Nature & Significance of Organization, Authority & Responsibility Relationships- Span of

Control, Process of Delegations-Barriers to Delegation, Centralization & Decentralization.

Concept of Line & Staff-Overcoming Line-staff conflict, Committees, Coordination,
Organization Structures, Types, Advantages & Disadvantages.

An organization is a united group of people who collaborates with each other to accomplish an
already set goals or objectives. It contains a formal framework that outlines the roles,
responsibilities, etc. This helps to ensure that an effective coordination and efficiency is taking
place in order to achieve the desired goals and objectives.

Nature of Organization in Management:

1. Structural Framework: An organization provides a structured framework that defines
the roles, responsibilities, and relationships among individuals and groups within the
organization. It ensures efficient coordination of resources.
2. Dynamic System: Organizations are dynamic and adapt to changes in the environment,
technology, and market demands. This adaptability ensures sustainability and growth.
3. Goal-Oriented: Organizations exist to achieve specific objectives. All activities and
resources are directed toward fulfilling these predetermined goals.
4. Social Entity: Organizations are social systems comprising people who work together.
Effective communication, collaboration, and interaction among members are crucial for
achieving objectives.
5. Division of Labor: Tasks are divided among members based on specialization, skills,
and expertise. This division enhances efficiency and productivity.
6. Authority and Responsibility: A hierarchy of authority and clear distribution of
responsibilities are integral to organizations. This ensures accountability and order.
7. Coordination and Integration: Coordination among different departments and
functions is essential to prevent duplication of efforts and ensure smooth operation.

Significance of Organization in Management:

1. Achieving Goals Efficiently: Organizations streamline processes, allocate resources
effectively, and reduce wastage, ensuring that goals are met in an efficient manner.
2. Encouraging Specialization: By dividing work based on expertise, organizations
promote specialization, which leads to improved quality and productivity.
3. Facilitating Growth and Innovation: A well-structured organization fosters an
environment where innovation can thrive, contributing to growth and competitiveness.
4. Effective Resource Utilization: Organizations ensure optimal use of human, financial,
and physical resources, reducing costs and increasing output.
5. Providing Stability: With defined roles, policies, and procedures, organizations provide
stability and continuity even in dynamic environments.
6. Enhancing Coordination: Organizations ensure seamless integration of various
activities and functions, promoting unity and reducing conflicts.
 7. Promoting Adaptability: Organizations are designed to respond to external and internal
changes, ensuring long-term relevance and sustainability.
8. Motivating Employees: Clear roles, career development opportunities, and a
supportive structure motivate employees to perform better and align with organizational
goals.

Authority and Responsibility Relationships: The relationship between authority and

responsibility is a fundamental aspect of management. It ensures that tasks are completed
efficiently and effectively, and it creates accountability within the organizational structure.

Key Elements of Authority and Responsibility Relationships

1. Authority: Authority is the legitimate power and right to make decisions, issue
commands, and enforce obedience. It allows managers to direct and control the
activities of their subordinates.
o Features of Authority:
▪ Derived from a formal position within the organization.
▪ Flows from top to bottom in the hierarchy.
▪ Includes decision-making and resource allocation power.
o Types of Authority:
▪ Line Authority: Direct authority to manage subordinates and make
decisions affecting operations.
▪ Staff Authority: Advisory authority to support line managers with expertise
and guidance.
▪ Functional Authority: Authority over specific tasks or functions, often
crossing departmental lines.
2. Responsibility: Responsibility refers to the obligation to perform assigned tasks to the
best of one's ability. It signifies the duty to achieve specific objectives.
o Features of Responsibility:
▪ Always accompanies authority.
▪ Can be delegated but not abdicated.
▪ Flows from bottom to top in the hierarchy, as subordinates are accountable
to their superiors.
3. Accountability: Accountability is the obligation to answer for one's actions and results.
It ensures that individuals fulfil their responsibilities and use their authority appropriately.
o Features of Accountability:
▪ Cannot be delegated.
▪ Establishes a clear link between authority, responsibility, and performance.

Relationship Between Authority and Responsibility

1. Authority Must Match Responsibility: For effective management, the level of authority
granted should correspond to the level of responsibility assigned. Excessive authority
 without responsibility may lead to misuse of power, while responsibility without
sufficient authority may lead to inefficiency.
2. Delegation of Authority and Responsibility: Managers delegate authority to
subordinates to empower them to complete tasks. However, responsibility remains with
the manager, as they are ultimately accountable for the results.
3. Accountability Bridges Authority and Responsibility: Accountability acts as a control
mechanism ensuring that authority and responsibility are aligned. Subordinates must
report back on the outcomes of their assigned tasks.
4. Authority Without Responsibility Leads to Chaos: When individuals have authority but
no defined responsibility, it can lead to a lack of focus, conflicts, and inefficiency.
5. Responsibility Without Authority Leads to Frustration: Assigning responsibility
without granting the corresponding authority to make decisions or allocate resources
can demotivate employees and hinder performance.

