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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Chapter 1.8 Key Functions of an Organization<br />
Mission<br />
A mission, from the Latin word missum, ‘sent’, is defined as ‘a duty that involves fulfilling a request’<br />
(www.en.wikipedia.com). Any human organization was created by somebody to meet certain<br />
needs. It may be created to generate a profit, to conquer the market, to satisfy public dem<strong>and</strong>s <strong>for</strong><br />
certain services, to rob a bank, or to win elections - whatever that may be achieved more<br />
successfully with the assistance of the specific arrangement, which we call ‘organization’. Thus,<br />
the organization emerges into the external world to fulfil its mission. If the mission was clearly<br />
<strong>for</strong>mulated, this may work well. If not, the organization must find its mission be<strong>for</strong>e it gets lost.<br />
Whatever an organization is doing should be requested or needed by those who use the<br />
organization. Over time, services or products will only be requested from an organization when this<br />
particular organization provides better solutions to the problems (utilization of opportunities) of<br />
users <strong>and</strong> beneficiaries. The mission is just a mirror image of these problems. If potential users of<br />
an organization have no problems, then they have no reasons to appeal to the organization <strong>for</strong><br />
assistance. Nothing remains <strong>for</strong> the organization to do. No mission. No pay. No life.<br />
Those who use an organization may be owners of the organization, or clients, members, third<br />
parties, etc. Any beneficiary may have his own reasons to use the organization, thus the<br />
organization may meet different needs or dem<strong>and</strong>s, <strong>and</strong>, correspondingly, it may have many<br />
missions – as many as the combinations of user groups <strong>and</strong> their problems that need to be met.<br />
Fulfilling these different missions may create different priorities <strong>for</strong> the organization. For example –<br />
a chemical plant provides profit <strong>for</strong> investors, high social status <strong>and</strong> a good salary <strong>for</strong> the manager,<br />
jobs <strong>and</strong> living wages <strong>for</strong> workers, the preconditions <strong>for</strong> economic development <strong>for</strong> the area, taxes<br />
<strong>for</strong> the community, etc This plant may do very well in bringing profit to the owners, but the jobs<br />
could be bad, <strong>and</strong> the area in close proximity to the plant may decline, even though a new school<br />
gets opened as a result of the plant.<br />
Thus, the mission of any real organization is multi-faceted. It is complex <strong>and</strong> complicated. It may<br />
be contradictory. It may be missed. It may become significant. It may be in great dem<strong>and</strong>. It may<br />
be hopeless, <strong>and</strong> so on. There<strong>for</strong>e – it should be managed - from the very moment of establishing<br />
the organization <strong>and</strong> throughout the organization’s life.<br />
Product<br />
What an organization does <strong>for</strong> those who need it may be called the product (or products) of the<br />
organization. By International St<strong>and</strong>ard ISO 9000:2000, the term ‘product’ is defined as the ‘result<br />
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