Organising in Management: Meaning, Process and Importance

Once a business has decided what it wants to achieve through planning, the next question is how it will get there. This is where organising — the second function of management — comes in. In CBSE Class 12 Business Studies Chapter 5, organising is the function that turns plans on paper into a working structure of jobs, people, and relationships. This post breaks down its meaning, its step-by-step process, and why it matters for every enterprise, big or small.

What is Organising? (Meaning and Definition)

Think about how a school fete actually comes together. The entire event is broken down into task groups — a food committee, a decoration committee, a ticketing committee — each handling one specific area, all supervised by an overall event in-charge who keeps the groups coordinated. That, in essence, is what organising looks like in a business setting too.

Formally, organising is the management function that identifies and groups the work to be done, assigns it to suitable people, and establishes clear authority and reporting relationships so that everyone can work together effectively toward common goals. Management thinkers Louis Allen and Theo Haimann both describe organising along similar lines — as a process of dividing and grouping activities while building clear authority relationships between the people who perform them.

In simple terms, organising is the bridge between planning and action. A plan only stays a plan until someone organises the resources, roles, and reporting lines needed to carry it out.

Steps in the Process of Organising

CBSE Class 12 Business Studies identifies four clear steps in the process of organising. Understanding this sequence is essential, since exam questions often ask students to explain or apply these steps to a business scenario.

Step 1: Identification and Division of Work

The first step is to identify all the work that needs to be done to achieve the plans already laid down, and then break it into smaller, manageable activities. Dividing work this way prevents duplication of effort and ensures the workload is shared fairly across employees rather than piled onto one person.

Step 2: Departmentalisation

Once work has been broken into small activities, similar activities are grouped together into departments — a process called departmentalisation. This grouping promotes specialisation, since employees within a department focus on related tasks. Departments are commonly formed on the basis of function (production, marketing, finance) or product/territory (north zone, south zone, or cosmetics division, garments division).

Step 3: Assignment of Duties

After departments are formed, specific jobs must be allocated to individual employees based on their skills and competencies. A good organiser matches the nature of the job to the ability of the person doing it — assigning routine, repetitive tasks to those suited for them, and more complex responsibilities to employees with the right expertise.

Step 4: Establishing Authority and Reporting Relationships

Simply assigning work isn’t enough — every employee also needs to know who they report to and who reports to them. This final step creates a hierarchical structure that clarifies the extent of authority each person holds and fixes accountability for results, enabling smooth coordination between departments.

Importance of Organising

Why does a chapter of the NCERT syllabus devote so much attention to this single management function? Because organising directly determines whether a business can translate its plans into real, coordinated action. Here are the key benefits covered in the syllabus:

• Benefits of specialisation: Systematic allocation of jobs means employees

repeatedly perform related tasks, building expertise and improving productivity.

• Clarity in working relationships: Clear lines of communication remove ambiguity

about who reports to whom, helping fix responsibility and avoid confusion.

• Optimum utilisation of resources: Proper assignment of jobs avoids overlapping

work, minimising the wastage of material, financial and human resources.

• Adaptation to change: A well-organised structure can be modified as the business

environment shifts, giving the enterprise the stability it needs to survive and grow.

• Effective administration: A clear description of jobs and duties avoids confusion

and duplication, making the whole enterprise easier to manage.

• Development of personnel: Delegating routine work frees up managers’ time,

letting them explore new ideas while giving subordinates a chance to build their skills and take on more responsibility.

• Expansion and growth: A sound structure lets a company add new departments,

divisions, or geographic markets without disturbing its existing operations.

Organising’s Link to the Other Functions of Management

Organising doesn’t work in isolation — it depends directly on planning, since the work that needs to be organised comes from objectives already decided upon. An effective structure then sets the stage for staffing, directing, and controlling. This is why organising follows planning in the NCERT sequence of management functions — it is the essential link between deciding what to do and actually getting it done.

For Class 12 board exams, expect both short factual questions (steps of organising, definitions) and longer application-based questions where you’re given a business scenario and asked to identify which organising step is missing or poorly implemented.

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Test Your Knowledge

Q1.In the organizing process, "Departmentalisation" refers to the step where:

Employees are evaluated for annual wage increments and promotionsNew machinery is installed in the manufacturing plantActivities of a similar nature are grouped together into manageable operational units or departmentsThe board of directors declares quarterly interim dividends

Q2.Establishing reporting relationships in an organisation structure is essential because it:

Guarantees that no employee can ever be dismissedEliminates all differences in salary between junior and senior staffRemoves the need for written job descriptionsClarifies authority boundaries, specifying who has the right to give orders and who must report to whom

Q3.Which of the following points highlights the importance of the organising function?

Benefits of specialisation, clarity in working relationships, and optimum utilization of resourcesElimination of all competitive pressure from foreign multinational rivalsComplete freedom of employees from any accountability for performanceFixing corporate tax rates at zero percent