Managing a Large Force : Divide People
Sun Tzu said, "The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers." In the matter of controlling large amounts of people, Sun Tzu points out that it is actually pretty simple. All you do is divide them up.
Many companies are really good at this. Some very large companies have many divisions within them. If you ask a worker about the company, many cannot even tell you anything about the company outside of their tiny area of expertise. Dividing people up like this has several advantages.
Protection and Secrets
One of the most important aspects of dividing up the labor force is protection. If workers can't see the big picture of how the entire company operates, they can't go out and duplicate the company. Many small companies have this problem because it is so difficult to divide out the work when there are few employees. However, larger companies are really good at keeping everyone in the dark. It is not only good for productivity, but more importantly protects company trade secrets and other information.
As an example, think of a payroll department that isn't divided from the other workers. When workers find out about their friends making more money than them it will bring much contention into the company and many workers will quit based on the information. Thus, it is important to divide the workers and have each area keep its own secrets.
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