Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL
Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL
Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL
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• Is it an old system inherited from the previous times?<br />
• Is the number of subdivisions necessary only to improve the position/ salaries of certain<br />
managers?<br />
• Is there any other reason to have several subdivisions providing similar services or dealing<br />
with the same issue?<br />
One subdivision may provide several services, both <strong>for</strong> internal <strong>and</strong> external customers. The<br />
auditor should examine why the subdivision has a certain set of duties <strong>and</strong> provides given<br />
services:<br />
• Are these duties <strong>and</strong> services interrelated?<br />
• Were these duties <strong>and</strong> services just added to the subdivision, only because it was unclear<br />
who should do it, or someone had refused to do them?<br />
• Is this subdivision responsible <strong>for</strong> certain services <strong>and</strong> duties only because somebody<br />
<strong>for</strong>mally has to be responsible <strong>for</strong> tem, but nobody expects any real per<strong>for</strong>mance <strong>and</strong><br />
output?<br />
In most cases the auditors will find that the local administration has more than one level of<br />
administrative subdivisions (i.e. department – section – group). The auditors may use the same<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms <strong>and</strong> techniques, which were described above, to examine:<br />
• What is the principle <strong>for</strong> defining the levels of administrative subdivisions;<br />
• What is the mission <strong>for</strong> any higher level entity rather than providing an office <strong>and</strong><br />
honourable position <strong>for</strong> the boss;<br />
• How are the functions <strong>and</strong> responsibility of the higher <strong>and</strong> lower levels defined.<br />
To underst<strong>and</strong> the principle of defining the administrative levels, the auditor might use additional<br />
questions (see in the section “Subordination”).<br />
After all the interviews the auditor should be able to evaluate each subdivision according to the<br />
issues raised in this section.<br />
Missions <strong>and</strong> objectives<br />
The in<strong>for</strong>mation about the mission <strong>and</strong> objectives may be collected during the interviews with the<br />
employees <strong>and</strong> heads of subdivisions.<br />
During the interview, it is worth to ask a direct question - “What is the mission of your subdivision?”<br />
If the question seems confusing <strong>for</strong> the interviewee, it should be re<strong>for</strong>mulated (Why is it needed,<br />
<strong>and</strong> to whom?). It is necessary in cases when the concept of mission is not very clear <strong>for</strong> the<br />
interviewee, or the interviewee is not sure if the mission is the same as policy, objectives or duties.<br />
If looking at the replies skin-deep, the auditor may record that the subdivision has no mission or<br />
that the mission is unknown <strong>for</strong> the employees. The management audit, however, aims not at<br />
examining if the theoretical concept of mission is clear <strong>for</strong> the employees, but how missions are<br />
defined <strong>and</strong> if the missions themselves are clear. There<strong>for</strong>e the question about the mission should<br />
be asked more broadly, i.e. who internal <strong>and</strong> external clients are, <strong>and</strong> which results of the activities<br />
of the subdivision are the most important? Are the results, which the subdivision strives to achieve,<br />
clear? How do they identify them?<br />
It is not possible to expect that the organisation will provide quality services, if personnel do not<br />
know where the organisation is heading <strong>and</strong> what the objectives are, what is the role of every<br />
single officer in realisation of these objectives. The in<strong>for</strong>mation about the objective setting <strong>and</strong><br />
planning system is collected during the interviews with the employees, heads of subdivisions, <strong>and</strong><br />
highest officials of the municipality.<br />
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