Chapter 3Organizing the Workplace[These slides .docx
Leadership 4
1. THE EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION
Leadership is continually concerned with mobilizing the efforts of
personnel to accomplish assigned missions. In most organizations, this is not a
simple undertaking. At its best, such leadership consists of motivating number
of people who possess varied interest, capability and duties – and of integrating
their activities so they functions as an organization system.
To be effective, an executive must base actions upon an understanding of
both the internal affairs of the organization and the external situation faced by it.
Organizational Effectiveness
Effectiveness in achieving objectives depends upon the ability to cope with
and control the operational environment. For an organization to overcome its
operational environments, it requires:
2. 1. Capacity to evaluate reality - The ability to search out, accurately perceive, and
correctly interpret the operational situation, including conditions both internal and
external to the organization.
2. Adaptability - The capacity to solve problems and to react flexibly to changing
demands of the operational situation.
3. Integration - The maintenance of structure and function under stress and
maintenance of a state of relations among subunits that will 4nsure that coordination
is sustained and that subunits do not work at cross-purposes.
4. Operational proficiency - The technical competence to executive successfully the
tasks arising from the demands of the operational situation.
Essential Characteristics of Effective Organizations
To meet the above requirements, effective organizations usually develop a
number of identifiable characteristics. These characteristics include:
3. 1) Organizational Characteristics
1.1 The capacity to learn
An effective organization has the capacity to gather information relative to its
actions and performance, analyze it, feed it to itself, and change according to what
is learned either about situational demands or about the organization itself. All of
this makes possible continued development and improvement.
1.2 Open and efficient communication
An organization must have the ability to generate information about both
external and internal conditions and to communicate it validly ad reliably. There
must be a flow from one part of the organization in the other of all relevant
information important for each decision and action. Members must exchange
information and work at clearing up misunderstanding. Because of efficient
communication, members are able to achieve the common understanding of
problems necessary for well-0integrated action.
4. 1.3 An organizational climate of confidence and trust,
and freedom from threat, especially among key
personnel
There must be a preponderance of favorable attitudes on the part of
each member toward other members, superiors, duties, and the
organization – as well as toward most aspects of his or her situation.
Because of these favorable attitudes and loyalties, effective
organizations usually develop strong informal values and standards of
behavior, particularly in elation to the more important aspects of
performance. Thus, each member will do all he reasonably can to help
his organization achieve its objectives, and he expects every other
members to do the same. A poor climate undermines communication,
reduces flexibility, and encourages self-protection rather than
commitment to the organization.
5. 1.4 Internal flexibility and innovative ability
An organization must be sufficiently flexible so that shifting of both
individual and group assignments is possible when changes in situations
demand it. Thus, the organization is able to adapt readily to unanticipated
events. Procedures are not so rigid that adjustment to new situation becomes
excessively laborious. Furthermore, over formalism and strong dependence
upon individual leaders do not exists to the extent that responsibility cannot be
easily shifted when situational demands change or when leaders are lost.
1.5 A state of functional integration among subordinate units
Functions and operations of the part of the organization must fit together
so that the parts do not operate at cross-purposes.
6. 1.6 Operational proficiency
This is essential in performance both of operations directly related
to goal accomplishment and of activities required to support the
organization.
2) Leader Resources
2.1 Leader who are able to arrive at valid decisions speedily
and efficiently
The energy of leaders and of decision making groups cannot be
expended in interminable haggling or over-concentration on
inconsequential details, but must be used to develop constructive
solutions to critical problems.
7. 2.2 Leaders skilled in using potential present among subordinates
for mission accomplishment
This means that talent is not wanted, the organization knows how to locate,
develop, and use member abilities to the best advantage.
3) Personnel Resources
3.1 Commitment of personnel to organizational objectives, and a high level
of motivation to perform
Furthermore, there must be a minimum of conflict in the organization about
basic objectives. There can be no effective coordination actions if there is no
conflict among influential members about objectives or about means for
accomplishing them, It means that if deep-seated differences exists within the key
management group, even though not expressed, unified action is not like to result.
From commitment to objectives comes willingness to work hard and to change
when necessary.
