What is Process Departmentalization?
Process departmentalization is a method of creating an organizational structure in which the departments are created on the basis of the production process of the product.
As it is obvious that the production process to make the final product consists of different stages. As such departments can be created on the basis of the stages of the jobs production process if a series of complex steps need to be followed to make the final product.
The main idea behind the process departmentation is that when a specific step i.e. process separated into a group of smaller activities it will be much more comfortable to perform such tasks by personnel.
As in other departmentation methods, in this method also for each department, a separate departmental manager is assigned and he is responsible for increasing efficiency and productivity in that concerned process.
The main objective of process departmentation is to maintain working efficiency in each production process and to economize productivity.
This method of departmentalization is effective for manufacturing organizations like textile companies, cement companies, etc. where the steps in the production are easily identifiable. But is ineffective in service organizations where the process of service product is not identifiable.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Process Departmentalization
Some notable pros and cons of process departmentation are mentioned below:
Advantages:
- This departmentation creates job specifications as departments are created according to process.
- Department managers become more loyal to the job output as the responsibility of accomplishing a particular process is fixed.
- Departments become dependent. So, communication and coordination become more effective.
- This method is a flexible method of departmentalization. So, adaptation to changing environment is possible.
Disadvantages:
- This method is not suitable for service organizations where processes can not be easily identified clearly.
- Delay in process or wrong production of one department affects the performance of all other departments also.
- In departmentalization by process, all departments are too much dependent on one another.
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