Hello everyone, in the previous topic we were talking about Directing in Management. Today we are going to talk about Coordination in management, its importance, characteristics, types, and mechanisms.

WHAT IS COORDINATION?

INTRODUCTION

The essence of management is coordinating all of the different functions. Coordination, as it relates to business, is defined as integrating activities to ensure the resources of an organization are used most efficiently to succeed in achieving the set of goals.

Coordination plays a huge role in the success of an organization. With different people and departments working towards a common goal, it offers many benefits to help keep the efforts synchronized and integrated.

Some of the leading definitions of the word “Coordination” are quoted below-

According to Linda Argote “Coordination involves fitting together the activities of organization members, and the need for it arises from the interdependent nature of the activities that organization members perform”.

According to Robert E. Kraut & B. H. Streeter “Coordination has been defined as the direction of individual’s efforts toward achieving common and explicitly recognized goals”.

According to Joseph E. McGrath “Coordination of interests refers to the functional interconnections between member interests and goals and group interests and goals”. 

According to Arrow “Coordination of understandings refers to the development of shared perceptions and meanings among members, including an appreciation of how members reliably see and interpret events differently”.

According to Berdhal “Coordination of action is a synchronization and sequencing of member actions in time and place”

According to Ballard & Seibold “Coordination can be defined as the collective accomplishment of individual goals through a cooperative process” 

According to Quinn & Dutton “Coordination is the process through which people arrange actions in ways that they believe will enable them to accomplish their goals”

IMPORTANCE OF COORDINATION

 Coordination is indeed the essence of management. By Coordination, we mean a path through which the group functions are linked up. It binds the people of the organization and their activities to ensure the smooth functioning of the work.

It is that force that unites the working and efforts of the people of the organization towards the common objective of the organization. Coordination links the interrelated functions of management. It is found at every level of management.

It begins right from the stage of planning where goals and objectives are set for the organization. Coordination is then required between the stage of planning and staffing so that the right kind of people are hired for the execution of the plan.

Next, the functions of directing and controlling must also are coordinated with each other to realize the achievement of desired goals.

The following points highlight the importance of coordination in management.

1. Harmonized Goals-

In any organization, growth is one of the important goals. With the growth of the organization, its size increases, and the number of personnel also increases. However, a greater number of persons means more differences in thoughts and work habits that may lead to disharmony among people.

Also, every individual will have their personal goals which may create a hindrance in achieving the organizational goals. So, coordination is important to synchronize the personal and the overall goals in one direction.

2. Allotted Work-

Each task requires specialization to give the requisite results. For this, every organization hires experts for different tasks. Every specialist approaches the tasks in their unique manner and is generally reluctant to take up any advice or suggestion from others.

This may lead to diversion or conflict among various specialists in the organization. Thus, coordination is required from an outside body such as the manager to integrate their opinions and thoughts.

3. Interdependence of Divisions-

An organization has various departments and sub-departments such as production, sales, finance, etc. Every department works independently and with its policies and objectives.

For example, the sales department may want greater monetary incentives for its employees but the finance department may not approve of such incentives as it may lead to an increase in the cost of the organization.

In this case, there arises a conflict between the two departments. Thus, here also coordination is needed to synchronize the activities of each department towards the achievement of common goals of the organization.

Hence, we see that coordination is intrinsic and imperative for management. It is the essence of management.

Characteristics of Coordination 

Coordination is a process to establish harmony among the different activities of an organization so that the desired objectives can be achieved. Definitions of coordination present the following facts about its characteristics:-

Characteristics of coordination in an organization:

1. Coordination Integrates Group Effort:-

The need for coordination is felt when group effort is needed for the accomplishment of an objective of an organization. In short, we can say that coordination is related to group effort and not an individual effort. The question of coordination does not arise if the job is done by an individual.

2. Coordination Ensures Unity of Action:-

The nature of coordination is of creating unity in action. It means during the coordinating process an effort is made to create unity among the employees for the various activities of an organization. For example, the purchase and sales departments have to coordinate their efforts so that supply of goods takes place according to purchase orders.

3. Coordination is a Continuous Process:-

It is not a job that can be performed once and for all, but its need is felt at every step. Many activities are performed in a business. Sometimes or the other, if any one of the activities goes on fluctuating either for more or less than required, the whole organizational balance is disrupted. Thus, a close watch has to be kept on all the activities to maintain the balance.

4. Coordination is an All-pervasive Function:-

Pervasiveness refers to that truth that applies to all spheres (business and non-business organizations) and places uniformly. The nature of coordination is pervasive. Like the making of time­table in an educational institution is an apt example of establishing coordination.

In the game of cricket, the placement of fielders at different positions is nothing but coordination. In the same manner, to synchronize the activities of different organizations, like purchase, sales, production, finance, etc. in a business organization is also nothing but coordination.

5. Coordination is the Responsibility of All Managers:-

Coordination is needed at all three levels, i.e., top, middle, and lower levels. Different activities performed at all levels are equally important for an organization. Thus it is the responsibility of all the managers that they make an effort to establish coordination. That is why it could not be said that coordination is of more importance to any one particular managerial level or a manager.

6. Coordination is a Deliberate Function:-

Coordination is never established by itself but it is a deliberate effort. Only cooperation does not sufficient but coordination is also needed. For e.g, A professor aspires to teach effectively (this is cooperation) but the timetable is not prepared in the college (this is a lack of coordination).

