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.

Reasons for Organizing

Organizing is undertaken to facilitate the implementation of plans. In effective
organizing, steps are undertaken to break down the total job into more manageable
man-size jobs.

Organizing
Organizing is a management function which refers to “the structuring of resources
and activities to accomplish objectives in an efficient and effective manner.”

The Purpose of the Structure

1. It defines the relationships between tasks and authority for individuals and
departments.
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.
4. It defines the system to effect coordination of effort in both vertical
(authority) and horizontal (tasks) directions.”
When structuring an organization, the engineer manager must be
concerned with the ff:
1. Division of Labor
2. Delegation of Authority
3. Departmentation
4. Span of Control
5. Coordination
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.
It is “the planned structure” and it “represents the deliberate attempt to establish
patterned relationships among components that will meet the objective
effectively.”
The formal structure is described by management through:
1. Organizing Chart
-Is a diagram of the organization’s official positions and formal lines of
authority.
2. Organizational Manual
-Provides written descriptions of authority relationships, details the
functions of major organizational units, and describes job procedures
3. Policy Manuals
-Describes personnel activities and company policies.

Informal Groups
Are instances when member of an organization spontaneously form a group with
friendships as a principal reason for belonging. It is not a part of the formal
organization and it does not have a formal performance purpose.
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.

Types of Organizational Structure

1. Functional organization
-this is a form of departmentalization in which everyone engaged In one
functional activity, such as engineering or marketing, is grouped into one
unit.
Advantages
 The Grouping of employees who perform task permit economies of
scale and efficient resource use.
  Since the chain of command converges at the top of the organization,
decision making is centralized provided unified direction from the top.
 Communication and coordination among employees within each
department are excellent.
 The structure promotes high-quality technical problem solving.
 The organization is provided with in depth skill specialization and
development.
 Employees are provided with career progress within functional
departments.
Disadvantages
 Communication and coordination between departments are often poor.
 Decisions involving more than one department pile up at the top
management level are often delayed.
 Work specialization and division of labor, which are stressed in a
functional organization, produce routine, non-motivating employee
tasks.
 It is difficult to identify which section or group is responsible for
certain problems.
 There is limited vies of organizational goals by employees.
 There is limited general management training for employees.
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 customer.
Advantages
 The organization is flexible and responsive to change.
 The organization provides a high concern for customer’s needs.
 The organization provides excellent coordination across functional
departments.
 There is easy pinpointing of responsibility for product problems.
 There is emphasis on overall product division goals.
 The opportunity for the development of general management skills is
provided.
Disadvantages
 Communication and coordination between departments are often poor.
 Decisions involving more than one department pile up at the top
management level are often delayed.
  Work specialization and division of labor, which are stressed in a
functional organization, produce routine, non-motivating employee
tasks.
 It is difficult to identify which section or group is responsible for
certain problems.
 There is limited vies of organizational goals by employees.
 There is limited general management training for employees.
3. Matrix organization
-An organizational structure in which each employee reports to both a
functional or division manager and to a project or group manager.
Advantages
 There is more efficient use of resources than the divisional structure.
 There is flexibility and adaptability to changing environment.
 The development of both general and functional manage skills are
present.
 There is interdisciplinary cooperation and any expertise is available to
all divisions.
 There are enlarged task for employees which motivate them together.
Disadvantages
 There is frustration and confusion from dual chain of command.
 There is high conflict between divisional and functional interests.
 There are many meetings and more discussion than action.
 There is a need for human relations training for key employees and
managers.
 There is a tendency for power dominance by one side of the matrix.

Type of Authority
1. 1. Line Authority
-a manager to tell subordinates what to do and then see that they do it.
2. Staff Authority
-a staff specialist’s right to give advice to a superior.
3. Functional Authority
-a specialist’s right to oversee lower-level personnel involved in that
specialty, regardless of where the personnel are in the organization.
Staff Officer may be classified
into the ff:
1. Personal Staff
-those individuals assigned to a specific manager to provide needed staff
services.
2. Specialized Staff
-those individuals providing needed staff services for the whole
organization.

The Purpose of Committees

When certain formal groups are deemed inappropriate to meet expectations,
committees are often-times harnessed to achieve organizational goals.
A committee is a formal group of persons formed for a specific purpose.
Committee are very useful most especially to engineering and manufacturing
firms.
Committees may be classified as follows:
1. Ad hoc Committee
-one created for a short-term purpose and have a limited life.
2. Standing Committee
-those individuals providing needed staff services for the whole
organization.