Bases of Departmentation Essay

Bases of Departmentation 1. Functions. Important attempt functions provide the usual innovation for classifying answerivities into divisions. Manuf deporturing, foodstuffing, finance, personnel, business relationship and engineering atomic number 18 the typical functions of an industrial enterprise, and departments ma be established on the floor of such functions. But all these functions be not alike in importance from the business point of view. merchandising and manufacturing ar the basic functions of an industrial concern, and other(a)s atomic number 18 regarded as receipts functions because they live on for supporting the main functions of the business.Accordingly, basic and main functions must be devoted a higher organizational status than the status enjoyed by service functions. Further more, the size, nature and volume of business pee-pee an important translate in creating departments. A small business may not rent so mevery departments, and it may be put un der the manufacturing departments, to wit Marketing, manufacturing and finance. Purchasing, engineering and accounting may be put under the manufacturing department, and accounting under finance. Conversely, large-sized enterprises may be required to create more units than this salmagundi of functions warrants.For example, marketing department may be split into trinity burst ones like sales, advertising, and market research & point of intersection design. This type of departmentation is known by fictionalization. 2. Products. Products manufactured may be adopted for division as nearly as for sub division purposes. When there atomic number 18 some(prenominal) product lines an each product line consists of a variety of items, functional categorization fails to give balanced emphasis on each product. Slow-moving and overage products may be given greater financial aid at the bell of growing ones.For the sake of expansion and development of their products, many large enterpri ses have created more or less autonomous, self-sufficient products divisions based on all one single product or a group of connect products. A gigantic structure with separate product lines is usually fit(p) on this number of departmentation which is technically called divisionalization. With favourable product and market characteristics, divisionalization acquire the only choice available to large-sized enterprises. Apart tenor this use, product or services may be do the stem of major divisions by a epartmental store, a banking concern and an insurance company. Again, manufacturing an marketing departments may subdivide their activities on the basis of products. 3. Territories. Like the products basis, geographical regions atomic number 18 adopted for main division as well as for subdivision purposes. Units that argon primed(p) at physically dispersed argonas are made so many self-contained divisions of the organization. Apart form this divisionalization, marketing activi ties are very very much subdivided on the basis of geographical areas.It has almost the same advantages and disadvantages as are to be found in the case of departmentation by products. There are two specific advantages of this pattern of grouping activities. Being nearer to the market and becoming familiar with local conditions, this classification help to cater to the necessarily of local people more satisfactorily. In addition, the economy in lift cost, the local supply of raw materials or services and the convenience of inadvertence make a significant contribution towards the lower cost of operation. 4. Customers.This basis of classification is widely followed in subdividing activities of the marketing department. To give indivi double attention to diverse groups of buyers in the market, sales activities are often split into several part. When the products are offered to an extensive market through numerous channels and startlets, it has the special merit of supplying good s in accordance with the peculiar needs of customers. gross revenue being the exclusive field of its application, co-ordination may appear difficult mingled with sales function and other enterprise functions.Specialized sales lag may be become idle with the protrudeward movement of sales to any specified group of customers. 5. Processes. The manufacturing activities may be subdivided on the basis of their soures of outturn. quasi(prenominal) machines are grouped into separate sections that are utilized for a explicit operation of the trick. For example, lathe machine, drill machine, grinding machine and milling machine are placed in each distinct unit. In office school also, this basis of grouping activities has become common, e. g. , filing department, mail handling department and duplicating department.Cost and economy considerations urge the use of electronic office equipments and other costly machine on the basis of this subdivision. It is, however, not a capable basis to be utilized in any mass production arrangement. Characteristics 1. missionary post is the authorization to a manager to act in a certain way independently. The degree of military mission puts a manager to act within the limits prescribed by his superior. Moreover, withing the limits he is not free to act arbitrarily but subject to provisions of organisational policy, rules and regulation. . Delegation has a dual characteristic. A superior delegates authorisation to subordinates, however a superior at the same time still retains position. As Terry has observed, it is something like transport knowledge. You share with others who then possess the knowledge, but you still retain the knowledge too. 3. Authority once delegated can be enhanced, reduced or cloistered depending upon the requirement. The changes in organization structure, organisation climate, policy, procedure, and method require modifications in delegation of sanction.Since, authority is delegated to an individu al, the authority can be recovered back fully in the case of his exit from the organisation. 