Organisation

Administration is a cooperative effort of a group of people working towards a common objective. For the achievement of this goal, the group must be organised, making organisation an essential element of administration. It ensures the proper utilisation of men, material, and money to accomplish the defined objectives. As Dimock and Dimock stated:
“Organisation is the basic tool by means of which the administrative process is kept operating.”

Definition

The term ‘organisation’ is derived from ‘organicism’, meaning an organised body of interdependent parts sharing a common activity. Key definitions include:

• Mooney: “Organisation is the form of every human association for the attainment of a common purpose.”

• Simon: “A planned system of cooperative effort in which each participant has a recognised role, duties, and tasks.”

• Gulick: “Formal structure of authority through which work sub-divisions are arranged, defined, and coordinated for the objective.”

• Gladden: “Pattern of relationships between persons in an enterprise to fulfil the enterpriser’s function.”

• Pfiffner: “Relationships of individuals and groups to bring about an orderly division of labour.”

• L.D. White: “Arrangement of personnel to facilitate accomplishment of agreed purpose through allocation of functions.”

• Chester Barnard: “System of consciously coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons.”

• J.M. Gaus: “Relating efforts of individuals and groups to secure the objective with least friction and maximum satisfaction.”

• Urwick: “Determining necessary activities and arranging them in groups assignable to individuals.”

Organisation is viewed in three ways:

1. Designing the administrative structure

2. Designing and building the administrative structure

3. The administrative structure itself

It is both a structure and a set of human relationships.

Characteristics

According to Nicholas Henry, organisations are:

1. Purposeful, complex human collectivities

2. Characterized by secondary (impersonal) relationships

3. Have specialized and limited goals

4. Defined by sustained cooperative activity

5. Integrated within a larger social system

6. Providing services and products to the environment

7. Dependent upon exchanges with the environment

Primary elements of organisation:

• L.D. White: persons, combined efforts, common purpose

• C.I. Barnard: common purpose, communication, willingness to serve

• Herbert A. Simon: dividing work, formulating standards, providing communication, transmitting decisions, training members

Bases of Organisation

Luther Gulick identified four bases of organisation: purpose, process, persons, and place.

1. Purpose – The function performed by the organisation (e.g., Defence, Health, Labour, HRD Departments).
   Merits: coherent mission, eliminates duplication, coordinated policies, fixes responsibility, intelligible to public
   Demerits: neglects subordinate work, ignores new technologies, encourages departmentalism
   Recommended by Haldane Committee (1918-19), First Hoover Commission (1949-50), ARC Study Team (1966-70)

2. Process – The technique or specialised skill used in performing work (e.g., Space, Law, Ocean Development, Electronics Departments).
   Merits: maximum specialisation, efficient use of technical skill, economy via machinery, coordination, career development
   Demerits: limited use in non-technical areas, emphasizes means over ends, professional arrogance, neglects generalist administrators

3. Persons (Clientele) – The group of people served (e.g., Rehabilitation, Tribal Welfare, Women Welfare Departments).
   Merits: responsibility for group needs, coordinated services, close client-agency relationship, holistic approach
   Demerits: creates many small departments (‘Lilliputian administration’), jurisdictional disputes, violates specialisation, vulnerable to pressure groups

4. Place – The territorial area covered (e.g., External Affairs, Damodar Valley Corporation, Zonal Railway Offices).
   Merits: coordinates services in an area, adapts policies locally, suitable for long distances, reduces travel/communication cost
   Demerits: counter to uniformity, fosters localism over national outlook, violates specialisation, vulnerable to regional pressures