8. 3.2 A sense of identity
Personnel must have knowledge and insight about what the organization is,
what its objectives, wheat it is to do, and what it stands for.
Bases of Effectiveness
In effective organizations, characteristics such as those described can be
frequently observed. It is important to note that many of these characteristics are
only remotely related to the adequacy of organizational doctrine, operating
policies, or technical procedures. Good organizational techniques are important for
providing a stable environment within which people may work. A secondly
engineered structure is no assurance, however, that the organization will function
properly. Organizational techniques assume tht people will behave in accordance
with the logic of the system,, but people do not always carry out their duties in
accordance with the4 assumptions made by the formal, national system. Therefore,
strains may develop in the organization, causing loss of effectiveness will become
of him – a phenomenon that is most important because of its effect upon
motivation and morale.
9. A series of possible dilemmas runs through complex organizations:
1. Clear organizational lines are essential to operational effectiveness but, if
they become too fixed, they tend toward inflexibility.
2. Well-defined objectives increase the efficiency of the organization, but
they often make it difficult to change direction.
3. Levels of authority assure an effective chain of responsibility, but the
hierarchy is another factor that encourages the development of inflexibility.
4 .Clearly understood rules, methods and procedures make it possible to
operate consistently and with coordination, but they circumscribe
subordinates’ initiative as they increase in number.
5 Close supervision ensures control but stifles motivation.
10. An executive, operating within exacting requirements for
coordination and control; must rely upon formal structures and
organizational principles to obtain much of his results. He must also
strive, however, to simultaneously combat, negative motivational forces
that are, in part, created by the very system that is intended to make
performance more effective. This contradictory interplay of procedures
required for coordination and control, and practices designed to
stimulate performance, crease a conflict that appears to constitute one of
the central problems of executive leadership.
Necessary Organizational Conditions
The fundamental problem is: How can the leader of an organization
consisting of a diverse membership with varied responsibilities develop
it into the integrated system? Many practical activities can be taken.
First, however, it is important to examine certain underlying general
conditions that are necessary to the formation and effective functioning
of an organization.
11. These conditional are necessary because they are the means for
reconciling the conflict between the formal and informal areas of
organization. When properly developed, they provide the motivational
forces for melding diverse individuals and units in an effectively
functioning entity. Regardless of the particular techniques used, most of
the developmental efforts of executives are devoted to creating such
conditions. The general conditions essential to the formation and
functioning of an effect9ive organization are common objectives
conducive to copea5ive action among personnel and group, shared
experiences in the pursuit of common objectives, a stable and efficient
organization and shared norms of performance and behavior.
Objectives Conducive to Cooperation
The development of a unified organization occurs through the
interactions of personnel who possess common objectives and, hence,
common motives. When people share objectives that require
cooperative action to achieve, they work together.
12. The phrase conducive to cooperation should not be overlooked. All objectives
experienced by personnel at the same time and in the same place are not necessarily
conducive to cooperation. The phrase implies that members must perceive, even
though dimly, that other people also face a set of circumstances or that a problem
can be solved, ignored, or deal with in some fashion by cooperating with one
another. Therefore it is not sufficient that an organization merely possesses
objectives. It is equally important for every member to consciously perceive that
such objectives exist and that cooperative effort is required to achieve them.
Shared Experiences
When people work together toward common objectives and undergo common
experiences that are meaningful, the resulting interaction produces changes in their
perceptions, emotions, thinking, attitudes, and actions. The distinguishing feature
of those changes is that the individual begins to identify his feelings, thinking,
attitudes, and actions with the organization. Furthermore, persisting personal
relationships and values evolve and become stabilized. These provide each
individual with organized, enduring, and motivationally significant ties with the
organization. Thus, over time, the individual becomes a part of a functioning
system that exerts a more influence upon his experiences and his actions.
13. A Stable and Efficient Organization
Coordinated action requires that each individual be able to
predict with a reasonable degree of accuracy how other relevant
members will behave and what others expect. In short, organized
effort requires a system of stable expectations in terms of how
each member should and will perform.
