform tasks that
reflect the organizations primary goal and
mission. In a construction firm, the
department that negotiates and secures
contracts for the firm is a line department.
The construction division is also a line
function.

Types of Authority
Staffs departments include those that
provide specialized skills in support of line
departments.
Examples
of
staff
departments include those which perform
strategic
planning,
labor
relations,
research, accounting and personnel.

Types of Authority
Staff officers may be classified into the
following:
1.

Personal staffthose individuals

assigned to a specific manager to
provide needed staff services.

Types of Authority
2.

Specialized staffthose
individuals providing needed staff
services for the whole
organization.

Types of Authority
Functional authority is one given to a
person or a work group to make decisions
related to their expertise even if these
decisions concern other departments. This
authority is given to most budget officers
of organizations, as well as other officers.

The Purpose of Committees

When certain formal groups are
deemed
inappropriate
to
meet
expectations,
committees
are
ofetntimes harnessed to achieve
organizational
goals.
Many
organizations, large or small, make use
of committees.

The Purpose of Committees

A committee is a formal group of
persons formed for a specific purpose. For
instance, the product planning committee,
as described by Millevo, is often staffed
by top executives from marketing,
production, research, engineering and
finance, who work part-time to evaluate
and approve product ideas.

The Purpose of Committees

Committees are very useful most
especially
to
engineering
and
manufacturing firms. When a certain
concern, like product development, is
under consideration, a committee is
usually formed to provide the necessary
line-up of expertise needed to achieve
certain objectives.

The Purpose of Committees

Committees
follows:
1.

may be

classified

as

Ad hoc committeeone created

for a short-term purpose and have
a
limited life. An example is
the committee created to
manage the anniversary
festivities of a certain firm.

The Purpose of Committees

2.

Standing committeeit is a
relatively permanent committee
that deals with issues on an
ongoing basis. An example is the
grievance committee set up to
handle initially complaints from
employees of the organization.

The Purpose of Committees

Committees may not work properly,
however, if they are not correctly
managed. Delaney suggests that it might
be useful to set up some procedures to
make the committee a more effective tool
to accomplish our goals.

Summary
The
proper
management
of
engineering activities, whether at the unit,
department or firm level, requires effective
organizing. The organizing function is
undertaken to facilitate the implementation
of plans.

Summary
Organizing refers to the structuring of
resources and activities to accomplish
objectives. The structure serves as a way
to reach the organizations goals.

Summary
The formal organization is the structure
that will carry out the plan. It is described
through the organization chart, the
organization manual and the policy
manual.

Summary
Informal group oftentimes find their way
to exist side by side with formal
organizations. These groups may make it
easy or make it hard for the organization
to achieve its objectives.

Summary
Organization may be classified into: (1)
functional, (2) product or market or (3)
matrix.
Authority delegated to the members of
the organization may be classified into: (1)
line authority, (2) staff authority and (3)
functional authority.

Summary
Committees are used as a supplement
to the existing formal organization.
Committees are classified into: (1) ad hoc,
and (2) standing.