Departmentalization
Departmentalization involves dividing an organization into different departments, which perform tasks according to the departments' specializations in the organization. Departmentalization as a means of structuring an organization can be found in both public and private organizations.[1]
An organization encourages departmentalization to increase its efficiency and productivity. The factors that are considered to create suitable departments are as follows:[2]
- Specialization: Specialization helps the workers to become experts in their field so that it can maximize efficiency. It is important to group employees and activities in such a way that it can result in work specialization and thus ensure economy of operations.
- Control: Effective control will help a company to achieve the objectives of a company inefficient and economic Create departments in such a way that timely action can be taken to ensure optimal performance.
- Co-ordination: Several activities are in urgent need of coordination and should be grouped together in one department
- Proper Attention: Proper attention is an important factor in creating departments. It ensures special attention to vital areas and no duplication of any activities
- Human Consideration: Departments should be created after giving emphasis to human consideration like aspiration, attitude and cultural pattern of the employees
- Local Condition: Attention to local conditions and make adjustments as per the available resources is important before creating necessary departments. The conditions of geographical areas vary from one to another hence be aware of local conditions beforehand.
- Economy: When you create separate departments, it increases the cost of a company in terms of personnel, equipment, and additional space. The number one priority of an organization is to utilize its physical amenities to achieve maximum economy while creating necessary departments.
Choosing the Best Type of Departmentalization[3]
No one way of departmentalizing is suitable for all organizations and all situations.
If CEOs know the various departmentalization patterns and the advantages, disadvantages, and dangers of each, they should be able to design the organogram most suitable for their particular operation.
They may determine what is best by looking at the situation they face the jobs to be done and the way they should be done, the people involved and the level of their skill, the technology being used, and other internal and external environmental factors in the situation.
It must be remembered, that the objective of departmentalization is not to build a rigid structure, balanced in terms of levels and characteristics by consistency and identical bases, but to group activities in the manner that will best contribute to achieving enterprise objectives.