Page 189 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

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