Being a manager is one of the most difficult — and potentially one of the most rewarding — jobs that anyone can take on in an organization. A successful manager must continuously improve systems and processes to make them more efficient, more effective, and less costly. Because the environment of business is always changing — new employees, new technology, new sources of supply, new competitors — managers always have to be alert to the need of restructuring their organizations to keep them competitive in the marketplace.
As you work to design a better organization, be sure to consider the following factors.
Division of labor
The very first step in organizational design is assigning specific employees to specific jobs, called division of labor.
In a one-person organization — say, a home-based public relations agency — only one person completes all the jobs that need to be done. The business owner types the letters, answers the phone, places advertisements for her business, designs promotional materials for clients, writes press releases, schedules clients for media interviews and radio and television appearances, does the accounting, pays the bills, and even takes out the trash!
Once the owner of the public relations agency hires an employee, however, then she can make her operation more efficient through effective division of labor. The new hire can take on tasks that the owner is not so good at or that require a lot of work but don't generate revenues — perhaps typing letters and answering phones. This way, the owner can concentrate her efforts on the things that she is best at and that have a better cash return on the investment of her time.
In his book, Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith made a very clear case for the division of labor. As an example, he used the case of a pin-producing factory.
"One man draws out the wire, another straights it, a third cuts it, a fourth points it, a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving the head; to make the head requires two or three distinct operations; to put it on is a peculiar business, to whiten the pins is another; it is even a trade by itself to put them into the paper; and the important business of making a pin is, in this manner, divided into about eighteen distinct operations, which, in some manufactories, are all performed by distinct hands, though in others the same man will sometimes perform two or three of them.
Adam Smith begins his analysis of the market society with a look at the division of labor. He elaborates on the idea that the division of labor is essential for the growth of a civilization. Smith explains how for example, the production of pins can be done more efficiently with the breaking down and deconstruction of
Every organization and business enterprise has a dream of making the highest profit in all their ventures as well as minimizing all the inputs while at the same time maintaining the quality of their products and services. This goal cannot be achieved without the proper and powerful management team that directs all the organization operations and calls the shots. Management comprises of procedures and processes for rationalizing and connecting the activities of the business in order to achieve defined objectives and goals. In most cases, management is included as a fundamental of production process in the same category as machines, raw materials, and cash (Niederle, 2013). However, for an organization’s management to effectively and efficiently manage all its activities that include staffing, organizing, coordinating and controlling, it has to be conversant with rules of the land regarding
Management is the ability to get a job done using appropriate processes, models and systems to achieve an objective. Managers think radically, abide by principles, rules and use experience in their respective fields to make things work. A good manager goes about the ordinary activities such a staffing, organizing, planning (Robert, 2007). The very ability of his/her colleague to discover the uniqueness in each of the subordinates, capitalize on it, harnessing the best out of them to accomplish goals clearly distinguishes such a person as great when compared to others. Great managers develop people and enthusiastically transfer acquired skills to others, work progress is constant and usually by leaps and bounds. In addition, a great manager outlines and strategizes his/her team for project plans such that there is a “buy in” on delivered commitments. In contrast, the former just transfers the required skills to subordinates; work progress is notable, vice versa of the latter. Rupert Murdoch of the News Corporation is ...
However, from a Christian perspective, the most important of these is the idea of division of labor. Division of labor is separating tasks for people who will best be able to do them. Division of labor can be traced back to Biblical times when special roles were assigned for to certain people who were best able to perform them. For example, some people were kings, priests, prophets, farmers, merchants, . The division of labor can also be seen in great works such as the Pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall in China, and the Brooklyn Bridge in the United States (Cafferky, 2012). The example Adam Smith uses in his book The Wealth of Nations is a pin factory. He talks about how if one person in this factory was to try and manufacture a pin without division of labor they might be able to make twenty to one pin a day. However, if ten people work together each one taking a different function of the manufacturing process they would be able to make 48,000 pins a day (Adam Smith: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, 2008). By dividing tasks among multiple parties people gain the ability to produce in ways they could not on their
...anging. They rely primarily on communication, rules and regulations, and equality/fairness. Without these three things an organization will be severely lacking due to the lack of employee morale and cohesion within the workplace.
regarded as one of the most dramatically influential philosophers or philosophic writers of modern times. This book is a comprehensive and systematic theory of an economy. It shows the connections and relationships among variables. The Wealth of Nations also talks about the division of labor. Smith states that the division of labor starts the process of economic growth. One growth is started, accumulation keeps it going. There are three benefits of division of labor. First; increase in skill and dexterity. Second; save time in moving from job to job. And lastly, the invention of new machinery.
