Different organizations are involved in the life of any society. They are created for different purposes. But all of them are designed to provide material or spiritual benefits to a person, to provide services.
The activities of such social units are so diverse that it is hard to even list them. This may be an enterprise that produces all kinds of products, an institution in the public sector (school, hospital, etc.). It can also be a club or a party where people gather to freely express their views, communicate with like-minded people. The characteristic of the organization allows you to understand what type of activity it belongs to, what all structural units have in common. Man is a social being. Therefore, this type of communication as an organization is simply necessary for us.
General concept
To understand the main characteristics of the organization, you should first know the definition of this social unit. The word organize comes from the Latin language. In translation, it means “I inform”, “I arrange”. This is a kind of social system in which a certaina group of people come together to achieve a specific goal. They implement their thoughts, opinions, actions according to certain rules and laws.
This form of communication of people is the primary unit of society. The organization acts as both an object and a subject of society. Its boundaries are determined by the field of activity in which its goals are achieved. This community of people can consist of several structural elements, as well as be part of an even larger general group.
Features
Characteristics of the organization includes a number of features. It should be said that this is an open system. This is because any organization interacts with the rest of society. To do this, three actions are implemented inside it. Initially, this isolated unit consumes and accumulates the necessary resources from the external environment. These can be raw materials, materials, information, etc. Then the attracted resources are processed within the organization. Products are produced, services are provided, attitudes are formed, etc.
This characteristic of the organization's activities has its logical conclusion. This is the release of resources. This social category directs the result of its activity to the external environment. Moreover, the company does this in order to obtain economic benefits. The service sector is also sometimes aimed at profit, but there are also organizations that were originally created to provide services for their own sake. This istheir purpose of action. Some associations are waiting for the final result in obtaining spiritual values. It all depends on the views and beliefs of the community.
Two views on the definition
The general characteristics of the organization should be given based on the definition of this form of association of people. It can be understood in two senses. The first approach considers the organization as a system of interconnected parts of a single whole. The internal orderliness of the entire group is provided by common goals and laws of behavior. The second approach defines organization as the process of all actions aimed at the formation of specific connections. The essence of this view is to increase the quantity and quality of communications over time. This process takes place in a certain space. For the functioning of such a system or process, people are guided by both creative inspiration and well-defined rules and regulations.
Main Features
There are several signs by which the community of people is determined. This is a characteristic of an organization. Businesses, institutions, clubs, and so on have a number of common distinctive features. These include the availability of resources, openness to the external environment, horizontal division of duties. Also one of the main characteristics is the structure (the presence of divisions, several participants). This also includes vertical segregation of duties and the need for governance.
Resources are the first criterion thatcharacteristics of the organization. An example can be given in the process of industrial production. In order for a company to make products, it needs materials, equipment, technologies, etc. From this criterion, the following immediately emerges: since the organization needs resources, it has to interact with the environment.
Fulfilling its functions, the company organizes the work of all departments, each of which does its job.
Operation
The general characteristics of the organization reveals the principles of the flow of all its internal and external processes. In order to be able to work towards their goals, a group of people must perform all actions deliberately. For this, coordinating and executing bodies are appointed. Managers make decisions about the direction of activities.
Performers must implement this vision in accordance with their clearly defined responsibilities. Moreover, they must do this work qualitatively and in full. This is how any organization works. This allows you to achieve your goals with a high degree of probability.
Company Goals
Each organization, as already mentioned, gathers to realize its goals. This is the main landmark to which a specific set of people is directed. For example, the economic characteristic of an organization is always given on the basis of such an indicator as net profit. It is this criterion that can tell how the whole system worked.
But there are organizations with other goals. For example, the school strives to prepare the largest number of excellent students, to give the highest possible level of education. Goals can be intermediate, gradually leading a group of people to one common solution to a global problem. Without aspiration, movement, no company of people can exist.
Tasks
To reach its goal, a community of people must solve a number of problems. These are steps on the way to the main result. The characteristic of the organization involves the conduct of the entire process of activity according to a certain scheme. For successful work, you must first create, think over the mission. It doesn't have to be abstract. To achieve it, an action plan is being created. Goals are broken down into tasks, the solution of which can achieve the desired result.
Further, managers and performers are informed about their responsibilities. In order for them to be able to perform their functions, all connections between structural divisions are thought out, technologies, norms and standards of behavior are developed. The organization then absorbs the necessary resources. The whole system performs the tasks assigned to it, moving towards the final goal. Only the complexity of actions, coordination and control help to achieve the goal. The characteristics of the organization depend entirely on this criterion.