Span of control: In management, the number of individual employees (or subordinates) that a
manager (or supervisor) directly administer effectively and efficiently is termed as Span of
Control. This term is attributed to the British military officer and organizational theorist Sir Ian
Hamilton. He introduced the concept in his 1920 book "The Soul and Body of an Army," where
he discussed the limitations of abilities in a commander in effectively administering his
subordinates. The idea was further developed and popularized in the field of management by
various theorists and practitioners, including Lyndall Urwick and Henri Fayol, etc. It is a crucial
concept in the structure of an organization as it directly effects the organizational structure,
coordination among the individuals and teams for any given tasks and utilizing the resources
efficiently.

Types of spans of control: The span of Control is essentially of two major types- Narrow Span
of Control and Wide Span of Control.
• Narrow Span of Control: Narrow span of control happens when a manager is asked to
monitor a small number of direct reportee. This type of control allows the supervisor to have a
closer and more personalized supervision for each of his or her subordinates. It also makes the
communication process much easier and straight-forward between managers and their
subordinates. This allows managers to provide more detailed feedback to their team members.
However, one of the major drawbacks of narrow span of control is that due to the smaller
groups, a greater number of managers are required. This increases organizational budgets. It
also lags in taking decisions as they are required to pass through more managerial levels. This
type of span of control is mostly used in places where complex tasks are being performed that
required minute supervision.
• Wide Span of Control: A wide span of control happens when a manager is asked to
administer a larger number of direct reportee. This results in fewer hierarchy levels within the
organization. This type of control allows self-management among individuals and teams
providing them with more independence and allowing them to grab opportunities to nurture
innovations and creativity. A wide span of control also reduces the organizational budget. The
lesser hierarchy level speeds up the communication flows thus speeding up the decision-
making process. On the downside, a wide span of control does not provide managers much
time to focus on individual subordinates which can lead to errors and supervisor or manager
leading to serious health and mental issues like stress and burnout.

Factors influencing span of control: Here are the major factors influencing span of control:
• Work type: While the complex and much specific tasks would require a narrow span of
control due to the requirement of minute supervision, the more mundane and repetitive jobs
can be managed through a wide span of control.
• Capability of the manager: The wide span of control can be handled by the managers
who are more experienced and skilled in managing multiple employees and situations and their
complexities. Managers who follow a more delegative leadership style, sometimes, prefer a
wider span of control.
• Competency of employees: More experienced and highly skilled individuals require
lesser supervision thus making way for wide span of control. However, the lesser experienced
and lesser skilled employees generally require more guidance giving way for a narrow span of
control.
• Structure of the organization: The narrow span of control can mostly be seen in
organizations where the hierarchy levels are more. But in the organizations, which typically
follows more decentralized approach, where the authority to make decisions is distributed at
all levels generally follows the wider spans of control.
• Geographical Distribution: In the scenarios where the subordinates are geographically
spread out around the globe, it is better to follow a narrow span of control in order to ensure
that proper administration and communication. However, if all the subordinates belong to a
same geographical location, organization can go with a wider span of control.
• Technological advancement: In today’s world, advanced information and
communication technologies enables efficiency and effectiveness thus making way for a wide
span of control. It subsequently reduces the need for direct supervision by using the
management information system (or MIS) efficiently and effectively.
• Organizational Culture and Policies: The preference of span of control can be
influenced by the organization’s culture along with its values and norms. It can also be
influenced by the workload of the manager and how they can monitor efficiently. Company’s
policies and regulatory norms makes way for the organization’s preferred span of control.

Advantages of span of control: In a narrow span of control, managers can minutely monitor
their subordinates thus helping them with much detailed feedback. Administering smaller
number of individuals allows the managers to have a tighter control over their subordinate’s
performances and lets them have frequent communication with them thus ensuring that the
tasks are completed according to the predefined standards. In the wider span of control, since
the organization structure is much flatter having fewer levels of hierarchy, the administrative
costs are also much lower. This flatter structure simplifies the communication structures and
decision-making processes by promoting coordination among individuals, teams and
departments. A wide span of control provides the subordinates freedom and responsibilities
thus promoting a sense of ownership and making way for innovations.

