The characteristics of an organisation are:
a) Group of people: An Organisation comes into existence when a group of people combine their efforts for some common purpose and willingly contribute towards their common endeavour.
b) Division of work: Setting of an organisation involves division of the total work into various activities and functions, and assigning the tasks to different persons according to their skill, ability and experience.
c) Common purpose: Every organisation comes into existence on the basis of goals of the enterprise which are separate from the personal goals of the people employed. It is the common purpose of the organisation which provides the basis of cooperation among the members of the organisation.
d) Vertical and horizontal relationships: An organisation creates cooperative relationships between different departments and divisions as well as between superiors and subordinates. Different functions and activities like production, marketing, financing etc. are integrated for the achievement of proper coordination. The duties and responsibilities of superiors and subordinates in each department or division are also unified so as to serve the purpose of their joint efforts.
e) Chain of command: The superior-subordinate relationships established in an organisation are based on the authority which flows from the higher levels of management to the next lower levels, thereby forming a hierarchical chain. This is known as the chain of command, which also determines the line of communication.
f) Dynamics of organisation: Besides the structural relationships among people which are based on their activities and functions, there exists an organising interactions based on sentiments, attitudes and behaviour of individuals and groups. These aspects of relationship provide a dynamic element to the organisational functioning. They are subject to change from time to time.
