Chapter IV Informal Organization
Organizing Technical Activities
Organizing
 The structuring of resources and activities to
accomplish objectives in an efficient and
effective manner.
Structure
 Arrangement of relationship of positions within
an organization.
The Purpose of the Structure
1. It defines the relationship between tasks and
authority for individuals and departments.
2. It defines formal reporting relationship, the
number of levels in the hierarchy of the
organization and the span of control.
3. It defines the groupings of individuals into
departments and departments into organization.
4. It defines the system to effect coordination of
effort in both vertical (authority) and horizontal
(task) directions.
When structuring an organization, the engineer
manager must be concerned with the following:
1. Division of labor – determining the scope of
work and how it is combined in a job.
2. Delegation of authority – the process of
assigning various degrees of decision-making
authority to subordinates.
3. Departmentation – the grouping of related jobs,
activities, or processes into major organizational
subunits.
4. Span of Control – the number of people who
report directly to a given manager.
5. Coordination – the linking of activities in the
organization that serves to achieve a common
goal or objectives
Formal Organization
 The structure that details lines of responsibilities,
authority, and position.
The formal structure is described by management
through:
1. Organization Chart
2. Organizational Manual
3. Policy Manuals
Organizational Chart
 Diagram of the organizations official positions
and formal lines of authority.
Organizational Manual
 Provides written descriptions of authority
relationship, details the functions of major
organization units, and describe job procedures.
 Vulnerable to expediency, manipulation, and
opportunism according to Valentine. Valentine
added difficult for management to detect these
perversions, and considerable harm can be done
to the company.
Types of Organizational Structures
1. Functional Organization – a form of
departmentalization in which everyone engaged
in one functional activity, such as engineering or
marketing, is grouped into one unit.
2. Product or Market Organization – refers to the
organization of a company by divisions that
brings together all those involved with a certain
type of product or customer.
3. Matrix Organizations – an organization
structure in which end employee reports to both a
functional or division manager and to a project or
group manager.
Reasons or Factors for Joining or Forming a Group
1. Friendship
2. Common Interest – like concerns for
environment or love for classical music.
3. Proximity – which gives people the chance to
share ideas, opinions, and feelings.
4. Need Satisfaction – which are derived from
unions, cultural societies, fraternities and more.
5. Collective Power – which are derived from
unions, fraternities and more.
6. Group Goals – which attract individuals like
consumer society, sports club and more.
All six (6) factors which propel people to form or join
into an informed group.