Text 3. Organizational Structure

One of the most challenging tasks of a business may be organizing the people who perform its work. A business may begin with one person doing all the necessary tasks. As the business becomes successful and grows, however, there is generally more work, and more people are needed to perform various tasks. Because there are several people—often in different locations—working toward a common objective, there must be a plan showing how the work will be organized. The plan for the systematic arrangement of work is the organization structure, which is comprised of functions, relationships, responsibilities, authorities, and communications of individuals within each department.

Organisations are structured in a variety of ways, dependant on their objectives and culture. The structure of an organisation will determine the manner in which it operates and its performance. Structure allows the responsibilities for different functions and processes to be clearly allocated to different departments and employees.

The wrong organisation structure will hinder the success of the business. Organisational structures should aim to maximize the efficiency and success of the Organisation. Internal factors such as size, product and skills of the workforce influence the organizational structure. As a business expands the chain of command will lengthen and the spans of control will widen.

Organizational structures shall be adaptive to process requirements, aiming to optimize the ratio of effort and input to output. An effective organizational structure shall facilitate working relationships between various entities in the organization and may improve the working efficiency within the organizational units. Organization shall retain a set order and control to enable monitoring the processes. Organization shall support command for coping with a mix of orders and a change of conditions while performing work. Organization shall allow for application of individual skills to enable high flexibility and apply creativity. When an organization comes to age, the flexibility will decrease and the creativity will fatigue. Therefore organizational structures shall be altered from time to time to enable recovery. If such alteration is prevented by internal or external forces, the final escape is to turn down the organization to prepare for a re-launch in an entirely new set up.

The typical depiction of structure is the organizational chart. The result of the organizational chart is a clear line of authority showing where subordinates are accountable to their immediate supervisors.

Traditional organizational structures focus on the functions, or departments, within an organization, closely following the organization's customs and bureaucratic procedures. These structures have clearly defined lines of authority for all levels of management. Two traditional structures are line and line-and-staff.

The line structure is defined by its clear chain of command, with final approval on decisions affecting the operations of the company still coming from the top down. Because the line structure is most often used in small organizations—such as small accounting offices and law firms, hair salons, and "mom-and-pop" stores—the president or CEO can easily provide information and direction to subordinates, thus allowing decisions to be made quickly.

Line structures by nature are fairly informal and involve few departments, making the organizations highly decentralized. Employees are generally on a first-name basis with the president, who is often available throughout the day to answer questions and/or to respond to situations as they arise. It is common to see the president or CEO working alongside the subordinates. Because the president is often responsible for wearing many "hats" and being responsible for many activities, she or he cannot be an expert in all areas.

Line-and-staff structure . While the line structure would not be appropriate for larger companies, the line-and-staff structure is applicable because it helps to identify a set of guidelines for the people directly involved in completing the organization's work. This type of structure combines the flow of information from the line structure with the staff departments that service, advise, and support them.

Line departments are involved in making decisions regarding the operation of the organization, while staff areas provide specialized support.

An example of a line department might be the production department because it is directly responsible for producing the product. A staff department, on the other hand, has employees who advise and assist—making sure the product gets advertised or that the customer service representative's computer is working. Based on the company's general organization, line-and-staff structures generally have a centralized chain of command. The line-and-staff managers have direct authority over their subordinates, but staff managers have no authority over line managers and their subordinates. Because there are more layers and presumably more guidelines to follow in this type of organization, the decision-making process is slower than in a line organization. The line-and-staff organizational structure is generally more formal in nature and has many departments.

 

Exercise 18. Learn the following terms.

CEO	Chief Executive Officer	Генеральний директор
CFO	Chief Financial Officer	Фінансовий директор
CIO	Chief Information Officer	Директор з інформаційних технологій
CMO	Chief Marketing Officer	Директор з маркетингу
COO	Chief Operating Officer	Виконавчий директор
CPO	Chief Project Officer	Директор проектів
CSO	Chief Security Officer	Директор з забезпечення безперервності і безпеки бізнесу
CTO	Chief Technical Officer	Технічний директор

  

Exercise 19. Find English equivalents.

Розміщувати ресурси (людей), повідомляти інформацію, приймати рішення, виконувати роботу, встановлювати цілі, керувати підлеглими, мотивувати людей, розвивати стратегії, оцінювати роботу.

 

Exercise 20. Find proper definitions.

