THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF AN ORGANIZATION
Any organization can be explained, broadly, in terms of an operating component and an
administrative component (Mintzberg, 1979). The operating component comprises the people
who actually undertake the work of producing the products, or providing the services. The
administrative component comprises managers and analysts, and is concerned with co-ordination
and supervision (Mullins, 1990: 62).
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL ORGANIZATIONS
As mentioned before, an organization consists of a group of people involved in a common
activity. Moreover, although the activity may be different in each organization, all organisations
share a number of common characteristics:
Each has a set of objectives and goals – either implicit (i.e. understood by members) or
explicit, and written down;
Each has a task or tasks designed to achieve its objectives;
Each employs people to undertake the tasks;
Each needs to co-ordinate people and tasks, usually by arranging staff in a hierarchy
consisting of managers at the top, forman/supervisions in the middle and workers at the
bottom;
All exist within the wider environment of the world outside, while simultaneously creating
their own internal environment (Frampton et al., 1988: 53).
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION
Many authorities (such as Urwick, 1952) have published principles and many of these principles
are common. The followings are some the main principles:
Unity of objective: Every organization and every part of the organization must contribute to
the attainment of the objective of the enterprise.
Specialisation: The activities of every member of any organised group should be confined, as
far as possible, to the performance of a single function.
Span of control: Consideration is needed to find the number of persons an individual can
effectively manage.
Delegation: Authority should be delegated as far down the levels as possible.
Unity of command: Instructions from two or more superiors may conflict.
Responsibility: The responsibility of the superior for the acts of the subordinates is absolute.
Correspondence: In every position, the responsibility and the authority should correspond.
Balance: It is vital that the various units of an organization should be kept in balance.
Continuity: Re-organization is a continuous process. (Mullins, 1990: 127-128; Urwick, 1952;
Appleby, 1989: 112).
ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
An effective organization can broadly defined as one that successfully achieve its goals and
objectives while also meeting its responsibilities to its stakeholders (Armstrong, 1991: 249).
There are a number of writers and scholars, such as Pascale and Athos, Peters and Waterman,
Kanter, Handy, Child and Pascale, who created the different formulas for organizational
effectiveness. After mentioning and analysing such author's statements and by adding his own
experience and observations, Armstrong (1991: 254-255) developed the following ten factors
contributing to organizational effectiveness:
Strong visionary leadership from the top;
A powerful management team;
A well-motivated, committed, satisfied, skilled and flexible workforce;
Effective teamwork throughout organization, with win/lose conflict well under control;
A continuous pressure to innovate, coupled with the ability to manage and thrive on change;
Clearly defined goals and strategies to accomplish them;
A positive corporate culture;
A value system which emphasises performance, quality and the responsibilities of the
organization to its stakeholders;
An ability to get into action fast and make things happen;
A sound financial base and good systems for management accounting and cost control.
WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR?
Organizational behaviour is concerned with the study of the behaviour of individuals and groups
in organizations (Schermerhorn et al., 1995: 2). It covers the understanding, prediction and
control of human behaviour and the factors which affect the performance of people as members
of an organization (Luthans, 1985). There is a clear and close relationship between
organizational behaviour and management theory and practice. Some writers seem to argue that
organizational behaviour and management are synonymous, but this is something of an over-
simplification because there are many broader facets to management. Organizational behaviour
does not encompass the whole management; it is more accurately described in the narrower
interpretation of providing a behavioural approach to management (Mullins, 1990: 2).
The formal organization is a constantly fast changing network of interrelated activities and the
behaviour of people can not be studied in isolation. It is necessary to understand the
interrelationships between human behaviour and other variables which together covers the total
organization. The study of organizational behaviour thus includes consideration of interaction
among the formal structure, the tasks to be undertaken, the technology employed and methods of
carrying out work, the behaviour of people, the process of management and the external
environment (Mullins, 1990: 2).
USEFULNESS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
The field of organizational behaviour helps managers both learn and deal with their workplace
knowledge and experiences. A manager who understands organizational behaviour is better
prepare to realise what to look for in work situations, to understand what they find, and to take or
help others to take the necessary action. The manager’s action indicators typically deal with the
performance accomplishments of workforce, their attitudes and behaviours, and events that
occurs in the workplace, in the organization as a whole, and even in the external environment.
Successful managers are able to both to realize the importance of these indicators (for instance,
an increase in turnover among employees) and to take appropriate and constructive action to
improve things as a result of this insight (such as performance related pay schemes)
(Schermerhorn, 1995: 3-4).
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