In this situation, classes cannot be arranged for. Here, the effort made by the professor is meaningless, in the absence of coordination. On the other hand, in the absence of cooperation, coordination dissatisfies the employees. Thus, both are required at a given point in time.

Type of Coordination

Coordination is divided into two types.

They are explained hereinbelow:

1. Internal Coordination:-

Coordination is internal when it is established between different departments and units of an organization. It is related to the internal activities and humanitarian efforts of an enterprise. e.g. when the relationship is established between the managers, executives, and other departmental heads to coordinate all the activities within an organization.

Such coordinating efforts on the part of the managers whereby they try to make sure smooth internal working and administration of organizational activities are known as “Internal Coordination.”

Henri Fayol suggested three things for effective internal coordination:-

i. Each department should work in proper harmony with others.

ii. Each department should be informed about the contribution required in achieving overall objectives.

iii. Working schedule of different departments should be constantly attuned to circum­stances.

Internal Coordination is further sub-divided into the following two types:

a. Vertical Coordination

b. Horizontal Coordination

a. Vertical Coordination:-

Vertical coordination refers to coordination among the activities of superiors/managers and their subordinates. Coordination among top-level managers to lower-level staff or lower-level staff to top-level managers is known as vertical coordination.

For ex- the Sales manager coordinates his work with the activities of the sales supervisor. Similarly, the sales supervisor is required to have co-ordination and cordial relationship with his superiors.

In other words, Vertical coordination refers to that coordination in which a superior authority coordinates his work with that of his subordinates and vice versa. Vertical coordination creates authority relationships through a chain of command.

b. Horizontal Coordination:–

This refers to the establishment of a relationship between persons of the same status. The coordination among the employees of an organization working at the same level in different departments, sections is known as horizontal coordination.

It is related to the functions, attitudes of the employees of the same status in the managerial hierarchy. The activities of different departments like production, marketing, finance, personnel, etc. are incorporated through horizontal coordination.

2. External Coordination:-

External coordination refers to the coordination between an organization and its external environment. External coordination thus refers to the efforts undertaken to adopt and integrate the enterprise with the dynamic business world and factors external to it.

In short, external coordination is the establishment of a relationship between the employees of the organization and outsiders of the organization.

The important external factors are the interests of customers, suppliers, investors, em­ployees, changes in a competitive situation, other enterprises, technological advances, and Government policies and regulations.

MECHANISMS OF COORDINATION

Coordination mechanisms are the organizational arrangements that allow individuals to realize a collective performance. Coordination mechanisms are the most basic elements of structure in organizations and include both formal and emergent elements.

In the literature, these organizational arrangements often involve tools, technologies, or interactions that bring interdependent elements together. For example, they include arrangements like assembly lines, which bring materials to workers in a defined sequence, and roles, which can define the responsibilities of interdependent parties.

Here, we present five different types of mechanisms that encapsulate how emergent practices assist in coordination plans and rules, objects and representations, roles, routines, and proximity.

1. Plans and Rules

Plans and rules, conceptualized as purposive elements of formal organizations, are deemed indispensable to organizing. In early conceptions of organizations, managers were seen as responsible for the creation of these plans, whether large-scale and strategic or smaller and tactical, after which they were handed down a hierarchy to be implemented by those lower in the organization.

Rules are complementary because they establish relationships between different parts of the organization and serve to guide choices between alternatives when conflicts appear. Within the new literature on coordination, plans and rules are presented more slightly, with an emphasis on prospective preparation for task completion.

2. Objects and Representations

Scholars studying the use of technologies, objects, and other representations show that they are useful for coordinating work activities. Objects have three functions in organizations—instrumental, symbolic, and aesthetic. Because coordination is primarily an instrumental function in organizations, this property of objects is most often emphasized in the literature. Objects and representations, therefore, coordinate by providing information.

They also offer a common referent around which people interact, align their work and create shared meaning.

3. Roles

Scholars have also identified roles as a useful means for coordinating work activity. Roles represent expectations associated with social positions and therefore can facilitate continuity of behavior over time.

At the same time, roles can be loosely and dynamically structured, as expectations are negotiated in interaction conception of roles as both able to structure expectations and negotiated over time offers a way to understand how roles enable coordination.

Understanding the relationship between roles in organizations, or the role structure, helps people acquire a general sense of what does what in the work process. Also, knowing what tasks are associated with particular roles helps coordinate across people, and negotiating behaviors in a role guide people in the organization so they can learn these expectations.

4. Routines

As with plans and rules, routines have been a part of conceptions of organizations. Routines can be defined as “repeated patterns of behavior that are bound by rules and customs”. In early conceptions, routines were sometimes viewed as mechanistic properties of organizations, as stable and difficult to change.

Routines have been treated as stores of knowledge and as the outcome of habitual behavior. This interpretive and emergent conception of routines has expanded our understanding of how they coordinate. Routines coordinate by providing a template for task completion, by bringing people together, and by creating a common perspective across groups.

5. Proximity

The final mechanism that supports coordination within organizations is people’s physical proximity to one another. Distance influences the amount of interaction and communication between people in organizations. Within organizations, proximity’s influence on communication and liking is mediated by visibility and familiarity which impact coordination.

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