What is an Organisation ? and Types of Organisation.

Ans:- an organized group of people with a particular purpose, such as a business or government department.

  Fourtypes of Organisations:-

1. Line Organisation. This is the oldest as well as the most common type of organisation. It i still used by many concerns especially the small ones. It is also known as the “Military System” as this type of organisation is usually found in the army. The characteristic feature of this type is that line of authority flows verticallty form the top most executive to the lowest subordinate throughout the entire organisational structure. The authority is greatest at the top and reduces through each successive level down the organisational scale. A variation of the pure line organisation is the departmental line organisation, under which the business enterprise is divided into several departments and the authority flows downward from the General Manger through the departmental managers to the lower subordinates. The departmental heads are independent of each other and enjoy equal status.

2. Functional Organisation. In this type of organisation the personnel an their work are organised on the basis of the same type of work of activities. All works of the same type are grouped together and brought under one department managed by an executive who is an expert. Thus there are separate functional departments, for the major functions of the business viz., engineering or production, purchase, sales, finance personnel etc. Each department performs its specialised function for the entire organisation. For example, the purchase department deals with purchases on behalf of the entire organisation, and so on. Now-a-days almost all business concerns usually follow some sort of functional plan to carry out the primary functions of business. However, it is the rare to find a pure functional organisation and there is always an element of line organisation mixed with it.
3. Line and Staff Organisation. In order to avoid the defects of the line and functional types of organisation, too much concentration of control in the former and too much division of the same in the latter, the line and staff organisation was evolved. It seeks to strike a balance between the first tow types. Under this type, the organisational structure is basically that of the line organisation, but “Staff, officers of functional experts are engaged to advise the line officers in the performance of their duties. 'Staff' means something to lean on, and this is precisely the function of the staff officers. Line officers are the executives, and the staff officers are their advisers. Being an admixture of the Line and Functional organisations, it has the advantages of both and is admirably suited for large concerns. A large-size business concern, with its multifarious functions of complicated nature needs an organisation where there will be an unbroken line of authority and responsibility so that responsibility can be fixed, discipline can be maintained and decision-making and execution can be prompt. At the same time, it requires that a high degree of specialisation and co-ordination of functions are achieved without which efficiency is bound to suffer. Te Line and Staff organisation caters to both these needs. The Line officers make the decisions and issue instructions to subordinates, the staff officers have no authority to issue instructions. But in their decision-making function, the Line officers receive advise and guidance form the Staff Officers.

4. Committee Organisation. A committee means a body of persons entrusted with discharging some assigned functions collectively as a group. Committees may be permanent (standing) or termporary (adhoc) bodies. Committee are found to exist in different areas and levels of an organisational structure, in both business and non-business institutions. Because of its advantages, the committees form of organisation is very often preferred by different concerns. However, a committee organisation is rarely found in its pure form, it is usually found in addition to a line and staff organisation. The committee itself may be organised with line authority, it is usually vested with powers of decision making and its execution. The committee then assumes command authority u in the organisation and function as a group executive or 'plural executive'. Where it is organised on staff authority it has merely an advisory function. The example of a group executive is the board of a business company where the various committees of directors (both standing and adoc) as well as other committees at lower levels of organisation are staff or advisory committees. The example committees at lower levels of organisation are staff or advisory committees. The example of a group executive of 'plural executive' where it is organised on staff authority, it has merely an advisory functions.