Organizational Management the Organizing Functions

Organizational Management

The organizing functions of management in an organization, related to human resources and knowledge, are especially crucial to an organization's success. Effective organization of human resources provides and mobilizes a framework for success. Such a framework considers the overall structure of the human resources unit, considers the needs of the business and employees, develops personnel organizational charts, incorporates internal and external factors, and establishes management practices for day-to-day operations. In terms of knowledge management, the organizing functions of management are equally crucial. In the case of knowledge management, organizing functions include effectively identifying and mobilizing intellectual and knowledge-based assets, and are focused on specific and clear goals. Further, this process includes provisions to allow employees to become actively involved in knowledge management, the integration of information technology, and is built on an understanding that knowledge is constantly updated, deleted, and amended.

The organizing functions of management provide crucial value to the organization. Through organizing functions, the manager can integrate policies and procedures into the organization's operation. The functions of management include planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. All of these basic management functions are necessary in any business environment. In particular, the organizing function is a key component that is often over looked in establishing the framework for a successful business. Organizing is the part of a manager's workload that concerns mobilizing the resources that are necessary to complete a particular task. Effective management in the organizing function includes the often lengthy and complex process of setting goals and formulating specific strategies. During the organizing function, the effective manager decides what resources are necessary, and arranges these resources into a specific and useful structure that are aimed at supporting the organization's overall goals (Griffin, Ebert, and Starke).

Effective organization of human resources by management is crucially important to an organization's success. In terms of the overall management of an organization, a group that can require the most consideration during the organization process is human resources. Organizing human resources is an important component of allowing a business to operate as a productive unit.

In the organization of human resources, designing the overall organizing structure of the human resources unit is crucial. And ineffectively designed and mobilized structure can create chaos at worst, and company-wide inefficiency and confusion at the best. The organization of a human resources department includes the allocation of the responsibility for hiring and firing, training, and the creation of work assignments and job descriptions (United States Department of Agriculture).

The organizing functions of management must consider both the needs of the business, and the needs of employees. The business will function at its highest level when these dual needs are in alignment.

An important factor in the organization of human resources is developing personnel organizational charts. These charts show the relationships of employees to each other and management, clearly outline specific job descriptions, and often establish acceptable levels of performance for each position (United States Department of Agriculture). Each position or category of position should be clearly identified during this stage of the organizing function of management.

The organizing function of management must further incorporate external factors such as labor laws and regulations, labor markets, and the practices of other employers within the industry. Further, the organizing function must consider a number of internal factors such as establishing conflict management initiatives, and creating a process for promotion within the organization.

Another crucial factor in the organization of human resources is hiring a competent manager to handle day-to-day operations that are often referred to as the staffing function. Such a manager handles many diverse responsibilities. The manager is initially responsible for hiring employees (both full-time and part-time), and contractors. In addition, the manager allows for the continuing training of existing employees, as well as the initial training of new employees. The manager also mixed work assignments and designs job descriptions for employees, where applicable. This manager sets the goals for the day-to-day business activities (United States Department of Agriculture).

Santosus and Surmacz define knowledge management, in the broadest sense, as "the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets." In practice, knowledge management involves sharing such assets between employees, departments and even with other companies.

It is important to note that knowledge management is not synonymous with technology. While the idea of knowledge management has become deeply integrated with technological advances, it can exist outside of the computer era. Note Santosus and Surmacz, "while (knowledge management) is often facilitated by it, technology by itself is not (knowledge management).

Knowledge management can bring about substantial benefits to the company, underlining the importance of effective managerial organization of the process. These benefits can include a direct contribution to bottom-line savings for the company. In addition, knowledge management can provide benefits to areas as diverse as employee morale, and effective company communication.

In effectively incorporating knowledge management into organizational practices, the organizing functions of management must be able to clearly defined intellectual or knowledge-based assets. As Santosus and Surmacz succinctly note, "Not all information is valuable." In other words, the effective manager must be able to determine what information is valuable, and what is not within the organizational process.

Generally, knowledge-based assets fall into two categories: the explicit and tacit. Explicit knowledge-based assets include business plans, marketing research, trademarks, and patents. This knowledge is often documented, archived, and even codified with the help of information technology. In contrast, tacit knowledge is an inherently more ambiguous and often less tangible resource. This knowledge can be seen as "the know-how contained in people's heads" (Santosus and Surmacz). Identifying this tacit knowledge can be difficult, but is an important step during the organizing functions of management.

There are substantial organizing functions of management that are related to knowledge management. The importance of these organizing functions derives from the need for the integration of knowledge management within a larger business context. Without such a context,"(knowledge management) is meaningless at best and harmful at worst" (Santosus and Surmacz).

As such, the organizing functions of management, as related to knowledge management, must be focused on specific and clear goals. These include mobilizing resources that encourage the free exchange of ideas designed to foster innovation, improve customer service, and encourage employee retention by recognizing and rewarding employee knowledge. Importantly, an effective knowledge management program must also help the company get products to market more quickly, thereby increasing revenues, and streamline operations by eliminating unnecessary processes (Santosus and Surmacz).