Disadvantages of span of control: One of the biggest disadvantages of a narrow span of

control is that it is not cost-effective due to the excessive numbers of managerial or
administrative levels. Due to the multiple hierarchy levels, the decision-making process is
much slower than a wider span of control. This can create problems in emergencies. Creativity
can, at times, be at stake due to over involvement of the managers in the subordinates' work
thus creating undue stress among the subordinates. The biggest disadvantage of wide span of
control is the risk of misunderstanding and miscommunication of information among the
subordinates as one manager is ought to monitor a larger group of subordinates. This provides
lesser time for managers devote to each of their subordinates which sometimes may lead to
neglecting issues and also affects the skill growth among the subordinates. A wider span of
control, over a period of time, can overburden the managers with a large number of reportee
thus leading to more stress and pressure that can ultimately cause burnouts.

PROCESS OF DELEGATIONS: The process using which a manager or an administrator assigns

responsibilities, authorities of certain tasks to his or her subordinates can be termed as
Delegation. This is an essential organizational process in order to improve efficiency, develop
skills so that everybody have similar workloads. Following is the process of delegations:
• Identifying the task: The basic step in delegating process to have a clear understanding of
the tasks and responsibilities that must be delegated. One must carefully analyze the
complexities and importance of the task and the essentials requirements, before
delegating.
• Choosing the appropriate person: The must managers must assess the skills required with
the skills of their individual employees, their experiences and their workload before
selecting the individual best suited for the job. It is essential to consider the development
needs and the career growth opportunities of the individual before selecting the person.
• Clearly defining the tasks: The manager must clearly specify the objective, expectations
and supposed outcomes of the tasks to the chosen individual, including the deadlines,
specific instructions (if any) or any sort of information that the individual would need in order
to perform their duties. This helps to avoid any misunderstandings or errors.
• Granting authority: In order to delegate tasks, the managers must grant necessary authority
to the chosen individual to make decision and access any resources. This helps the person
to make decisions within the set boundaries. This is essential for the successful completion
of the task.
• Providing guidance: The managers must be available to provide support and guide the
subordinates throughout the process. This can include any special training, doubt clearing,
 providing feedback and resolving any issue that is not in the subordinate’s hands. The
manager must keep the communication channel open and be accessible when needed.
• Monitoring progress: Monitoring the progress is vital in order to ensure the timeline of the
task is being maintained as planned. Establishing checkpoint and taking regular updates
helps to review the progress and keep the task’s objectives aligned.
• Evaluations and Reviews: The managers should evaluate the results once the task is
finished and also review the complete delegation process. This includes evaluating the
quality of the individual’s work, their performances, etc. This helps to identify areas to
improve and provide learnings for future delegation.
• Acknowledgment: Recognition and rewards for successful completion of the task is
essential for motivation of the individual. The managers or the leader must acknowledge the
contributions and hard works put in by the individual by praising or providing other forms of
recognition. This encourages further growth and development.
• Learnings and Reflections: In the end, it is essential to reflect on the experience by both;
the manager as well as the individual. This gives the clear picture of the things that worked
well in the delegation process and the spaces that requires improvement.

Delegation is an important tool to manage workload by promoting team development which

enhances the organizational efficiency. The success rate of delegation depends the level of
trust the manager has own his or her subordinates. It can empower individuals and create
leadership skills among them, if done correctly.

BARRIERS TO DELEGATION: Following is some of the common barriers to delegation:

1. Barriers related to managers
• Managers can have a fear of losing control over the outcome of the task after delegation.
• Manager’s lack of trust in the abilities of their subordinates can also prevent them from
delegating.
• The perfectionist attitude, the unwillingness to let go and the need to micromanage
everything also make it difficult for the managers to delegate tasks.
• Managers can also afraid of the fact that their subordinate’s performance on the
delegated tasks can overshadow their work. This makes them hesitant to delegation.
• Delegating process can be time consuming which can make the manager feel the time
crunch especially if they are already overwhelmed with bigger responsibilities.
• The lack of necessary delegation skills among managers can also stop them from
delegating as they may be unable to choose the correct person for the job at hand.
2. Barriers related to subordinate
• Lack of confidence in their abilities, experiences and skills can often lead the
subordinates to not take on the delegated tasks.
 • The fear of making mistakes and facing its consequences also stop the subordinates
from accepting the tasks.
• Excessive workloads, that can lead to added stress and burnouts, make the individuals
reluctant to accept the delegated tasks.
• If the subordinate is unsure of the tasks’ objectives and outcomes, he or she can be
hesitant to accept the delegation due to the fear of failing.
• Lack motivation due to unclear personal benefits, like career growth, or incentives on the
subordinates’ part makes them reluctant to take on the delegated tasks.
3. Barriers related to the organization
• If the organization lacks a supportive delegation culture and infrastructure to facilitate
the process, both managers and subordinates may find delegation challenging.
• Lack of flexibility in the flow of authority makes the delegation ineffective due to rigid
roles and responsibilities.
• Ambiguous policies in the organization regarding delegation creates confusion and
hesitation among both the managers and the subordinates, making them hesitant
towards taking up the delegated tasks.

