Features/Nature & Importance of Coordination

4/5 Marks Questions

1. What is meant by 'coordination'? Explain why coordination is important in an organisation. (Compartment 2014)

Ans. Coordination is the orderly arrangement of group efforts to provide unity of action in pursuit of common purpose. It involves unifying, integrating and harmonising the activities of different departments and individuals for the achievement of common goal. Importance of coordination can be understood by following points:

1. Growth in size As the organisations grow in size, the number of people in the organisation also increase. Different individuals have different objectives. Coordination is needed to integrate diverse individual objectives with organisational objectives.
2. Functional differentiation Different departments in the organisation have their own set of objectives, policies, etc. This creates conflicting situations many a times. Coordination seeks to intergrate the efforts and activities of various departments.

1. Specialisation In modern organisations, high level of specialised activities take

place, which are performed by specialists. Specialists often consider themselves to be supreme and are not open to suggestions and advice. This brings conflicting situations, which can be resolved by coordination.

1. Coordination in the essence of management. Explain how. (Compartment 2014) or

Coordination is not a separate function of management. It is the essence of management. Explain with the help of a suitable example. (Ail India 2009, 2008; Delhi 2009)

Ans. Coordination is a function that is inherent and pervasive. Coordination is not a separate function of management. It is the essence of management. The coordination is needed to perform all the functions of management. They are:

1. Coordination in planning In planning, coordination is needed

• between overall plan of the organisation and the departmental plans.

<math>\blacksquare</math> between objectives and available physical and human resources, e.g., coordination between production department and sales department targets.

1. Coordination in organising In organising, coordination is required

between resources of an organisation and activities to be performed.

among authority, responsibility and accountability, e.g. if a supervisor is given responsibility to get the work done, he should also be given the authority to divide the work among his subordinates.

1. Coordination in staffing In staffing, coordination is needed

• between the skills of the workers and the jobs assigned to them.
• between the efficiency of the workers and the compensation, etc, e.g. a Chartered Accountant should be given work of financial nature.

1. Coordination in directing In directing, coordination is required

• among orders, instructions, guidelines and suggestions.
• between superiors and subordinates, e.g. a manager instructs the subordinates, motivates them and also supervises their work.

1. Coordination in controlling In controlling, coordination is required

• between the standard and the actual performance.

• between correction of deviations and achievement of objectives, e.g. If production target for workers is set as 80 units per hour while they are able to produce only 60 units per hour, then there is a need to coordinate the plans with actual performance.

Thus, coordination makes planning more purposeful, organisation well knit and control more effective. It is the key to the success of management.

1. Coordination is the essence of management Management function revolves around

making, arranging things, moving things in an organisation in relation to overall objective of the organisation. Thus, coordination can be considered as the core function of management which ensures that all the factors in the business work together smoothly.

1. Explain any five features of coordination. (All India 2013) or State any five features of 'coordination'. (Delhi 2012) or

Explain any four characteristics of coordination.

Ans. Coordination is a continuous process, by which a manager integrates the inter- related activities of different departments in order to achieve the common organisational goals.

Features of coordination are as follows: