The Five Types Of Departmentalization In Organizations

Introduction

According to Robbins S. P. and Coulter (2007), in all organization they will have their own specific way of classifying and grouping jobs into categories and classification. The basis of departmentalization simply refers to the division of the work and that which employees of different organizational units that are responsible for carrying out the duties that was given. There are basically five types of departmentalization in organizations that are being enforced at the current time. The five types of departmentalization are discussed and listed as follows:
a) Functional departmentalization
b) Product departmentalization
c) Customer departmentalization
d) Geographical and process.
e) Matrix departmentalization

a) Functional

A good example of departmentalization is when it is according to functions production department, HR department, Accounts department, marketing department and IT department, then it could be said that these functions are in line with the departmentalization. These types of departmentalization also have several advantages. That is it allows work to be carried out by employees who are really qualified and have a skilled in the areas concerned in the company or their employment. But that is not all, there is another second advantage where it reduces cost by reducing work overwrite and use of resources in the organization or employment. Thirdly is that each individual in the same department will receive the same work experiences or training, communication and coordination to reduce the problems for management. This will increase productivity of the company and lead to higher profits of the company. This type of departmentalization also will have several types of disadvantages, such as difficulty in coordinating in between the departments. A functional department can or may cause delays in decision making and produce managers and employees who are restricted in experience and expertise. This will cause constrain in the relationship of

This is often a good thought or idea that is birthed for large multinational firms with offices around the world. All the activities that are related to the organization's activities in each region are handled by a department in that region or in other words regional departmentalization. One of the advantage of this method is that it ensures the development of expertise specific to the political, social, and cultural needs of the region where it has been instated. Moreover, sending managers to be employed in each region within their work timeline provides excellent training for upper level managements where a broad perspective is required for success. The advantages of this geographically based department are the abilities of the organization to react with the speed and efficiency the requirements of specific market within the range of the responsibilities of a department. This advantage is most important when the products and services that are produced are marketed to different countries. Besides that, it also helps to reduce the costs by positioning the organizational resources nearer to the targeted consumers. Another disadvantage is that it creates duplication of work and the use of the organizations resources. Besides this, the difficulties will arise in coordinating between the departments as the departments are in