CENTRALIZATION: Centralization stands for those structures if organizations wherein the

power, control and authority to make decision are in the hands of the individuals or a small
group at the uppermost level of hierarchy. These groups generally consist of the senior officials
or the founding members of the organization. A major example of centralization would be any
government office or agency, where the policies made by the central power or the governing
bodies are followed uniformly. Military organizations, large corporations with strong brand
value, etc. are also some cases where centralized approaches are preferred. Centralization is
common in an organizational framework and has its own advantages and disadvantages. It
depends on many factors like the size of the organization, goals, the sector it belongs to, etc.

Characteristics of centralization

• Authority concentration: The top of the hierarchy within the organization keeps the power
and the authority of decision-making to themselves and make most of the critical decision
about the organization without any discussion to the individuals at the lower hierarchy
levels.
• Single decision-making process: These kinds of organizations typically have a single
decision-making process. In order to ensure uniformity, policies, procedures and decisions
are generally standardized across the organization.
• Well-defined chain of command: Centralized structures have clear chain of commands.
Individuals or teams at the lowest levels of hierarchy must report to their immediate
 superiors, who in turn, must report to their higher authority. This chain goes up till the top
management.
• Limited powers for lower hierarchy level: Lower-level managers, individuals or teams
have limited to no power over any form of decision-making within the organization. Their
main focus remains on executions of the decisions made the top managements.
• Top-down information flow: In centralized organizations, the approach towards the flow of
information is typically vertical, that is, up and down the hierarchy, mostly top-down.
• Standard Protocols: Often some standard procedures and protocols are followed in these
centralized organizations in order to ensure uniformity in decision-making and thereby
maintaining control and consistency.

Advantages of centralization

1. Centralization ensures uniformity in decision-making procedures within the organization.

This helps in maintaining a unified brand image.
2. Decision-making gets faster and more efficient in centralization. This is especially helpful in
critical situations.
3. Centralized framework ensures more control over the activities of the organization. The
higher-level authorities can monitor all the different aspects of the business making sure it
is aligned with the overall strategy of the organization.
4. Organizations can negotiate better deals and optimize resource allocation much better by
centralizing functions like productions and marketing.
5. In the centralized approach, employees have a better understanding of their roles and
responsibilities thus making it is easier to identify the authority responsible for specific
decisions and outcomes.

Disadvantages of centralization

1. In centralized organizations, since the decision-making process is concentrated at the

uppermost level, it slows down the response time to changes in the external factors like
market trends.
2. It is common, among the individuals working in a centralized organizations to feel oppressed
and powerless due to the lack of decision-making authority. Over time it can lead to
decrease in motivational levels.
3. Since the top management makes maximum number of decisions, it is quite common for
them to feel burdened. This can lead to decision fatigue among the top managers by
reducing their focus on strategic issues.
4. Centralized organizations are often inflexible towards adapting changes. This rigidity and
containing decision-making powers only to the top management hinders innovations and
creativity.
5. In centralization, since all the decisions are made at the central level, it often lacks focus on
the local markets and customized customer preferences.

DECENTRALIZATION: Decentralization stands for when within an organization, the power,

control and authority for decision-making is adequately distributed across all hierarchy levels
and units within the organization instead of keeping it concentrated only the top level. This
structure motivates and empowers managers and individual employees at all hierarchy levels,
especially the ones at the lower levels, to makes decisions in accordance to their
responsibilities. The big multinational corporations (MNCs), franchisee businesses like food
chains and conglomerates with diverse range of businesses are few of the examples wherein
decentralization is followed in decision-making process. It is a versatile framework that offers
benefits like agility, innovation, employee engagement, etc. However, it also has its own set of
challenges. The aptness of decentralization is depended upon the size of the organization,
goals, the sector it belongs to, etc.

Characteristics of decentralization

• Authority distribution: Decentralization allows the managers and their subordinates to

make decisions without any approval from higher authority. This decision-making power is
spread across multiple levels and departments.
• Self-governance: Organizations with decentralized approach provide autonomy to various
units or departments by allowing them to operate independently to some extent. This
enables them to make their own strategies and policies that is tailor-made for their
departments and its needs and conditions.
• Horizontal level of communication: In decentralized organizations, the flow of
communication is horizontal. It mainly focuses on the collaboration and coordination
among peers. Information flows more freely across different levels and units in
decentralization.
• Accountability and flexibility: In a decentralized organizational structure, employees and
managers at all levels are much empowered to make decisions thus providing them a sense
of accountability towards their actions. This also helps quickly adapt to changes in the
external environment.

