Which of the following is a common type of departmentalization?

• A. Centralized control across units.
• B. Functional, product/service, customer, geographic, matrix, divisional.
• C. By age of departments.
• D. By revenue size per department.

Answer: (B)

Departmentalization is about how work is grouped into units to specialize and coordinate tasks. A common set of ways to organize departments includes functional grouping (by specialized activities like marketing, finance, HR), product/service grouping (by product lines or services), customer grouping (by the type of customer served), geographic grouping (by region), matrix (a hybrid approach that combines two bases, often product and geography), and divisional (structures centered on product lines, markets, or regions with some autonomy). These bases help organizations align structure with strategy, flow of information, and accountability: functional builds deep expertise within functions; product and divisional focus drives accountability for each line or region; customer grouping tailors activities to client needs; geographic grouping supports local responsiveness; matrix enables coordination across dimensions when both product and geography matter. Centralized control describes who makes decisions rather than how work is grouped, and aging or revenue size per department aren’t standard bases for organizing departments.