Chapter 2 Organizational Structure B Flashcards
Fire and emergency organizations formal structure does what?
Provide a management framework
Define how it will plan and operate to meet its mission
Determine how it will interact with internal and external organizations
What are the principles of organizational structure?
Scalar structure Line and staff personnel Decision-making authority Unity of command Span of control Division of labor
What is the common organizational structure used in the fire and emergency services?
Scalar
Define Scalar organizational structure
Organization that has uninterrupted series of steps or a chain of command
Define chain of command
Order of rank and authority in the fire and emergency services
Those who deliver services to the public or external customers
Line personnel
Those who provide support to the line personnel or internal customers
Staff personnel
Who are the internal customers for fire and emergency services?
Line personnel
Define Authority
legal ability of an individual to make and implement decisions for which the individual is held accountable
Relates to the empowered duties of an official to perform certain tasks
Authority
Relates to the empowered duties of an official to perform certain tasks
Authority
What are the two types of decision making models
Centralized authority and decentralized authority
Where are decisions made in Centralized decision making model
by one person at the top
Where are decisions made at in the Decentralized decision making model?
Lower level (basically delegation of authority)
To make Decentralized making model work effectively for a fire department the Chief must ensure members understand what?
Direction
values
goals of the organization
What from decisions need to be reported in decentralized decision making model?
details resulting from a decision do not but effects of the decision do need reported
Define delegation
process of providing subordinates with the authority, direction, and resources needed to complete an assignment
What should the company officer do when assigning a task?
Describe the task and its relationship to the overall goal or objective
Identify available resources
Identify time and safety constraints that apply to the assignment
Define unity of command
each subordinate must have only one supervisor
What does unity of command depend on?
use of chain of command and functional supervision
Define chain of command
the path of responsibility from the top of the organization to the bottom and vice versa
Define sidestepping
The process of going around a link in the chain of command to deal with an issue
Define skip level notification
Notifying ones supervisor that one wishes to take an issue to the supervisors supervisor
Steps to reduce sidestepping
be available to listen to their subordinates problems
listen to problems sincerely
take action and notify the employee of your actions
take a problem to the next level in the chain of command when it cannot be solved at your level
Define functional supervision
organizational principle that allows workers to report to more than one supervisor
Organizational principle that allows workers to report to more than one supervisor without violating the unity of command principle
Functional supervision
What is it called when workers report to their primary supervisor for most of their activities but report to a second supervisor for activities that relate to an assigned function only
Functional supervision
Define span of control
number of subordinates and or number of functions that one individual can effectively supervise
What span of control ratio that NIMS-ICS model is based on?
one supervisor to three to seven subordinates
What is the optimum span of control NIMS suggests
5
Why is division of labor important?
assigning responsibility
preventing duplication of effort
making specific, clear-cut assignments
Workgroups can be created based on what elements
type of task geographical area time of year or season available resources skills specialization
Define Municipal
Functional division of the lowest level of local government
The response area served by a fire and emergency services organization
Jurisdiction
The authority that gives the organization the legal right to exist, provide emergency services, and take the actions necessary to ensure adequate protection
Jurisdiction
Political subdivision of a state, province, or territory for administrative purposes and public safety
County
Designated geographic area where fire protection is provided usually through a supporting tax or an area where fire prevention codes are enforced
Fire district
Territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation whose rights are defined by a constitution
State/provincial
National level of governments such as the us and canada
Federal
Person whose primary employment is as a firefighter within a fire department
Career Firefighter
Person who responds to fires and emergencies and is paid for the responses they make on a response to response basis
Paid on Call personnel
Term that describes the government structure of Native American and Aboriginal Peoples of North America
Tribal
Reciprocal assistance from one fire and emergency services to another during an emergency based upon a prearranged agreement, generally made upon the request of the receiving agency
Mutual aid
Written agreement between two or more agencies to automatically dispatch predetermined resources to any fire or other emergency reported in the geographic are covered by the agreement
Automatic Aid
Assistance from agencies industries or fire departments that are not part of the agency having jurisdiction over the incident
Outside Aid
Aid that generally involves payment for services provided?
Outside Aid