Advantages of decentralization
1. Decentralization helps to quicken the decision-making process as lower-level management
can make certain decisions without waiting for approval from the top management. This
majorly helps in situations that requires immediate action.
2. Decentralized organizations promote innovation and creativity culture among its employees
by encouraging them to explore new ideas. It also empowers them by giving them the
authority to make decisions which leads to higher motivation, job satisfaction, and
engagement.
3. Delegation of decision-making authority to lower-level managers helps the organizations in
understanding and responding in accordance to customized customer preferences and
local markets.
4. Decentralization creates great leaders as it provides opportunities for managers at various
levels to develop their decision-making skills. This helps them in future for any higher-level
positions within the organization.
5. Decentralization provides lesser workload on top management by adequately distributing
their responsibilities thus, allowing them to focus on the long-term organizational goals.

Disadvantages of decentralization

1. Decision-making, in a decentralized organization, may lead to inconsistencies due to lack

of uniformity among all departments and units. This can be confusing for customers and
even employees.
2. Since decision-making spreads across various departments in decentralized organizations,
coordination can be challenging in order to accomplish the organizational goals. In order to
avoid conflicts, in such situations, effective communication channels are a must.
3. Duplication of activities is common in decentralizations because of the departments
working independently. This can lead to overall increased budget in the organization.
4. Unskilled lower-level managers may take incorrect decision that can increases potential
risks for the organizations. Thus, it is essential to ensure that adequate training has been
provided to them in order to mitigate the risks.
5. Administering and controlling the overall activities in a decentralized organizations can be
challenging due to lesser direct involvement of the top management. Thus, implementation
of effective performance and reporting systems is crucial.
6. Decentralization often leads to competitions among different departments within the
organizations. While a healthy competition is always fun, it can often lead to disruption in
coordination due to excessive competitiveness.

Concept of Line & Staff-Overcoming Line-staff conflict: Line and Staffing are organizational
structures which combines core activities with supportive functions. These concepts are
designed to focus on operations in order to enhance efficiency by clearly mentioning
responsibilities.

LINE FUNCTIONS: Line functions are associated directly with the core activities of the
organization which essentially contributes to the main objectives of the organization like
production, sales and operations, etc. These objectives are essential for accomplishing the
overall goals and objectives of the organization. Line function follows more traditional hierarchy
structure wherein the line managers can have direct authority over their subordinates. This
function is also termed as “Front-line function”. The line managers must focus on the
necessary functions as they are the ones responsible for making decisions that impact the
major functions of an organization. Production department, manufacturing department, sales
team, etc. are some common examples of line functions. This function is fairly simple to
understand and implement. However, due to its rigid nature, it can be difficult for employees to
adapt to the line function.

STAFF FUNCTIONS: Staff functions involve individuals which specialized skill-set who can
provide support and specialized services to line managers in an organization. These staff
members possess expertise in areas like marketing, sales, finance, HR, etc. They provide
advice, assistance and guidance thus helping them improving the efficiency and effectiveness
of line functions. Staff departments only have an advisory role and do not possess any form of
direct authority over line functions. They focus on activities that support the primary functions
of the organization so that those main functions operate smoothly and efficiently. Some of the
areas or departments where the staff functions operate are human resources, legal
department, R&D, finance,

LINE-STAFF CONFLICT: The conflict between line function and staff functions arises when
there are differences in opinions and disagreements related to expectation and overall
objectives between line and staff members, that eventually hampers the overall objective of
the organization. Following is some of the ways or sources that can give rise to the line and staff
conflict.
• Governance and regulation: There can be difference in opinion regarding the interference
with authority between line and staff managers. Line managers may perceive the staff
managers to be more authoritative if they interfere with the tasks, while staff members can
feel being undervalued for the expertise they bring to the table.
• Communication problems: Lack of proper communication channel between the line and
staff managers can create miscommunication which lead to misunderstandings and
conflict among the line and staff members.
• Difference in perspectives: The difference in perspective and priorities of line and staff
managers can often lead to disagreements between them. These disagreements hinder the
organization’s process of accomplishing its overall goals and objectives.
• Allocation of resources: Since the line managers focus on the operational needs while the
staff managers clearly focus on the advisory and support functions, conflicts are bound to
arise between them over the allocation of resources.
• Ambiguous roles: If the line and staff managers are unclear and not thorough with their
respective roles and responsibilities and authorities, it leads to confusion and conflict
between line and staff functions.

