Chapter 5: Organising

Delegation is the transfer of authority from a superior to a subordinate. It helps in reducing the workload on the manager so that manager can give focus on areas that need more attention. It also provides subordinates to become more responsible and makes way for more growth opportunities.

The following points show the importance of delegation, which is effective in organising:

1. By delegating work to the subordinate, the managers can focus on other areas, which improves the efficiency of managers.

2. Employees also get the chance to perform well and improve their skills. It helps in developing the skillset of the employees.

3. The act of delegation gives employees responsibility, and it also provides motivation to the employees, as they feel that they belong to the organisation and their contributions are recognised.

4. Delegation helps in the career development of many managers as they take up more roles in the organisation. It also helps workers to gain more experience, which helps in career growth.

5. It helps in forming an organised structure in the organisation. The lines of the hierarchy are well-defined, which makes processes smooth.

6. It increases coordination among managers and workers. There is a well-defined working relationship, which makes things more organised in the company.

Divisional structure is a system where work is divided into different departments. There is a separate head for each department, and there is no overlapping of responsibilities in such a structure. The field of work is clearly defined.

Here are some of the advantages of a divisional structure.

1. Managers and workers get ample opportunity to grow in their departments and become specialists in the product. It is helpful in increasing the efficiency of the workforce.

2. Each division or department can be tracked individually for their performance. It leads to the identification of the best and worst-performing divisions.

3. The divisions are independent to take their own decisions, which makes the decision-making process quick. Rapid decision-making enables faster implementation, which is beneficial for the organisation.

4. Having a divisional structure allows for adding more divisions without impacting the functions of the organisation.

The disadvantages can be highlighted as

1. There can be conflicts among departments with regard to the allocation of funds and resources.

2. There can be a rise in cost due to duplication of work among departments. There might be some activities that are common across all departments, and employing separate personnel for each department for these activities can drive the cost higher.

3. There can be a chance that due to more focus on improving the individual departments, the growth of the organisation as a whole can get hampered.

Decentralisation is the delegation of authority among various levels in an organisation ranging from the top level to the lower level. It is not mandatory for an organisation to follow decentralisation, but it is beneficial in the long run. Here are a few points that will support the statement of why an organisation wants to be decentralised.

1. Decentralisation allows lower-level managers to be independent in making their decisions. It gives more confidence and a feeling of responsibility to the managers.

2. Decentralisation provides the managers with an opportunity to grow and be a part of the growth of the organisation. It helps in skill development and the ability to tackle new challenges. It also provides a platform to showcase their talent and get noticed for more responsible positions.

3. Decentralisation helps analyse the performance of every department and also determine how each one of them is helping the organisation in fulfilling its objectives.

4. Decision-making is faster in a decentralised organisation. There is no need to take approval from the top-level to perform basic-level functions, it helps to avoid delays in decision-making.

5. The decentralisation system offers growth opportunities for managers at lower levels. There is a tendency to outperform each other, which results in more productivity and indirectly leads to the growth of the individuals.

6. Decentralisation makes work load of top-level management less. They can concentrate more on policy-making for organisation growth.

The points of difference between centralisation and decentralisation are as follows:

The points of difference between functional structure and divisional structure are as follows:

The company should adopt a divisional organisation structure, as it is the ideal structure for this organisation.

Following are the benefits that can be obtained by following this structure:

1. Each department will have a head who will be accountable for the overall performance of the department. The performance of individual departments can be determined easily; the best and worst performers can be identified, and necessary steps can be taken.

2. Decision-making will be quick, as each department has a specialist to manage it.

3. Having a divisional structure allows for adding more divisions without impacting the functions of the organisation.

The change that can be suggested in this situation is adopting some space for informal structure by making changes in its current formal organisation structure.

An informal structure would offer the following benefits:

1. Information will move faster, as there is no definite channel of communication that needs to be followed.

2. It will offer a sense of belongingness to the employees as the rules of communication are beyond official roles. Employees feel more secure in the organisation and work towards the betterment of the organisation.

3. It supports the working of a formal organisation, as it helps in fulfilling the organisational objectives in a manner beneficial for the organisation.

4. The company can also diversify their product range by venturing into sewing products, such as producing machinery with embroidery features.

Solution coming soon.