Process of Organizing

The process of organizing consists of the following five steps.

1. Reviewing plans and objectives: The first step for the management is to
reflect on the organizational goals and objectives and its plans to achieve
them so that proper activities can be determined. For example, if a highclass
restaurant is to be opened in an elite area, then the management must
establish objectives and review these objectives so that these are consistent
with the location of the restaurant and the type of customers to be served.
2. Determining activities: In the second step, managers prepare and analyse
the activities needed to accomplish the objectives. In addition to general
activities such as hiring, training, keeping records and so on, there are specific
activities that are unique to the type of business that an organization is in.
For example, in the case of restaurant, the two major activities or tasks are
cooking food and serving customers.
3. Classifying and grouping activities: Once the tasks have been determined,
these tasks must be classified into manageable work units. This is usually
done on the basis of similarity of activities. For example, in a manufacturing
organization, the activities may be classified into production, marketing,
finance, research and development and so on. These major categories of
tasks can be subdivided into smaller units to facilitate operations and
supervision. For example, in the area of serving customers in the restaurant,
there may be different persons for taking cocktail orders, for food orders
and for clearing the tables. For cooking food, there may be different cooks
for different varieties of food.
4. Assigning work and resources: This step is crucial to organizing since the
correct individual must be matched to the appropriate job and should be
supplied with the resources to achieve the assigned tasks. The management
of the restaurant must determine as to who will take the orders and who will
set as well as clear the tables and what the relationship between these
individuals will be. Management must also make sure that adequate resources
of food items, utensils and cutlery are provided as necessary.
5. Evaluating outcome: In this last step, feedback about the outcomes would
decide about the effective functioning of the executed organizational
techniques. This feedback will also decide if any modifications are essential
or wanted in the organizational setup. For example, in the case of the
restaurant, complaints and suggestions from customers would assist the
Organizing
NOTES
Self-Instructional
78 Material
manager in making any necessary changes in the preparation of food, internal
decor of the restaurant or efficiency in service.
 Philosophy and strategy of the organization: Strategy is typically
defined as ‘the determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives
of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation
of resources necessary for carrying out these goals.’
In his research, Alfred Chandler found a definite link between organizational
philosophy and strategy and its structure. In small and simple organizations, the
structure is typically high on centralization. However, as organizations grow and
develop, such simple structures become increasingly ineffective and inefficient and
the organizations change their strategies and thus change their structures.
There are primarily two strategies, namely, stability strategy and growth
strategy. The growth strategy involves expansion, thus introducing the element of
complexity and uncertainty. In such type of environment, growth strategies will be
more successful when supported by organic structures.