OVERCOMING LINE-STAFF CONFLICT: In order to overcome these line and staff conflicts
and to maintain the harmony and positive work environment within the organization, following
strategies must be implemented:
• Clearly defining roles: Clear definition of the roles, responsibilities and authorities in line
and staff functions, can help to avoid confusions, disagreements and misunderstandings.
The top management of the organization must ensure that all individuals are thorough with
their own roles and responsibilities as well as the roles and responsibilities of others.
• Effectiveness in communicating: The organization must encourage regular feedbacks,
interactive sessions to discuss to the problems, etc. Promoting collaborations and a
transparent line of communication between the line and staff function can be helpful in
avoiding conflicts.
• Respect for each other: It is important to promote a positive work culture by showing
mutual respect and being appreciative of the contributions of both line and staff functions.
It is essential to recognize the expertise and support provided by staff functions and
appreciating them and vice-versa.
• Collaborations in decision-making: Involvement of both line and staff functions in the
decision-making process helps in acquiring a varied perspective on the task at hand.
Committees, departments or teams working on various projects will require inputs from
both line and staff functions.
• Forming resolution process: In order to resolve disputes between the line and staff
managers, creation of a more formal conflict process is mandatory. In order to provide them
proper training to resolve conflicts effectively, proper communication skills are mandatory.
• Promoting leadership qualities: In order to resolve the line and staff conflict, top
management must support and promote the individuals who shows leadership qualities by
providing them proper training to handle the line and staff managers so that they encourage
the line and staff managers to work together by feeding off of each other’s strengths.
• Performance Metrics: A functional performance metrics must be developed that can help
in encouraging collaboration and teamwork between line and staff managers or functions.
 Individual and departmental goals alignment with the overall goals and objectives of the
organization is essential in order to reduce competition by promoting cooperation.

COMMITTEES: Committees play an essential role in organizational structure. Committee can

be defined as a formal group inside an organization that is formed in order to accomplish certain
specific tasks or to make certain decision. These committees contain individuals (also known
as members of the committee) who are especially skilled in different departments or functions.
The primary job of a committee includes decision-making by maintaining authority effectively
within the organization or departments.

Types of committees
1. Standing Committees: Standing committees are more permanent committees which exist
throughout and are equipped to do specific tasks or take on specific responsibilities. The
primary purpose to form these committees is to handle the day-to-day functions in their
specific forte, within the organization. Audit Committee, HR Committee, Finance
Committee, etc. are some of the examples of standing committees in an organization.
2. Executive Committees: An executive committee is a high-level committee that consists of
the top management or the senior executives of the organizations whose primary objective
is to make strategic decisions for the overall benefit of the organization. These committees
look after the Examples: Board of Directors, Management Committee. Purpose: To oversee
the organization's strategic direction and decision-making.
3. Joint Committees: Joint committees are formed when members from different
departments or organizations come together in order to collaborate for certain activities.
The primary purpose of a joint committee is to align different individuals, tasks or elements
and help them to coordinates amongst them in order to accomplish certain goals. Joint
venture committees, interdepartmental committees are two of the examples of a joint
committee.
4. Ad-Hoc Committees: The main focus of ad-hoc committee is to address specific problems
that requires specific attentions. The word “Ad-hoc” means for a particular situation, in
Latin. These committees are formed on a temporary basis to achieve a task and once the
tasks are completed or the objectives have been accomplished, these committees are
dissolved. Examples of ad-hoc committee includes project planning committee, etc.
5. Advisory Committees: An advisory committee consists of experts who can provide advice
and recommend what is good or bad for the organization. They specialize in certain
knowledge aspects and their primary task is to provide advice, insights and guidance that
will help individuals, in power, to make decisions for the organization. The advisory
committee refrain from taking part in decision-making or any other authoritative tasks.
Bigger organizations generally have advisory boards for such instances.
Advantages of committees
• The biggest advantage of forming a committee is that they are able to fetch individuals, with
varied bases of expertise, all together in a group who are capable to informed decisions for
the betterment of the organization.
• Committees help to share the burden of decision-making among its members. This reduces
the stress and pressure from individuals who are given more than one task to execute or
decisions to make.
• Accomplishment of goals and objectives by many departments and functions in an
organization, at times, falter due to lack of proper communication between them. In such
situations, committees help the departments in creating a proper communication channel
between them to collaborate and achieve the desired goals.
• The committee members are selected in a way that they have knowledge about specific
areas in order to focus on certain specific tasks and agendas. These committees must also
provide a framework for decision-making that will be, in future, helpful in enhancing
transparency and accountability.

Disadvantages of committees
• The biggest downfall of committees happens in the time it takes to make a decision. Due to
the need to consult and discuss every single task, committees can take a long time in
delivering a decision that can run the organization into problems.
• Another problem that arises with these committees is that they tend to form opinions in
group and thus the decision is also made in groups. This creates lack of innovation among
them thus lacking in overall accomplishment of organizational goals.
• Formation of a committee is expensive as it requires resources including personnels and it
is extremely time consuming. Acquiring these resources can increase the overall budget of
the organization.
• In an organization, the efficiency of a committee and its members are always debatable as
sometimes there can be a lack of authority in decision-making. This can limit the overall
effectiveness and efficiency of the committee thus effecting the organization in great
lengths.
• Committee members are prone to having conflicts amongst themselves. This can happen
due to difference of opinions and interests among members.

