Page 350 - Business Principles and Management

Chapter 13 • Planning and Organizing

EMPLOYEES Dividing the work into manageable units and providing adequate
equipment and facilities must be done with employees in mind. In fact, organiz-
ing involves establishing good relationships among the employees, the work to
be performed, and the facilities needed, so that productivity will be high. In part,
organization is a successful matching of the employee and the employee’s mate-
rials and work. Employees should be matched to work that they are prepared to
do. That means that they have the necessary preparation and skill to complete
the assigned tasks. If employees are members of work teams, the total skills of
the team should match the work requirements.
In addition, employees should be assigned to work that they enjoy. If employees
are dissatisfied with their work assignment, problems with the quality and quantity
of their work will result. Although not all work is enjoyable, managers should look
for opportunities to make the best work assignments possible, to spread less desir-
able assignments among employees so a few people do not have to spend all of
their time doing that work, and to work closely with employees to establish a pos-
itive working environment.

CHECKPOINT

What are the three elements that should be considered when
organizing work?

Characteristics of Good Organization

When one person operates a business, there is little need for an organization
chart—that person performs all the work. The need for organization increases
when two or more people work together. When people engage in any kind of
cooperative activity, whether as members of an athletic team or as construction
workers building a house, they can accomplish better results if the overall task
is planned and organized. In that way, each person knows what is expected
and how they are expected to work together to accomplish the necessary work.
Several characteristics of good organization apply to the management of work.

RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY
Responsibility is the obligation to do an assigned task. In a good organization,
the assigned tasks are clearly identified so all employees know exactly the work
for which they are responsible. Authority is the right to make decisions about
assigned work and to make assignments to others concerning that work. Author-
ity is delegated from the top of the organization to others at lower levels.
One of the greatest mistakes in business is to assign responsibilities to em-
ployees without giving them sufficient authority to carry out those responsibilities.
Consider the situation of an employee at an auto rental counter. The employee is
responsible for providing a car to a customer standing at the counter who has a
reservation, but the type of car requested is currently unavailable. The employee
must have the authority to rent another car that will meet the customer’s needs or
the customer will be very upset. Each employee and each manager should know
specifically (1) the description and duties of each job, (2) what authority accom-
panies the job, (3) the manager in charge, (4) who reports to the manager, and
(5) what is considered satisfactory performance.

337