Organizational change is a very big risk for organizations. The process of change can be very difficult for employees as well as the leaders implementing the changes. The changes are usually planned to improve the company. However, sometimes change can destroy a company when things don’t go as planned. From a change in management to a change in the company structure, or way of doing daily task, organizations must carefully execute the process of change and use change strategies that will ensure success.
in the similar manner, Hill, & McShane, (2008), argued that managers remain the most important asset of the business that drives the business towards path of development and growth. Additionally, the importance of managers, their roles and functions cannot be neglected. As the business environment has become highly competitive with market segments highly fragmented forcing business entities to adopt and integrate effective business practices that can ensure that the business is heading towards the path of competitive advantage. In this regard, it is realized that the role and function of manager has become highly indispensable. The early theory of management, as per stated by Need, (2006), argues that the core functions of manager are to Plan, Organize, Staffing, Leading, and Controlling. Augier, & Teece, (2009), within this regard stated that effective and efficient managers do not just go and perform haphazardly, in fact, good and effective managers discover their strengths, ensure they are making the most out of the existing resources and mastering the above mentioned five basic functions. The overall role of manager is highly significant, mainly because of the fact that manager while performing these five functions guide the entire business and
In this age of rapidly changing technology, market-driven decision making, customer sophistication, and employee restlessness, leaders and managers are faced with new challenges. Organizations must build new structures and master new skills in order to compete and survive.
In “Industrious Revolution”, de Vries discusses how as the economy continues to expand so does the household and the markets involved. Households begin to divide labor towards market oriented production requiring the assistance of all members of the family involved in order to respond to economic incentives such as, new luxuries. Of course, this gradually changes as the household shifts into more specialized labor such as the adult male being the main provider, women performing housekeeping tasks, and children attending school. Consequently, a rise in production naturally follows this division of labor as more households are able to specialize in their productivity while beginning to for consumer demand in the economy. Consumer demand would then naturally push other areas of the market to increase their production to meet that demand. Adam Smith expresses that the division of labor has caused the greatest increase in production as stated, “The division of labor, however, so far as it can be introduced, occasions, in every art, a proportionable increase of the productive powers”, but is only carried the furthest within countries that enjoy the highest degree of industry. Similar to de Vries, Smith believes that the division of labor is hindered by limited opportunity for barter or exchange of goods and that the introduction of new commodities would force an individual to work harder or longer. Smith and de Vries both agree that the modern economy resulted from both consumer demand and the supply of market oriented labor which grew by means of reallocations of productive resources, becoming the driving force for economic
First of all, organizational structure determines the hierarchy, the levels of communication, and how job tasks are formally divided, grouped and coordinated within an organization (Langton, Robbins, & Judge, 2013). There are six key elements that managers need to address when they design their organization’s structure: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization and decentralization, and formalization (Langton et al., 2013). The way in which an organizational structure is constructed and implemented can affect company productivity.
Usually Managers have the role to manage the company’s performance; therefore they must be trained professionally in the field of administration management, Project Evaluation and Maintenance management. The must also be well versed with the adhering to the objectives of performance management in a given company or a business organization. On the other hand, employees of the same organization must be sure and certain of their duties and roles. Certainly, they will work with an aim and focus to achieve specified goals of the company. An organization with suitable management acquires many professionals with appropriate skills and knowledge. On acquisition, the firm will have expectations towards achieving high standards performance across systems management. Such professionals will always work at the best interest of the company, with skill and care and they will go ...
The manager should be able to select and know these factors. As organization is created systems by people, the internal factors are mainly the result of management decisions. Not all of the internal factors are completely controlled by the management. Organization is influenced by many environmental factors. In the new millennium we have to learn how to live in a market economy. And the most important condition for this is a highly skilled managers. Ability to identify and analyze the internal elements of the organization and external factors is the key to the success of the business. The main factors in the organization that require management attention are objectives, structure, tasks, technology and people. An organization can be seen as a means to achieve the objectives that allows people to perform collectively what they could not carry out individually. Goals are desired outcome, which aims to achieve a group working together. The main objective of most organizations is profit. Income is a key indicator of the organization. People are the basis of any organization. Without people there is no organization. They shape the culture of the organization and its internal climate. They determine what the organization is. Manager generates frames, establishes a system of relations between people and include them in the process of
Management is vital for any organisations regardless of the size and the types of the organisations. In general, management is defined as “the application of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling functions in the most efficient manner possible to accomplish meaningful organizational objectives.” (John M. Ivancevish and Thomas N. Duening, 2007)
An organisation does not exist in a vacuum. It exists in its environment, which provides resources and limitations.