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188    Part 3   •  Organizing
                                                  North American sector and the international sector (which includes the Pacific Rim, the
                process departmentalization
                Grouping activities on the basis of work or   European Community, Northeast Europe and Africa, and Latin America).
                customer flow                  5.  The final form of departmentalization is called  process departmentalization, which
                                                  groups activities on the basis of work or customer flow—like that found in many govern-
                cross-functional teams
                Teams made up of individuals from various depart-  ment offices or in health care clinics. Units are organized around common skills needed
                ments and that cross traditional departmental lines  to complete a certain process. If you’ve ever been to a state office to get a driver’s license,
                                                  you’ve probably experienced process departmentalization. With separate departments to
                chain of command                  handle applications, testing, information and photo processing, and payment collection,
                The line of authority extending from upper organi-
                zational levels to lower levels, which clarifies who   customers “flow” through the various departments in sequence to get their licenses.
                reports to whom
                authority                     Today’s View.  Most large organizations continue to use most or all of the departmental
                The rights inherent in a managerial position to give   groups suggested by the early management writers. Black & Decker, for instance, orga-
                orders and expect the orders to be obeyed
                                              nizes its divisions along functional lines, its manufacturing units around processes, its sales
                responsibility                around geographic regions, and its sales regions around customer groupings. However,
                An obligation to perform assigned duties  many organizations use cross-functional teams, which are teams made up of individuals
                                              from various departments and that cross traditional departmental lines. These teams have
                                              been useful especially as tasks have become more complex and diverse skills are needed to
                                              accomplish those tasks. 5
                                                  Also, today’s competitive environment has refocused the attention of management on its
                                              customers. To better monitor the needs of customers and to be able to respond to changes in
                                              those needs, many organizations are giving greater emphasis to customer departmentalization.

                                              (3) What Are Authority and Responsibility?
                                              TradiTional View.  To understand authority and responsibility, you also have to be
                                                familiar with the chain of command, the line of authority extending from upper  organizational
                                              levels to lower levels, which clarifies who reports to whom. Managers need to consider it when
                Harley-Davidson uses cross-functional   organizing work because it helps employees with questions such as “Who do I report to?” or
                teams from the conception and design of its   “Who do I go to if I have a problem?” So, what are authority and responsibility?
                motorcycles to their production and product
                launch. Harley’s teams of buyers, suppliers,
                marketers, operations personnel, engineers,
                and employees from other departments work   Authority comes from the position, not the person.
                together to provide customers with quality
                products.
                                                                                  Authority refers to the rights inherent in a
                                                                                  managerial position to give orders and expect
                                                                                  the orders to be obeyed. Authority was a major
                                                                                  concept discussed by the early management
                                                                                  writers as they viewed it as the glue that held
                                                                                                        6
                                                                                  an  organization  together.  It  was  delegated
                                                                                  downward to lower-level managers, giving
                                                                                  them certain rights while prescribing certain
                                                                                  limits within which to operate. Each manage-
                                                                                  ment position had specific inherent rights that
                                                                                  incumbents acquired from the position’s rank
                                                                                  or title. Authority, therefore, is related to one’s
                                                                                  position within an organization and has noth-
                                                                                  ing  to  do  with  the  personal  characteristics  of
                                                                                  an individual manager.  When a position of
                                                                                  authority is vacated, the person who has left
                                                                                  the position no longer has any authority. The
                                                                                  authority remains with the position and its new
                                                                                  incumbent.
                                                                                     When managers delegate authority, they
                                                                                  must allocate commensurate  responsibility.
                                                                                  That  is, when employees are given rights, they
                                                                                  also  assume a corresponding obligation to per-
                                                                                  form. And  they’ll  be  held  accountable  for  their
                                                           H. Mark Weidman Photography/Alamy
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