Merits and demerits of functional departments
Functional Organization
The difficulty of the line organization in securing suitable chief executive was overcome by Frederick W. Taylor, who formulated this functional type of organization. By this term he meant dividing the work of management or control so that each man in the factory, from the assistant superintendent down, should have as few functions as possible to perform. As far as the workman was concerned, instead of coming in contact with the management at one point only, he was to received his daily orders and help directly from eight different bosses; four of these were located in the planning room and four in the shop.
The advantages and disadvantages of this system of organization may be outlined as below:.
Advantages:
(i) Functional organization is based on expert knowledge;
(ii) Division of labour is planned, not incidental;
(iii) The highest functional efficiency of each person is maintained;
(iv) The manual work is separated from the mental. A separation initiated by Tayler:
(v) It help mass production by standardization and specialization.
Disadvantages:
(i) A Relative lack of stability is manifest;
(ii) The co-ordinating influence needed to insure a smoothly functioning organization may involve heavy overhead expenses;
(iii) The inability to locate and fix responsibility may seriously affect the discipline and morale of the workers through apparent or actual contradiction of the orders;
(iv) Overlapping authority may give rise to friction between foremen and supervisors.
(v) The initiative of supervisors may become stifled. Men may become mere automations and routine may become very complicated.
