Page 113 - DMGT402_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICES_AND_ORGANIZATIONAL_BEHAVIOUR

Management Practices and Organisational Behaviour

Notes The components perform interdependent activities aimed at achieving certain goals. To perform
these activities, the actors require various types of inputs or resources. It may be difficult to
communicate the policies, orders and managerial actions on a face-to-face basis. Personal contact
is, rather, impossible and formal methods of coordination become essential.
Usually, in an organisation, work is divided along functional lines, resulting in specialists
taking care of manufacturing, financing, personnel, marketing functions. Over a period of time,
these specialists tend to limit their ability to look beyond their own narrow speciality and
become are more interested in developing their own departments. Coordination between such
employees is must so as to let them mingle with the others in various departments.

People join an organisation to fulfil their personal needs, like those of food, shelter, clothing,
entertainment, economic security, recognition for good work, freedom to do work
independently, etc. Often individuals fail to appreciate how the achievement of organisational
goals will satisfy their own goals. The environment in the organisation, organisational rules
and regulations may also frustrate their attempts to realise their personal goals. As a result, they
are forced to pursue their narrow personal interests sacrificing organisational interests. They
tend to work at cross purposes. Coordination helps to avoid conflict between individual and
organisational goals.
According to Lawrence and Lorsch, the need for coordination, basically, arises owing to the
differences in attitudes and different working styles of people in an organisation. Every
individual has his own way of dealing with problems. The specific orientation towards particular
goals might be different. To sales people, product variety may take precedence over product
quality. Accountants may see cost control, as most important to the organisation's success, while
marketing managers may regard product design as most essential. Further, there are differences
in time orientation of people.

5.1.2 Importance of Coordination

Coordination is important to the success of any enterprise. It helps an organisation in the
following ways:
Coordination pulls all the functions and activities together. Waste motions, overlapping and
duplication of efforts, misuse of resources are, thus, prevented. Coordination, enables an
organisation to use its resources in an optimum way. The resources flow through productive
channels, paving the way for required quality and quantity of output. Efficiency is thus improved.
Coordination brings unity of action and direction. Members begin to work in an orderly manner,
appreciating the work put in by others. They understand and adjust with each other by developing
mutual trust, cooperation and understanding. They move closer to each other. In short, it
improves human relations.
According to Fayol, where activities are well-coordinated, each department works in harmony
with the rest. Production knows its target; maintenance keeps equipment and tools in good
order; Finance procures necessary funds; Security sees to the protection of goods and service
personnel and all these activities are carried out in a smooth and systematic manner. Coordination,
thus, creates a harmonious balance between departments, persons and facilities. This in turn,
helps in meeting goals efficiently and effectively.

The importance of coordination, largely lies in the fact that it is the key to other functions of
management like planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling. The different elements
of a plan, the various parts of an organisation and phases of a controlling operation must all be
coordinated. Coordinating makes planning more purposeful, organisation more well-knit, and
control more regulative and effective.

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