Office Practice · Lesson 2

Departments and their functions, organisational structure and the organisational chart

WAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

WAEC: departments, functions of the various departments, structure of an organisation, organisational chart. Extends cm11.8–11.9.

NECO: departments, functions of the various departments, structure of an organisation, organisational chart. Extends cm11.8–11.9.

What you will learn

Explain departmentation and its bases.
State the functions of administration, HR, accounts, purchasing, sales, production and stores.
Describe other departments and their interdependence.
Explain the structure of an organisation, including tall and flat structures.
Define an organisational chart and state its types, uses and limitations.
Draw an organisational chart from a description.

Key points

Departmentation groups related work for specialisation and control.
Bases: function, product, territory, customer, process.
Administration provides office services and coordination.
HR handles staff from recruitment to retirement.
Accounts records money, pays, prepares payroll and statements.
Purchasing buys right goods at right price and time.
Sales and marketing find customers and sell.
Stores issue only against requisitions; re-order level = usage × lead time + safety stock.
Tall structures: many levels; flat: few levels.
Organisational charts show authority and communication but date quickly.

Start here: Departments and departmentation

As an organisation grows, the owner cannot personally buy materials, make goods, sell, keep accounts and employ staff. The work is therefore divided into departments: groups of related activities placed under one head, who reports to top management. The process of dividing work into departments is called departmentation (or departmentalisation).

Why organisations create departments

Specialisation: staff concentrate on one kind of work and become expert at it.
Clear responsibility: each head is accountable for a defined area.
Easier supervision and control: a large workforce is split into manageable groups.
Efficiency: related tasks and equipment are kept together, which applies the principle of unity of function.
Training and promotion: staff can rise within their speciality.
Performance measurement: each department can be given a budget and targets.

Bases of departmentation

By function: administration, personnel, accounts, purchasing, sales, production. This is the most common basis and the one examined in Office Practice.
By product: a food company such as one making noodles, flour and seasoning may have a noodles division and a flour division.
By territory (geography): Northern, Western and Eastern regions, or Lagos, Abuja and Kano branches. Banks and NIPOST use this.
By customer: retail banking, corporate banking and public-sector banking.
By process: in a textile mill, spinning, weaving and dyeing sections.

Large organisations combine bases. A bank may have functional departments at head office and territorial branches across the country.

In the public service, the equivalent of a department may be called a department, division, unit or directorate. A federal ministry has departments such as Human Resource Management, Finance and Accounts, and Planning, Research and Statistics, each headed by a director under the permanent secretary.

Departments and the office

Every department has its own office work: receiving and writing letters, keeping files and preparing reports. This is why office practice skills are needed throughout an organisation, not only in the administration department.

Worked example: Grouping tasks into departments. A new Aba shoe factory lists these tasks: hiring workers; buying leather; paying suppliers; cutting and stitching shoes; selling to market traders; keeping finished shoes. Group them into departments.
Solution. Hiring workers → personnel (HR). Buying leather → purchasing. Paying suppliers → accounts. Cutting and stitching → production. Selling to traders → sales and marketing. Keeping finished shoes → stores (warehouse). Grouping similar tasks under one head is departmentation; it allows specialisation and makes it clear who is responsible for what.

Continue this lesson in the free app →

Practice questions

1. Grouping similar tasks under one head is called

departmentation
delegation
decentralisation
automation

Show answer

A: departmentation
Departmentation.

2. Recruiting and training staff is the work of the

sales department
production department
stores department
personnel department

Show answer

D: personnel department
HR.

3. Buying raw materials is the work of the

accounts department
sales department
purchasing department
personnel department

Show answer

C: purchasing department
Purchasing.

4. Preparing final accounts is the work of the

transport department
accounts department
stores department
sales department

Show answer

B: accounts department
Accounts.

5. A chart showing positions and lines of authority is

an organisational chart
a pie chart
a bin card
a flowchart of mail

Show answer

A: an organisational chart
Organisational chart.

Key words

Department: Group of related activities under one head.
Departmentation: Dividing work into departments.
Human resources: Department handling people from hiring to exit.
Job description: Statement of the duties of a post.
Job specification: Statement of the person required for a post.
Purchase requisition: Request to purchasing to buy goods.
Stores requisition: Authority to issue goods from stores.
Bin card: Shelf record of receipts, issues and balance.
Re-order level: Stock level at which a new order is placed.
Organisational chart: Diagram of positions and lines of authority.
Tall structure: Many levels, narrow spans.
Flat structure: Few levels, wide spans.

Learn Departments and their functions, organisational structure and the organisational chart step by step, free.
The Cara's Tips app teaches every topic from the very basics, with quick checks, worked examples and exam practice. It works offline.
Open this lesson in the free app Download for Android