Staff Integration, Leadership, and Organizational Management
Staff Integration
Staff integration involves occupying and holding positions within the organizational structure. This process considers workforce requirements and available personnel. It encompasses recruitment, selection, hiring, promotion, evaluation, career planning, compensation, and training or development. External factors influencing integration include education, socio-cultural aspects, work attitudes, laws, regulations, and economic opportunities. Internal factors involve internal promotion, job skills, resistance to change, and the need for business owner support.
Direction and Leadership
Direction is influencing people to contribute to organizational and group goals. The administrator’s role and acceptance level determine direction. Administrators must prioritize understanding and trust among group members, just as subordinates must believe in their administrators.
Tools: Administrators use tools to develop effective organizational management.
Features: Motivation, Leadership, Delegation, and Communication.
Motivation
Human motivations are diverse and based on individual needs, whether conscious or unconscious. These include impulses, desires, and wishes. Motivational psychology extensively studies the motivational cycle:
- Awareness of the need
- Transformation of the need into a specific desire
- Identification of the incentive to satisfy the desire
- Choosing the course that leads to the incentive
- Initiation and maintenance of conduct aimed at achieving the incentive
- Achieving the desired incentive
- Meeting the needs
Different authors propose various perspectives on the motivational cycle, including Chiavenato (2000, p.70), Kast and Rosenzweig (1996, p. 300), Hellriegel and Slocum (op. cit., P. 118), Davis and Newstrom (2003, p.122), and Gibson et al. (op.cit., p.147).
Leadership
Is a leader born or made? Leadership is for everyone and is a relationship. Leadership begins with action; the leader makes himself. Leadership is the art of influencing people so that their effort is voluntary and enthusiastic in achieving group goals. Leadership and motivation are closely interrelated.
Leadership Styles
- Autocratic Leader: “Hey, I’m the boss. I make the decisions, and I’ll tell you what to do. You better do your job because I’ll be watching every move.”
- Participatory Leader: “I’m sure you’ll understand that the responsibility for making a final decision is mine, but I value your ideas and opinions. I hope I can count on your help in implementing the decision once it’s made.”
- Liberal Leader: “Here’s the work. Do it as you like, as long as it gets done. I just hope you inform me if extremely difficult problems arise.”
Differences Between a Boss and a Leader
| Chief | Leader |
|---|---|
| There by the authority | There is the good Will |
| For the privilege of command authority | For the privilege of authority service |
| Inspires fear | Inspires trust |
| Knows how to make things | Teaches how to make things |
| Says, Do it! | Says, Let’s do it! |
| Manages people as objects | Does not treat people like objects |
| Arrives on time | Arrives before |
| Assigns tasks | Sets the example |
Operational Planning
To achieve goals, action must be taken, and resources consumed. This process is called Operational Planning and comprises the following stages: Analysis of objectives, Time planning, Resource planning, Risk evaluation, and Control review.
Analysis of objectives: This stage begins by dividing the main objective into smaller objectives, forming a chain of means and ends. This should be represented in an analytical figure. The main objective is placed as the “product” that needs other “products” to take place. Preferably, these products are identified as nouns, such as home, system, test, etc.
Time Planning: Time planning reflects the work or effort required to achieve a goal. This effort is carried out through activities that consume time. To plan time use, it is necessary to: Identify the activities required to achieve objectives and estimate their duration. Schedule the distribution of activities over time in a schedule. Identify activities based on the analytical structure (see figure below). Identification depends on understanding the objectives, creativity, and experience. Use techniques like brainstorming to create a good list of activities, identified with verbs (make, carry, prepare, design, etc.).
Table of activities and precedences: This table indicates the duration and sequencing of activities. Precedence depends on the logic or arbitrary decisions of the organizers. This table should be created with the help of a precedence diagram.
Sequencing: Sequencing sets priorities and the start and end of activities. This information is recorded in the schedule of activities or tasks. A precedence diagram can facilitate this task.
Action Plan: Establish all project activities for compliance. Organize the plan of activities. Build a list of them. Schedule them according to criteria. This reduces anxiety and allows for calculating the time each task will take.
Types of Organizations
Formal Organization: The intentional structure of roles in a formally organized company.
Informal Organization: A network of relationships that arises spontaneously among people.
No Formal Organization: Entities not included in the formal structure of a company, which do not fulfill direct functions but impact management (e.g., unions).
Organizational Structure: The structure of an organization is represented by an organization chart, a graphic illustration. It can be analyzed from two viewpoints:
- From a vertical perspective, according to the degree of delegation of authority, you can define a centralized or decentralized company.
- From a horizontal perspective, according to the division of labor, you can define three basic types: functional, divisional, and matrix.
Centralization/Decentralization
Another organizational decision involves the degree of centralization or decentralization of authority.
Centralization: Authority is concentrated in a few persons.
Decentralization: Delegation of authority and power occurs between positions and departments, not just from one person to another. Note that devolution of authority is not the same as decentralization of activities.
Line and Advice
In a line organization, there is no interference between hierarchical levels. In advisory structures, work units are located next to the line.
Types of Structure (Functional)
According to Division of Labor
Tasks are divided among work units called departments. This departmentalization criterion allocates tasks and divides the company into work specialization blocks.
- By Product: This criterion is used in industrial companies (for structuring production lines) and commercial companies (for specializing service offerings).
- By Geographic Area: Also called territorial or regional, this approach attributes a territory to each work unit. It is used by companies operating in large areas where each site needs resources and autonomy.
- By Type of Customer: This arrangement can be used at any hierarchical level and functional area, provided there are significant customer differences that justify this division. Outsourcing companies often use this model.
- By Areas of Knowledge: Departments are grouped by different areas of knowledge or disciplines (e.g., schools, laboratories, universities, institutes).
- By Projects: Activities are temporary, have a specific date, and aim to deliver a unique product or service, fulfilling a special need. This is called project organization.
- Matrix Structure: The team consists of members from functional areas who are “borrowed” for the project for specific periods. A horizontal structure is created to coordinate the skills of functional areas. This structure is based around one central design concept. Members are simultaneously engaged in other projects. It is considered to have two or more heads for each Strategic Business Unit (SBU).