4. A manager cannot delegate authority which he himself does not process. Moreover, he does not delegate the entire authority to his subordinates because if he delegates all his authority he cannot work. 5. Delegation may be specific or ecumenical. Similarly, it can be written or unwritten. Delegation is specific when course of action for specific objectives are specified it is general when these are not specified, though objectives are specified.Delegation of Authority establishment units require the delegation of authority to their respective managers so that they can trough their respective units. Every manger in the organisation has some activities depute by the superior. In order to perform these activities, he needs authority to take decisions about these and to enforce them. In fact, authority vests in the owners of the organisation, an from there, it is delegated to the old geez er executive. The straits executive cannot perform all the activities, hence, he assigns some activities to his subordinates and delegates them authority.This process of delegation and redelegation from superiors to subordinates goes on till all the activities are assigned to persons by whom these are performed. Departmentation The process of dividing activities into units and subunits is referred to as departmentation. The term departmentation is used in a generic sense n is not only confined to the instauration of such units as are called departments, but it includes divisions, sections and clienteles also. Dividing up work calls or identification of total activities and classification of such activities into units and subunits.There are ternary bases for primary grouping of activities at the second level of the organization but below the top level. Units at the second level are usually called departments when business functions are adopted as the pattern of grouping activit ies. much(prenominal) units go by the name of divisions when either products manufactured or territories are adopted as the means of classifying activities. There are, however, two burn downes to departmentation- top down and bottom-up approaches.In the top-down approach, activities are divided step by step downward form the chief executives job to the direct jobs. In the bottom-up approach, the division of activities is carried on in a reverse order. Starting form operating jobs, there arise sections form combining some gibe jobs, departments from combining some sections and finally the chief executive position form putting departments together. While the top-down approach gives emphasis on co-ordination and managerial action, the bottom-up approach gives emphasis on co-ordination and managerial action, the ottom-up approach focuses attention on employee performance. Although the top-down approach is sluttish for understanding the departmentation process, both the approaches a re utilized in actual practice. stairs in Organisation The steps in organization may be stated as follows 1. Determination and enumeration of activities. The required activities are spelled out from the objectives of the enterprise. The total work, operating an managerial, is broken down into component activities that are to be performed by all personnel.The breakdown of activities is carried as far down as to determine the job of each individual. 2. Grouping and assignment of activities. Correlated and correspondent activities are grouped into divisions or departments first. And these divisional or departmental act5ivities are further divided into sections and jobs. Different bases are adopted for dividing and subdividing activities into different groups or blocks of work. Enterprise functions like sales. Production or finance, the products manufactured and territorial regions are usually made the basis of primary grouping.Secondary grouping is made on the basis of geographical a reas, types of customers, equipments used, process or constituent parts of the major enterprise function. 3. Allocation of fixed duties to definite persons. Definite job assignments are made to different subordinates for ensuring certainty of work performance. These job assignments are first made to different counseling members who, in turn, allocate the jobs among their subordinates. on with the allocation of duties to different positions, each job is to be staffed by the view of qualified personnel.To make any systematic recruitment and selection, job requirements are first ascertained by the allocation of duties to different positions, and on the basis of job descriptions, man specifications are prepared. In accordance with man specifications which mention qualification and experience expected form candidates for different posts, positions are fill by selection, training and placement of individuals. 4. Delegation of authority. Corresponding to the nature of duties, fit auth ority must be granted to the subordinates for enabling them to make sufficient work performance.As authority without responsibility is a dangerous thing, so responsibility without authority is an empty vessel. Authority and responsibility are correlated terms and they are terms to be constants companions. Delegation is a three tier concept that calls for assigning duties and delegating authority to subordinates and demanding accountability from subordinates. wherever duties are assigned to subordinates, whether managers or operators, the other two aspects of delegation come into the picture.Division and subdivision of activities create a number of managerial and operating jobs which are bound together in a consistent pattern by the delegation process. Absence of delegation in any enterprise implies that one person is performing the whole work of operation and management with nobody else to assist him. In such a situation, no glob structure can be designed as there is no prolifera tion of activities into levels. Fore establishing any organization structure, it is obvious therefore that delegation is to be effected in some way or other.