[Solution] Coordinating Activities
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Author: Sarah Bennett
As an organization grows, it divides its work among departments, and each department coordinates its own work. However, the organization also needs to coordinate work among departments so that they, and the organization as a whole, can work effectively.
Types of Coordination
Organizations use three main forms of coordination, depending on the degree to which departments depend on each other:
- In pooled interdependence, departments work like separate businesses using separate resources. Then their output is pooled, or added together, at the organizational level. An example would be a paper products company with two independently-operated divisions: a commercial division that makes and sells products for businesses and a retail division that markets to individual consumers.
- In sequential interdependence, the output of one department becomes the input for another. Thus, departments that do work later in the process are dependent on the departments that do work earlier. An example would be a nursery with a department that is responsible for growing the plants in greenhouses and another that is responsible for selling the plants in stores; the output of the greenhouses becomes the input to the stores.
- In reciprocal interdependence, outputs flow both ways between departments. If a department is not effective, all other departments will be affected. In a hospital, for example, the administrative staff, health care providers, and diagnostic and laboratory departments need to coordinate closely to provide good patient care.
Methods of Coordination
Organizations use various methods to coordinate activities between departments depending on their interdependence:
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Standardization - Using preset rules, procedures, and processes
- Works well for pooled interdependence
- Example: Standard ordering procedures across all departments
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Planning - Coordinating through schedules and goals
- Effective for sequential interdependence
- Example: Production schedules coordinated with sales forecasts
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Mutual adjustment - Continuous communication and adaptation
- Essential for reciprocal interdependence
- Example: Frequent meetings between engineering and production departments
Organizations can also use structural solutions for coordination:
- Liaison roles - Designated individuals responsible for coordination between specific departments
- Task forces - Temporary teams formed to address specific coordination issues
- Integrating departments - Permanent units dedicated to coordination across the organization
- Matrix structures - Dual reporting relationships to balance functional and project needs
Select the correct response for the following questions.
If an organization permits departments to operate independently and simply assumes their profits and losses, which form of coordination is the organization using?
- Sequential interdependence
- Reciprocal interdependence
- Pooled interdependence
View Explanation
An organization using pooled interdependence treats its departments almost like separate businesses, only tallying their profits and losses at the organizational level.
To address an urgent need for coordination among departments, an organization uses a task force. What does this involve?
- The organization assigns managers to write a set of rules that tell employees how to coordinate their activities.
- The organization appoints managers to permanent jobs responsible for coordinating the activities of interdependent units.
- The organization creates a new management job that has oversight over the interdependent units.
- The organization appoints managers from the interdependent departments to a temporary team.
View Explanation
A task force is a temporary team. When formed to address an urgent problem of coordination, it usually consists of managers from each of the units involved.
It's worth noting that part of a task force's work may be to establish a more permanent solution to the need for coordination, in the hopes a task force won't be needed again. The task force might recommend other techniques for coordination before it disbands.
