What is the recommended Org-Wide Sharing Default for Accounts when departments should not collaborate?

The recommended Org-Wide Sharing Default for Accounts when departments should not collaborate is "Private." Setting the sharing model to Private ensures that only the record owner and users higher in the role hierarchy have access to the account records. This maintains a strict separation of data, as other users, even within the same organization, will not have visibility into each other's account records.

This is particularly beneficial in scenarios where departments might have sensitive or proprietary information that they do not want to share with others in the organization. By using a Private sharing model, you can effectively control data access and maintain confidentiality between different teams or departments.

In contrast, other sharing settings such as Public Read Only or Public Read/Write allow broader access, which would lead to potential collaboration and viewing of each other's accounts, countering the intention of maintaining separation. The "Controlled by Parent" option indicates that access is determined by related parent records, which does not align with the goal of restricting departmental collaborations as it could still allow for unintended visibility if users have access to parent records.