The division of labor is the division of production and management processes into a series of small actions. A clearly organized division of labor resources of the company allows it to arrange the placement of employees in jobs depending on personal and professional abilities. In other words, the purpose of the division of labor is to isolate various types of labor activity, as well as assigning them to certain employees of the company.
The vertical division of labor is used to separate the work of coordinating all actions and the direct implementation of these actions. Such a division into several levels is in most cases characteristic of fairly large companies. The larger the company, having a large number of branches and divisions, the greater the number of levels available in the division of labor.
Definition
The vertical division of labor is a system for the separation of management activities from activities in the production process.
There is also a horizontal division of labor, which differs from a vertical one in that the division occurs according to functional and qualification grounds.
The amount of control available in the company, in fact, affects the chain of division of labor, both vertically and horizontally. When a vertical division of labor occurs, a hierarchy arises that distributes managerial officials to several levels. The most important characteristic of such a hierarchy is the subordination of officials of one level to another. The scope of control at each level is determined by the scope of its control.
Specific features of managerial work
Specialists identify a number of features inherent in management activities:
- indirect participation in production, and hence the creation of wealth;
- the subject of labor is information;
- workers are not inherent in physical labor, but mental;
- the means of labor is technology;
- management decisions are the goal and result of labor.
Managers do not personally create the company's products, but it is precisely from the control, as well as the creation of a holistic system, how effective the work on production will be carried out.
The result of the work of management personnel also depends on the quality of the information they receive, as well as on the quality of the analysis of this information and its systematization. Properly adopted, and most importantly, on time, management decisions are the starting point for achieving effective production and making a profit.
Types of mental work
Mental labor can be divided into several types:
- Administrative activities. Includes educational and organizational activities. Most employees carry out the reception, as well as transmitting the information received to the performers. Control the execution of decisions.
- Analytical activity. The employees who are entrusted with this activity are engaged in the analysis of the information received and the adoption of specific decisions.
- Information Technology. Employees are engaged in computational and logical operations.
Managerial work always has a subject that acts on the object. The subject is the control system, in other words, the employee or management body that exercises control over the object. It is a managed system.
Directions
The vertical division of labor in the organization has several directions:
- personnel management is responsible for the development and stable work of the company's labor resources;
- the technological management is responsible for introducing advanced technologies into the work, as well as for the automation of production;
- economic management is responsible for tactical planning of the company’s activities, maintaining profitability;
- operational management is responsible for the stable operation of the production process;
- The general management of the company is responsible for planning and implementing strategic decisions and achieving the goals of the company.
Functional roles
Functional roles in the vertical division of labor are directly the leaders themselves, as well as support staff.
The main activity of managers is to make strategic decisions that directly affect the activities of the company as a whole. In the vertical division of labor, this is the highest position that exists in the managerial hierarchy.
The next step is occupied by specialists. Their main task is the implementation of managerial decisions of managers. We can say that they combine both management functions and execution functions.
The lowest level of hierarchy in the vertical division of managerial labor is occupied by auxiliary personnel. They are also called technical executors who are engaged in information services for the entire administrative apparatus.
The hierarchy of control levels: the highest level
The vertical division of labor has the following hierarchy: from lower to higher levels.
The highest level is the owners of the company. Also at this level of the hierarchy are the presidents and vice-presidents of the company. In a joint-stock company, the highest level is the members of the board of directors (shareholders). Their activity is the development of strategic decisions, the creation of organization policies.
It is important to understand that the further actions of all other levels and the results of the company’s activities mainly depend on the decisions that will be taken by senior managers.
Hierarchy of Management Levels: Intermediate
The average level in the vertical division of labor is directly the director of the enterprise, as well as the heads of various departments and divisions of the company. Their responsibility includes issues such as: the practical implementation of strategic petitions adopted by senior executives. They are also responsible for bringing the necessary strategies and plans to the executive staff of the company, the middle link is also responsible for monitoring the implementation.
Hierarchy of management levels: lowest level
In the management of the vertical division of labor, the lowest level is occupied by administrators, foremen and specialists. Under their submission are ordinary employees of the company. The main activity of lower-level managers is the control of ordinary employees, as well as ensuring stability and continuity of work.
It is important to understand that all the tasks that are set by managers, regardless of hierarchy, are performed precisely by the labor resources of ordinary employees. Therefore, as far as correctly, clearly and clearly they will be communicated to the requirements, goals and objectives of the company, the results will be achieved.
An example of the vertical division of labor
If we consider an example of vertical separation of a company from the banking sector, then the administrators of the operational departments of a commercial bank are considered to be representatives of the lowest level of management. Also, managers can be attributed to this level. In the vertical division of labor at the average level are the heads of departments of commercial banks. The leaders are members of the board of directors, as well as all shareholders.