COORDINATION: Coordination is an important process in organization. Coordination can be

referred to as a process that helps to integrate, organize and align the tasks and the activities of
various individuals, teams and departments in order to accomplish the overall goals of the
organization effectively and efficiently. The primary objective of coordination is to ensure that
there is harmony between every individual, team and department within the organization and
that they are working efficiently towards the common primary goal of the organization. The
greater the coordination amongst the individuals or teams or departments, the lesser is the
duplication of efforts. This essentially helps in minimizing the conflicts among them and also
helps to optimize the resources.
Coordination has two basic mechanisms- formal and informal. While formal
coordination mechanism requires proper authority and reporting for supervision in order to
ensure proper coordination, informal coordination mechanisms follow more open
communication channels. Formal mechanisms follow the established guidelines, rules,
regulations and standard procedures but in informal mechanisms, individuals work in order to
promote a sense of unity and harmony by creating a strong work culture.

Types of coordination
1. Vertical Coordination: This type of coordination happens when there are multiple
hierarchical levels in an organization. Vertical coordination makes sure to align the activities
of the lower-levels of managements to the top-levels of management. This helps in the
information flow and authority within an organization.
2. Horizontal Coordination: Horizontal coordination takes place between the departments,
teams and units that are at the same levels of hierarchy within the organization. Horizontal
coordination promotes collaboration amongst the individuals, teams and departments and
also, helps in the flow of the information amongst them.
3. Internal Coordination: In an organization, internal coordination must persist amongst
various departments, individuals, teams and units. This coordination helps to ensure the
alignment of all the activities within the organization that contributes in the overall objective
of the organization.
4. External Coordination: When the organization works with external parties like vendors,
suppliers, customers, regulatory bodies, etc., it can be referred to as external coordination.
The primary objective of external coordination is to ensure that the interactions with these
external parties takes place without any hassles and both the parties comply with each
other so that the overall goals are achieved.

Importance of coordination
• If the coordination is at its best, the resources can be used effectively as there will be
minimal waste or resources and also no duplication of efforts.
• Coordination brings different individuals, teams, units or departments under one roof in
order to work on the designated tasks that will ultimately help them to accomplish the
overall goals and objectives of the organization.
• Resolving conflicts, inefficiencies and discrepancies amongst the individuals, teams or
departments can be possible with proper coordination.
• Coordination helps to enable organization in actively responding to the sudden changes
within and outside the organization.
• Promoting collaboration by sharing ideas and thoughts can bring out the inner creativity of
the individuals that can ultimately lead to innovation. This can be achieved by proper
coordination amongst the people within the organization.

Challenges in coordination
• Ensuring coordination in activities amongst individuals, teams, units or departments can be
challenging in large and complex organizational structures.
• If an organization is located in more than one location, distance can also cause hindrance
in coordination. For example- if one member of the team resides in India and another reside
in the USA, the difference in time zone can hinder the coordination amongst the employees.
• Difference in priorities and personal goals of departments or individual can also be a
hindrance in coordination and can severely affects the achievement of overall
organizational goals.
• Minimal communication, lack of communication or miscommunication can be a disruption
in the paths of coordination efforts.
• Resistance towards the changes, that occurs within the organization, due to change in
process, system or any other internal and external changes can also disrupt the
coordination efforts within an organization.

Organization Structures, Types, Advantages & Disadvantages: Organizational structure can

be defined as the process which directs activities like task allocation, coordination,
supervision, etc. towards achieving organizational goals. It describes the hierarchy levels and
information-flow within an organization.
It outlines how job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated. The structure
determines how information flows between levels within the company and influences the
organization's culture, communication, and efficiency. Following are several types of
organizational structures, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the
nature of the organization, its size, and its business objectives.

TYPES OF ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES AND ITS ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