1. line authority	a) to assign or designate resources for a particular purpose
2. personnel	b) to give an incentive to someone, to encourage
3. subordinates	c) the number of employees that each manager/supervisor is responsible for
4. to allocate	d) an organization’s staff or work force; the people it employs
5.to motivate	e) employees under someone else’s authority or control
6. span of control	f) a system in which decision-making passes from the top to the bottom of a hierarchy, as in the army, for example.

 

Exercise 21. Translate into English the following sentences.

1.Організаційна структура – це відносини між посадами і людьми, що займають ці посади. 2. Організаційна структура забезпечує ефективну робочу систему. 3. Лінійна структура організації – це вертикальні стосунки між посадами та завданнями кожного рівня, тобто лінійна структура підпорядкування. 4. Така структура спрощує проблему віддавання та отримання наказів. 5. Працівники управлінських відділів уповноважені допомагати та радити лінійним керівникам при виконанні основних цілей організації. 6. До діяльності управлінського відділу входить бухгалтерія, забезпечення кадрами, кредитування, реклама. 7. Завдання координувати діяльність відділів, приймати рішення і бачити, як ці рішення виконуються, стає складнішим, оскільки кількість відділів збільшується.

 

Exercise 22. Analyze the following -ing-forms.

1.There must be a plan showing how the work will be organized. 2 An effective organizational structure shall facilitate working relationships between various entities in the organization.                 3. Organization shall retain a set order and control to enable monitoring the processes. 4. The line structure is most often used in small organizations—such as small accounting offices and law firms, hair salons, and "mom-and-pop" stores. 5. It is common to see the president or CEO working alongside the subordinates. 6. To identify a set of guidelines for the people directly involved in completing the organization's work.  7. Line departments are involved in making decisions regarding the operation of the organization, while staff areas provide specialized support. 8. An example of a line department might be the production department because it is directly responsible for producing the product.

Exercise 23. Put special questions to the text.

     

Exercise 24. Read and reproduce the dialogue.

Corporation ’ s structure

Arnold D. is on the job training with an American corporation where he studies marketing and management techniques. He is talking with Mr.Stevens, a manager of the corporation on the structure of the corporation.

Mr.S.: Although our corporation was a healthy one, 15 years ago it was fully restructured.

Arnold : Why was it done?

Mr.S.: It was not flexible and fully coordinated. Marketing managers, for example, did not know how much it cost to produce a product.

Arnold : What was done to make it more flexible?

Mr.S.: Part of the responsibilities were delegated to a lower level. No longer is the president required to take decisions on every important issue. Decision-making is shared with many people. The main thing is to get a result.

Arnold: Who is it to make decisions inside the corporation?

Mr.S.: Most of the decisions are made by middle management. The idea is to push decision-making as far down to into the organization as possible.

Arnold.: Doesn’t it create the situation that divisions are self-centered and uncontrolled?

Mr.S.: Not in the least. We have a special guiding body, the Board. It has the chairman, the president, vice-presidents and other top executives. This group provides cross-communication throughout the corporation. It works out the overall strategy and makes main decisions.

Arnold: How are investment decisions made in your organization?

Mr.S.: When a new business is started, many options for new business development are considered. It is up to an economic expert to make a risk analysis and present his alterative solution.

Arnold: Doesn’t it stifle independent thinking about new business opportunities?

Mr.S.: It just reduces the chance for error.

Arnold: Briefly speaking, what are the advantages gained from the restructuring of the corporation?

Mr.S.: First. Sound and fast decision-making. Second. More top management time for long-range planning and less need to be involved in day-to-day operations. Third. Result-orientation.

Arnold: But if it doesn’t bring any result?

Mr.S.: If the plan is not put to life, we change our policy to get the result. In a dynamic organization like ours we immediately react to any change in the market.

Arnold: I can see that your corporation is really mobile and you are not afraid of changes in the market.

Mr.S.: We do indeed have the ability to manage change rather than be managed by it.

 

Exercise 25. Learn the following words and word combinations.

 

entrepreneurial	– підприємницький
reward management	– управління винагородами, заохоченнями працівників
prone	– схильний до чогось
coherence	– зв’язок, послідовність, узгодженість.
deploy	– розгортатися
tall structure	– багаторівнева організація
flat structure	– пласка організація
tread	– крокувати, йти
advent	– прибуття, прихід

Exercise 26. Read, translate and give the gist of text 4.

 

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