Functions of Departments

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Functions of Departments

• Centralisation

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Centralisation

• When a service is carried out in one central
  place instead of within each department.
• For example, administrative services may be
  centralised within an organisation.

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Advantages

• A more efficient service can be provided by
  specialist, highly trained staff.
• Better equipment can produce higher quality work.
  
• Less equipment is required (leading to a saving
  in cost for the employer).
• Can create more space in other departments.
• Specialist staff can lead to work being done more
  quickly (leading to a saving in both time and
  money).
• Employees in the other functional departments
  will have more time to do their own work by
  delegating the work to the centralised
  department.
• Equipment would only be used by a small group of
  highly trained staff.

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Disadvantages

• May be inconvenient/time consuming if centralised
  service is some distance away from the
  department.
• Personal contact may be lost with original admin
  assistants.
• Urgent/unplanned department work may not take
  priority in the centralised service.
• One system may not suit all departments eg if the
  Sales Department has a large number of foreign
  clients it may prefer to use a geographical
  filing system rather than an alphabetical one.
• There may actually be an increase in paperwork
  and records.
• It is difficult to keep records confidential.
• Work may become boring as there is little variety.

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• Now do Tasks 10, 14 15!