Office Organisation
Office organisation is the second domain: it tests whether you can apply principles, choose a structure, divide work into departments, and explain delegation and span of control without mixing them up.
Core rules
- Principles include unity of objective, division of work, authority with responsibility, unity of command, scalar chain, span of control, coordination, flexibility and efficiency.
- Common structures: line (direct chain of command), line-and-staff (line managers decide; staff advisers support), functional (specialists supervise by function). Formal organisation is deliberately designed; informal arises from social relationships.
- Departmentation may be by function (accounts, sales, personnel), product, territory, customer or process.
- Delegation has three elements: authority (right to act), responsibility (duty) and accountability (answerability). Authority can be delegated; responsibility and accountability remain with the delegator.
- Span of control is the number of subordinates directly supervised. Narrow spans suit complex or new work; wide spans need trained staff, clear rules and good communication.
Worked example
A small manufacturer adds departments for production, sales and accounts. The owner keeps final approval of credit sales but delegates routine invoicing to the accounts assistant. Reasoning: departmentation is by function; the owner uses line authority with staff support; invoicing authority is delegated, but the owner remains accountable for credit policy.
Traps
- Do not say accountability can be delegated.
- Do not confuse span of control (number supervised) with scalar chain (line of authority).
- Do not treat informal organisation as always harmful; it can speed communication but may carry rumour.
- Departmentation by customer is not the same as by function.