1. Functional Structure: An organization is divided into departments, in functional structure,

on the basis of particular functions like marketing, finance, human resource, production,
etc.
Advantages:
• It helps individuals to develop skills in accordance to their functional areas.
• It helps to increase efficiency within departments by optimizing processes.
 • The levels of hierarchy are clearly defined roles within each function which makes
everyone aware of their roles and responsibilities.
Disadvantages:
• Functional structure creates divisions among the departments, making them isolated
from others. This hinders the communication channels as well.
• It can make individuals focus more on their own department’s goals and not much on the
overall objectives of the organization.
• Another disadvantage of functional is that it takes longer to make decisions that involves
that involve multiple departments due to the need for coordination between the
departments.
2. Divisional Structure: The organizations are divided into partially independent units in a
divisional structure, with each unit being responsible for a particular product, service or
market.
Advantages:
• It helps each unit to focus on their specific market, product or service.
• In divisional structure, the smaller semi-independent units get adapted to changes
quickly in accordance to their specific environments.
• It is easy to track the performances of those units and assess them in divisional
structure.
Disadvantages:
• The biggest disadvantage of divisional structure is that a single function gets duplicated
multiple times across different divisions due to lack of proper communication among
the different units.
• These units start competing against each other rather than collaborating in divisional
structure. While a healthy competition is alright but if it gets to lengths it leads to
inefficiencies.
• These various units can have different practices and processes which can, at times,
hampers the overall organizational objectives.
3. Matrix Structure: The matrix structure is an amalgamation of the functional organizational
structure and divisional organizational structure. In this structure, individuals report to a
functional manager as well as a project manager.
Advantages:
• Matrix structure helps to reallocate resources as per requirement.
• It encourages the cross-functional collaboration.
• Matrix structure combines expertise of individuals from different departments to focus
on specific projects, product or service.
Disadvantages:
 • The biggest disadvantage of matrix structure is that, due to the dual reporting it creates
confusions and conflicts among the individuals.
• Another disadvantage of this structure is the competition that happens between the
managers in order to gain authority and resources.
• Also, the employees can get stressed because of more than one manager and their
conflicting demands.
4. Flat Structure: In a flat organizational structure, there are fewer hierarchy in the middle
management between the managers and their subordinates. This forms a wide span of
control.
Advantages:
• The flat structure produces fewer hierarchy layers which enhances the speed of the
decision-making process and communication or information flow.
• It gives more responsibility and autonomy to individuals which can help them in their
career development.
• Reduction in the hierarchy levels in the management subsequently reduces the
administrative costs of the organization.
Disadvantages:
• Flat structure’s biggest disadvantage is that it limits the career growth as there are lesser
opportunities for advancement in this structure.
• This structure can lead to unclear responsibilities due to broader roles.
• Another disadvantage is that a single manager has multiple direct reportee. This disrupt
and distorts the focus of the manager as it gets impossible for them to focus on all of
them individually.
5. Hierarchical Structure: In the hierarchical structure, as the name suggests, there is clear
chain of command or hierarchy levels. Each of these levels will have authority over their
level of hierarchy lower to them.
Advantages:
• In hierarchical structure, it is easier to understand who has what charges and
responsibilities for which specific tasks.
• It provides, better promotion and career growth opportunities.
• Hierarchical structure permits specialization in specific levels of hierarchy.
Disadvantages:
• Biggest disadvantage of hierarchical structure is that it adapts slowly to change due to
its inflexible nature.
• In hierarchical structure, information does not flow freely between different levels of
hierarchy.
• Since it needs approval from higher levels, decision-making is a time-taking process in
hierarchical structure.
6. Network Structure: A central organization outsources majority of its functions in a network
organizational structure. A network organizational structure depends on the network
formed with external companies and other contractors.
Advantages:
• In a network organizational structure, it is simple to resize operations as per
requirements.
• By outsourcing, it reduces the overhead costs in network structure.
• It helps the organization to focus on its strengths as it outsources the activities that are
not their forte.
Disadvantages:
• Due to outsourcing, this structure gets lesser hold on the tasks that are not in their forte.
• Relying on external partners can prove risky and can cause huge losses.
• It is a complex structure due to the coordinating with external partners.
7. Team-Based Structure: As the name suggests, in a team-based structure, the organization
makes teams that work on various specific projects. These teams have the freedom and
authority over their projects, making them more efficient.
Advantages:
• This structure encourages teamwork and collaborations leading to innovations.
• In team-based structure, teams can be formed, adjusted and dissolved as per
requirement.
• Teams can quickly to changes making it easier to accomplish the goals in a team-based
organizational structure.
Disadvantages:
• Team-based structures can be complex due to engagement and coordination among
multiple teams.
• Effectiveness of teams may vary in a team-based structure.
• Teams can have conflicts regarding priorities or approaches as these individuals come
from different units or departments with their own approaches.
8. Holacratic Structure: Holacratic structure is self-managed organizational structure with a
decentralized approach wherein the decision-making authority is distributed among the
teams or circles that are self-organizing.
Advantages:
• In this structure, employees will have a say in the decisions that affects their work.
• It can adapt to changes quickly without needing any traditional hierarchy levels.
• In holacratic structures, roles and responsibilities are clearly defined.
Disadvantages:
• This structure is difficult to understand and its implementation is complicated.
• The biggest disadvantage of this structure is that individuals may resist changes if they
are used to traditional hierarchies.
• Confusions can arise due to overlapping of roles in holacracy.