functional strctureucture.docVIP

Functional structure: A company organized with a functional structure groups people together into functional departments such as purchasing, accounts, production, sales, marketing. These departments would normally have functional heads who may be called managers or directors depending on whether the function is represented at board level. Though titles vary depending on the organization, each unit in a functional structure includes employees who are trained to perform specialized tasks. The top tier of a functional structure may be a company president. The second tier may be comprised of several vice presidents, each positioned in an area of expertise, such as vice president of manufacturing or vice president of sales and marketing. Below each vice president may be one or more directors with abilities in the same specialized area as that particular vice president. The directors might be followed by managers, and the managers followed by assistant managers, all possessing skills in the same area as those preceding them. The larger the organization, the more challenging it is for each specialized group to clarify how individual departments ultimately connect and contribute to the business succeeding as a unified company. For this reason, the functional structure is most successful in organizations that are small to medium in size and only deal with a few product types and services Strengths: 1) Functional groups are reservoirs of skills and knowledge in their areas of expertise. 2) Functional groups’ well-established communication processes and decision-making procedures provide timely and consistent support for the group’s projects. 3) Functional groups provide people with a focused and supportive job environment. Weaknesses: 1) Because each unit in a functional structure is focused on its own area of specialty, it might be lacking a broad view of the company if there isnt consistent integration of and communication between departments. 2) Units may have