Specialisation is perhaps the oldest organisational device. It occurs when organisations or individual workers concentrate on a limited type of activity. This allows them to build up a greater level of skill and knowledge than they would if they attempted to be good at everything.

　　The advantage of arranging work in this way lies in the fact that, by concentrating on one type or aspect of work, it is possible to become much more efficient. By concentrating its expertise into a limited range of activities, the organisation plans and arranges its output to achieve the most efficient use of its resources. A key aspect of specialisation involves the division of labour.

　　The specialisation of labour developed as industrialization advanced, and large organisations became more popular. It was first used in car production at Ford and is associated with the work of Taylor, which we will be discussing later. The car production process was broken down into many separate tasks and each worker was required to specialise in only one small aspect of the total process. This benefits the manufacturer in three ways:

　　§ Simple tasks encourage the use of highly specific equipment, e.g. power wrenches that speed up the manufacturing operation.

　　§ Semi-skilled labour can be employed rather than highly skilled operatives.

　　§ Workers are only responsible for one process and so are able to develop a high level of expertise and increase their output per period.

　　Modern industrialised economies make great use of specialisation and the division of labour, but for organisations to gain the full benefits of these techniques they also employ another organisational device known as hierarchy. We will be examining this further when we discuss the distribution of authority, responsibility and accountability within the organisation.

　　Test your understanding 2

　　Suppose you are organising a student ball. What advantages could be gained by forming a committee to manage the process and ultimate event?