-The division of work activities into separate job tasks.
-Ex: At a sporting goods factory in Ada, Ohio, workers making NFL footballs specialize in job tasks - such as molding, stitching and sewing, and lacing - to increase work output.
-At first, specialization almost always generates higher productivity, but at some point, the human diseconomies (boredom, fatigue, stress, low productivity, poor quality, increased absenteeism, high turnover) exceed the economic advantages.
-Most managers today see work specialization as an important organizing mechanism because it helps employees to be more efficient. However, with limitations
How jobs are groups together. Early management writers argued that common work activities needed to be grouped together to get them done in a coordinated and integrated way.
5 forms:
(a) Functional Departmentalization - groups employees
based on function (engineering, accounting, information systems, HR)
(b) Product Departmentalization - groups employees based on major product areas in the corporation (women's footwear, apparel, accessories)
(c) Customer Departmentalization - based on customers' problems and needs (wholesale, retail, government)
(d) Geographic Departmentalization - basis of geography/location served (Western, Southern, Midwestern Regions)
(e) Process Departmentalization
- based on basis of work or customer flow. Units organized around common skills (found in motor vehicle offices, and health care clinics; testing, payment)
cross-functional teams - teams comprised of individuals from various departments who tackle complex tasks in which diverse skills are needed