Though they contain the major points sought, the student's response should provide further insight into many of the points. Simply repeating the major bullet points does not necessarily demonstrate the required level of understanding of the subject. 1 A definition may be found in section 9.1.2 of Module 9. The important point to emphasise in the definition is that there is no one best way to departmentalise.
Managers have choice of different types of departmental design each having strengths and weaknesses.
Candidates should then identify the four different types of departmental design. These are functional design, territorial design, product divisional design and matrix design. The advantages and disadvantages are described fully in section 9.1.2 of the text and these should be discussed in some detail. Candidates should point out that environmental uncertainty may affect the choice of departmentalisation, indirectly. Section 9.2.4 of the text describes how uncertainty in the environment can affect information flows and therefore a need to have effective integration and co-ordination systems.