That state of group affairs – commonly referred to as
solidarity, cohesion, or unit integrity – is largely a consequence of
a stabilized structure of relationships in which the various
members meet expectations that define their particular roles and
functions. When a group reaches a level in which all members
have clear expectations of how each relevant person will perform
and, more important, have strong confidence that every individual
can be relied on to fully meet these expectations, high cohesion
can then be said to exist.
14. The senior executive who organizes subordinates manages and
relevant staff members into a cohesive group of which he is an actively
functioning member, lays to foundation for well integrated action
throughout his organization. Since these people occupy key positions, heir
influence on performance is get. When they function with the executive as
a team, they learn his expectations, his preferred ways of operating, what
his performance standard are, and how he desired the organization to be
led.
Staff members, because of their key position, are able to infuse the
executive’s viewpoints into the next lower level. When, therefore, each
level is linked to succeeding levels in similar ways, influence from the
higher echelon can permeate the organization. In effect, this is how an
organizational climate is developed.
The effectiveness of the organization and its capacity to deal with
difficult problems depend upon the effectiveness of the linking groups of
which the structure consists. The more effectively the linking function is
performed, the more integrated and better coordinated the total
organization.
15. Shared Norms of Performance and Behavior
As people work together to develop an organization, by-products of their
activities begin to emerge. Similarly, routines, rules of conduct, standards of
performance, and values emerge. This superstructure of customs, rules, standards,
and values is referred to as the norms of the organization.
Norms are attitudes and codes of behavior held in common by all, or most, of
the members. An organization may develop norms relative to what constitutes a fair
day’s work, what level of performance is desirable, what kinds of conduct are good or
ad, and so on. In short, norms can be developed around just about anything having to
do with the lie and work of the personnel
From the leader’s standpoint, norms are important because of the strong
influence they exert on actions of personnel. Norms regulate the behavior of
members. When people have its emotional investment in an organization and have
internalized its values, norms, provide them with a basis for governing their behavior
and for evaluating the actions of others.
16. For these reasons, it behooves every executive to do everything
possible to create conditions that will results in norms that are
constructive for the performance of his organizations. Norms that are
counter to official objectives are exceedingly difficult to change.
Developing an Effective Organization
The development of an effective organization is rewarding,
although sometimes frustrating endeavor. The constant temptation to
move forward on all fronts simultaneously must be restrained in favor
of a clearly recognized sequence. Failure to take things in their natural
sequence is probably the single greatest mistake in developing a more
effective organization. This is difficult to avoid because the responsible
executive naturally feels that he must make a good showing and
produce tangible results in a hurry.
17. If the executive does not remain deliberate, however, he may find
himself hopelessly tangle in a series and disruption in his organization.
This is not to say that he can afford to sit back until intuition makes
every move clear. He usually does not have that much time. There is
more danger, though, by failing to make the right moves in their proper
order than there is by taking a little more time in the beginning and
discovering their natural sequence.
Organization often encounter difficulties because personnel have
not learned, or perhaps are not motivated, to function well together, It is
possible for a new group composed exclusively of experienced
managers to exhibit operational problems until common habits of
functioning have evolved. It is possible for highly trained executives
lkto be unable somehow to guide an effective staff.
18. Effective performance is a matter, not only of technical and
organizational proficiency, but of such factors as the nature of
objectives, the state of motivation, morale and disciple, and the degree
fo functional integration amount the effective personnel and units that
comprise the organization. The organization most likely to be effective
is a tightly knot, efficiently functioning system of people and activities.
One key to creating such an effective organization lies in the
development of favorable attitudes on the part of each member toward
all other personnel and superiors – as well as toward all aspects of the
organizations.
The Formal Structure
Attempts to direct numbers of personnel has resulted in the
development of policies and practices intended to control and coordinate
their activities.
19. These activities that people must perform, and the way that
personnel are formally arranged relative to them and to the mission,
constitute the formal structure of organization.
Any organization must have a set of activities e3specially designed
to perform its mission. The system will ordinarily include activities
directly required to accomplish the mission and also a set of support
activities.
