Nature of an Organization

 There are some common features of organization through which a clear idea about its nature can be obtained. These are indicated below:

1. Process

• Organization is a process of defining, arranging and grouping the activities of an enterprise and establishing the authority relationships among the persons performing these activities.

• In simple term, organization is the process by which the chief executive, as a leader, groups his men in order to get the work done.

2. Structure

• The function of organizing is the creation of a structural framework of duties and responsibilities to be performed by a group of people for the attainment of the objectives of the concern.

• It is an important function of man­agement to organize the enterprise by grouping the activities necessary to carry out the plans into administrative units, and defining the relationships among the executives and workers in such units.

3. Dividing and Grouping the Activities

• In fact, organization is a process of dividing and combining the activities of an enterprise.

• Accomplishment of Goals or Objectives An organization structure has no mean­ing or purpose unless it is built around certain clear-cut goals or objectives.

• In fact, an organization structure is built-up precisely because it is the ideal way of making a rational pursuit of objectives.

• Haney defines organization as: "a harmonious adjustment of specialised parts for the accomplishment of some common purpose or purposes".

 

4. Authority-Responsibility Relationship

• An organization structure consists of vari­ous positions arranged in a hierarchy with a clear definition of the authority and responsibility associated with each of these.

• An enterprise cannot serve the specific purposes or goals unless some positions are placed above others and given authority to bind them by their decisions.

• In fact, organization is quite often defined as a structure of authority-responsibility relationships.

 

5. Human and Material Aspects

• Organization deals with the human and material factors in business.

• Human element is the most important element in an organization.

• To accomplish the task of building up a sound organization, it is essential to prepare an outline of the organization which is logical and simple.

• From these features of organization, it emerges that, an organization is essentially an administrative 'process' of determining what activities are necessary to be performed for the achievement of objectives of an enterprise, dividing and grouping the work into individual jobs and, a 'structure' of positions arranged in a hierarchy with defined rela­tionships of authority and responsibility among the executives and workers performing these tasks for the most effective pursuit of common goals of the enterprise.