What are the Difficulties of Coordination in an organisation?

The Difficulties of Coordination are as follows:

Paul R. Lawrence and F.W. Lorshc have identified four difficulties of coordination:-

1. Differences in Orientation towards Particular Goals:

Members of different departments develop their own views about how best to advance the interests of the organisation. To sales people, product variety may take precedence over product quality. Accountants may see cost control as most important to the organisation’s success, while marketing managers may regard product design as most essential.

2. Differences in Time Orientation:

Some members of an organisation, such as production managers, will be more concerned with problems that have to be solved immediately or within a short period of time. Others, like members of a research and development team, may be preoccupied with problems that may take years to solve.

3. Differences in Interpersonal Orientation:

In some organisational activities, such as production, there may be relatively more formal ways of communicating and decision-­making. In other activities such R and D, the style of communication and decision-making may be informal. Everyone may be encouraged to have a say and to discuss his ideas with others.

4. Differences in Formality of Structure:

Each unit in the organisation may have different methods and standards for evaluating progress towards objectives and for rewarding employees. In a production department, where quantity are rigidly controlled, the evaluation and reward process might be quite formal.

Employees will be judged quickly on how they will meet or exceed well-defined performance criteria. In the personnel department, on the other hand, standards of performance may be much more loosely defined.