Logic of Organization
The activities are arranged and systematized on the basis of ideas
as to how they should be effectively performed and logically
coordinated – on the basis of what have been called “the logics of
organization”. The ideas stem from experience and technology, and
include ideally the best policies, the best methods and the best systems.
20. They cover what is usually found in such materials as manuals and
organization charts – and, together, they make up the formal technical aspect of
organization. In accordance with these “logics”, organizations are
characterized by:
* The national determination of objectives
* Hierarchical arrangement of personnel in terms of authority,
responsibility, coordination, and control
* Missions that require the collaboration of subunits created through
the division of labor and responsibility
* A certain degree of authority in matters strictly internal to the
organization.
The logical derivation of an organizational structure is almost universally
based on the distribution of responsibility. In fact, the very foundation of
organization is a basic system of stable expectations regarding differential
responsibilities and relationships among the members. With this system, there
would be little possibility of coordination or of directed action.
21. The distribution of responsibility results in a structure characterized
by specialization of function and strict lines of authority. The large
organization is broken down into smaller components, each having a
fairly independent identity. The components are, in turn, usually
divided into even smaller identifiable elements. Thus, structure ios laid
out so as to create a precise format in which each unit is clearly charted
and its missions assigned. The system is designed to prevent
duplication of effort and, through control along the lines of authority
and responsibility, to ensure that each person knows exactly what he is
supposed to do and that he will perform in accordance with
expectations.
Organization derived along lines of distribution of responsibilities
carried with it a number of principles intended to maximize
effectiveness through controls, including:
22. 1. Unity of command - in each organization and at each level, there
must be only one source of authority. This principle leads to
centralization of decision making and numerous controls to ensure that
the decisions are carried out.
2. Chain of authority - there should b a clear-cut line of responsibility.
The chain of authority must not be interfered with, by a confusion of
duties. Each individual should report to only one superior.
3. Standardization of functions - there must be standardized procedures
for most operations. This standardization includes uniformity in the
performance of every activity, regardless of the person executing the
activity. Such standardization makes planning possible because the
actions of all members will be predictable. This also permits the
exercise of control by managers.
23. 4.Specialization of functions-in addition to standardization, activities should
also be specialized with each individual learning a particular task. This allows
each person to prepare the duties with a minimum of training time and effort.
5. Clarity of job specifications and responsibility – effective standardization
and specialization require detailed specifications for each position in the
organization with explicit descriptions of duties and responsibilities.
6. Line and staff functions – to provide for flexibility in operations and to give
full information to executives about the way the organization is functioning,
staff positions are created at numerous organizational levels. The staff person
gives close attention to his specialized area and recommends actions in this
area. If his recommendation is accepted, new order or directives will be
issued. The staff person himself, however, never gets into the direct line of
authority.
24. The rationale of formal organization is clear. The structure and the
logics upon which it rests are directed toward the influence and control
of groups and personnel. This accomplished through communication
and decision systems outlined by the chain of authority that specified
who communicates with whom and at which levels certain kinds of
decisions will be made.
Importance of Formal Structure
Emphasis upon the formal structure and principles is important for
two reasons:
First – The proper observance of organizational channels and principles is
essential for operational efficiency.
25. It is necessary that the system function as designed for efficiency of
operations to be achieved. When circumstances dictate deviation from
these general principles of organization, difficulties often arise.
Second - As efficient system tends to create frustration and conflict
among personnel which, int urn, affect performance.
Reason for concern with organizational principles is that an
ineffective system tends to create frustration and conflict among
personnel. Executive interference with work activities due to
breakdowns in the organization can be as devastating to motivation as
inadequate working conditions or poor personnel policies. This is
important because of its multiplying effects on attitudes. People get
frustrated an angry with one another when they have difficulty doing
their jobs.
26. An organization, then, consists of people functioning in a
structured system of activities designed to accomplish some objectives.
The way the personnel are formally arranged, relative to the activities
and the mission, is the structure of the organization. They system of
activities and the logics upon which type rest are directed toward the
best ways of accomplishing objectives. Accordingly, the degree to
which the formal system functions smoothly is on determinant of
organizational effectiveness.
