Glossary of management terms

Delegation happens when a manager gives authority and tasks to staff they have authority over.

Organising usually involves the economic principle of the division of labour. This is where each person involved does something different, even if they are in a team and support each other. In a way, each person is a specialist because they all have different work to do.

An organisational structure is a way of dividing a business into jobs, tasks and responsibilities. There are lots of different ways of doing this. Divisional structures which focus on customers or regions are now popular because they encourage teamwork. In this approach, each division has its own line (production) and staff (administration) functions. These line and staff employees report to the divisional manager, not the specialist manager in head office.