Work Specialization in Starbuck's Research Paper

Work Specialization in Starbuck's - Research Paper Example In this case, five organizational structural elements are discussed which are: work specialization, departmentalization, and chain of command, the span of control and centralization & decentralization. Work specialization: Work specialization refers to how the operational jobs are divided into several small parts. In work specialization, an organization does not assign a whole task to one employee; rather the organization divides the task to certain sub-parts which are performed by individual employees. It is widely used in production procedures which help to accelerate the whole operation. The positive side of work specialization is that it not only can raise the level of expertise of employees, assist in the improvement of special technology, minimize training expenses; but it can also generate dullness and tediousness by performing the same type of task and also offer fewer prospects for development (Mukherjee, 2009). In Starbucks, the work is highly specialized. In the stores, the operation is divided into several sub-parts. Almost four employees are required to operate a ‘drive-through a window’. One employee is in charge of receiving the order, the second one runs the cash register, the third one operates the espresso machine, and the fourth employee completes any additional requirements when required. In the roasting facility of Starbucks, each employee has his/her own tasks to preserve the product quality of their assigned step in the entire production process (Robbins & Et. Al., 2008). Departmentalization: Departmentalization is the alignment of interrelated organizational actions into divisions. The focus of departments in an organization can be internal or external. Internal departmentalization is characterized by internal tasks or jobs of employees and resources required to undertake the jobs.