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The organization is the process of establishing relationships among the members of the enterprise. The relationships are created in terms of authority and responsibility. To organize is to harmonize, coordinate or arrange in a logical and orderly manner.

Each member of the organization is assigned a specific responsibility or duty to perform and is granted the corresponding authority to perform his duty.

The managerial function of organizing consists in making a rational division of work into groups of activities and tying together the positions representing the grouping of activities so as to achieve a rational, well-coordinated, and orderly structure for the accomplishment of work.

According to Low A Allen, “Process of organizing involves identification and grouping the activities to be performed and dividing them among the individuals and creating authority and responsibility relationships among them for the accomplishment of organizational objectives.

Process of Organizing

These are the following steps of the process of organizing:

1. Determination of Objectives
2. Enumeration of Objectives
3. Classification of Activities
4. Assignment of Duties
5. Delegation of Authority

Determination of Objectives

It is the first step in building up an organization. The organization is always related to certain objectives. Therefore, it is essential for the management to identify the objectives before starting any activity. The organization structure is built on the basis of the objectives of the enterprise.

That means the structure of the organization can be determined by the management only after knowing the objectives to be accomplished through the organization. This step helps the management not only in framing the organization structure but also in achieving the enterprise objectives with minimum cost and effort.

The determination of objectives will consist in deciding as to why the proposed organization is to be set up and, therefore, what will be the nature of the work to be accomplished through the organization.

Enumeration of Objectives

If the members of the group are to pool their efforts effectively, there must be proper division of the major activities. The first step in organizing group effort is the division of the total job into essential activities.

Each job should be properly classified and grouped. This will enable the people to know what is expected of them as members of the group and will help in avoiding duplication of efforts. For example, the work of an industrial concern may be divided into the following major functions – production, financing, personnel, sales, purchase, etc.

Classification of Activities

The next step will be to classify activities according to similarities and common purposes and functions and take the human and material resources into account.

Then, closely related and similar activities are grouped into divisions and departments and the departmental activities are further divided into sections.

Assignment of Duties

Here, specific job assignments are made to different subordinates for ensuring certainty of work performance. Each individual should be given a specific job to do according to his ability and made responsible for that.

He should also be given adequate authority to do the job assigned to him. In the words of Kimball and Kimball, “Organisation embraces the duties of designating the departments and the personnel that are to carry on the work, defining their functions and specifying the relations that are to exist between department and individuals.”

Delegation of Authority

Since so many individuals work in the same organization, it is the responsibility of management to lay down the structure of relationships in the organization. Authority without responsibility is a dangerous thing and similarly, responsibility without authority is an empty vessel.

Everybody should clearly know to whom he is accountable; corresponding to the responsible authority is delegated to the subordinates for enabling them to show work performance. This will help in the smooth working of the enterprise by facilitating the delegation of responsibility and authority.

FAQ Related to the Process of Organizing