Question

1) Now that you have learned some of the basic principles of organization, pause and think about where you have already applied such concepts yourself or when you have been part of an organization that did.

1. Did you find a division of labor necessary and helpful?

2. Were you assigned specific tasks or left on your own to decide what to do?

3. Were promotions based strictly on qualifications, as Weber suggested? What other factors may have been considered?

4. What problems seem to emerge when an organization gets larger?

5. What organizational changes might you recommend to the auto companies? The airline industry? Technology firms?

Answer 1

Answer :

1 ) .​​​​​​​

The division of labor is very necessary in organizations to function smoothly. There are a variety of benefits, the division of labor offers:

• Proper delegation of tasks as per the skills and specialization
• ​​​​​​​Highest efficiency can be achieved from the employees
• Less time taken to perform tasks
• The workers get their skills enhanced in a single domain, therefore higher degree of specialization

• However the traditional view on the division of labor has witnessed a paradigm shift by the advent of modern management. There are cross-functional teams and matrix structured departmentalization. However this can also be viewed as an amalgamation of similar type of tasks in order to enhance the knowledge, skills and coordination.
• In broader terms division of labor still exists and is required. However the degree of division is lesser now.
• E.g. A software engineer can work on two projects simultaneously, devoting his/her time separately for each. However a clerk cannot function as a maintenance worker in the technical department.

2 ) .

In many organizations, the tasks that are assigned to the personnel may be highly specific.

This happens in the cases where the labor is highly specialized and skilled.

However, in other cases where the labor is unskilled, semi-skilled or novice, the organization may take the liberty of assigning tasks as per their convenience.

In certain cases the organizations give the freedom to employees to choose a task, more suitable to their preferences and own career aspirations.

3 ) .

The following aspects are also considered during the promotions and appraisal of the employee:

1. The overall performance of the employee After analyzing the performance of an employee based on different parameters and other team skills, an employee can be considered for promotions.
2. Team skills and leadership qualities It is very important to be a team player and leadership skills also need to be displayed for getting a promotion. Being a shy or an introvert member of the team would be considered as a negative point.
3. Terms with the manager, superiors and subordinates.It is also very important to maintain good terms and rapport with the managers, other superiors and subordinates.
4. Overall behavior in the officeThe extent to which an employee adheres to the company norms, values and culture also plays an important role during the promotions.

4 ) .

The problems that emerge when an organization gets larger are as follows

• When an organization is smaller, the structure is relatively flat, consisting of less hierarchy and bureaucracy.
• As the organization becomes bigger, there is a relative increase in the bureaucracy and hierarchy.
• With the increase in the size of the organization, the decision making process gets slower and managing large number of employees becomes an issue.
• Apart from that, inspecting the work, making sure the core values of the organization are being followed during work by the employees of the organization is also an issue at times.
• Also, it becomes a challenge to identify and manage the team members who don’t put efforts because others are putting and due to the overall goal achievement by the team, they are not questioned. This is usually the case in the formal organization.

5 ) .

Decentralized authority

• In this method, since the major auto companies have production facilities and suppliers across the world,
• It becomes necessary for the companies to decentralize the decision-making powers to the lower-level managers who have a better knowledge of the local conditions.
• This would result in higher morale for the workers.

Reduction in hierarchy

• Auto companies should strive to move from a tall organizational structure to a flat organizational structure.
• This would result in quick and better decision making process.
• Many major auto companies across the world have a large hierarchy and sometimes,
• Unfair policies towards the lower management and workers leads to unrest and eventually results in a strike.

Restructuring

• Many auto companies still follow the old organizational structure.
• It is very important that they adapt to the changing market conditions.
• This should be done with a view of better serving the customers.

The organizational changes that can be recommended to the airline industry are as follows:

Cross-functional self-managed teams

• These kinds of teams enable different kind of employees to work together
• This would enable the employees to better understand the work done by the other departments.
• A joint team can be created comprising of members from the engineering department, the pilots, the cabin crew, etc.

Span of control

• It is the number of subordinates that are being managed by the supervisor.
• In general, the lesser the span of control, the more effective would be the team.

Restructuring

• In the airline industry, restructuring should be done with the intention of better serving the passengers.