The Informal Organization
An organization is a complex system of relationships between
individuals in which each person has much contact with a few people, a
little contact with some more people, and practically none with most of
the their members. These relationships constitute the bonds that hold an
organization together.
27. The develop wherever people are thrown into contact with one another
and they exert exceedingly potent influence upon performance.
The interaction that occurs between people is not usually a matter of
random contacts. Much of it is determined by the logical division of work and
responsibility. Certain people are brought together more frequently that others.
There are contacts between superiors and subordinates or between staff
personnel working on common problems. Every person has a fairly definite
pattern of interactions relating him to certain other members because of his
duties prescribed by the organization.
From these relationships arise the cliques, the informal leaders and their
followers groups who oppose each other, and those who stand together on
certain issues – ranging from office groups arguing over whether to open the
windows to high level staffs debating the relative merits of various concepts in
the conduct of global marketing.
28. These patterns of relationships develop spontaneously, influenced
but not directed by the formal organization or by the desires of
executive.
The Leader’s Dilemma
Many of these problems derived from the numbers of highly
organized people whose activities must be influenced and coordinated.
The necessity for obtaining smoothly function, well-integrated
performance from them can create some critical strains, especially in a
large organization.
First - There exists a deep source of strain because size necessitates
organizational complexity and formalization – both of which are the
most general causes of rigidity.
29. There is likely to be a direct relationship between the size of an
organization and its tendencies toward inflexibility. There are, of
course, exception to the general hypothesis that size begets rigidity.
Some small units are quite inflexible, while some very large ones are
highly responsible to change. These latter exception occur, however
they are usually due to skilled leaders who know how rigidity develops
and are constantly on guard against it.
Second - Organizational strain centers on the continuous effort to
maintain a high level of motivation while also exercising control over
the actions of personnel.
Size and the hierarchical arrangement of the organization increase
every individual’s distance from people who influence his action, his
welfare, and sometimes even his fate.
30. Although close supervision have a great deal to do with
determining his actions, decisions beyond the immediate superior, or
even beyond the immediate superior’s superior, set limits on the nature
and directions of his activities.
Assumption of the Executive Role
Theoretically, the assumption of leadership of an existing
organization should be a relatively painless undertaking. Most
organizations supposedly function in accordance with the principle of
continuity of operations. Whiel individuals come and go, the offices
and positions they fill are supposed to be more or less independent of
the personalities of the occupants, and the organization can continue to
function regardless of changes in leaders or other personnel.
31. Therefore, it should be easy for an incoming executive to assume
leadership of an ongoing organization. Once he becomes acquainted
with his personnel and with his prescribed responsibilities an executive
should be able to exert without difficulty the necessary influence on the
new organization.
Effects of Executive Succession
Unless radical upheavals have occurred, an organization develops
a certain equilibrium or stability that helps it to maintain itself against
external disturbances. By equilibrium is meant a kind of balance such
that, when some change is imposed on the organization, forces are
generated that resist the change and that may restore the original
balance the pressure is removed.
32. An organization strives to retain established patterns in spite of changes
that may occur. People may come into the organization, move from position to
position in it, and move out again, yet the pattern remains intact. This stability
does not mean that there is never any change, for there are constant changes in
personnel and activities.
A change of leaders will have organizational and personal consequences.
In the organization as a whole, the period of succession will tend to be
characterized by a slowdown in activities, lack of agreement on duties and
roles, and indecision. On the personal level, individuals may feel insecure,
particularly if they occupy high level in the organization.
A major organizational consequence is a change in the type, volume, and
direction of the communication of information. There is a major force
operating here – it is the desire of individuals to find out or test for the new
executive’s expectations.
33. As a consequence of this need, there is probably be a notable
increase in communication upward in efforts to get him to express
himself on a variety of mattes.
Another consequence, which is somewhat corollary to the first,
involves an upward movements of decision. Because of ambiguity, there
will be a tendency to push decisions up to the executive where formerly
they were made at lower levels. Whether these decisions later move
back down as the organization reaches a new stability will be dependent
upon the executive and upon his particular style of leadership.