Functional structure

The functional approach to organization starts from the premise that all business activities can be looked at in terms of functions. Functions depend in part on the type of business. Product design and production, along with research and development, feature mainly in manufacturing firms, whereas all firms need finance, human resource management, and marketing functions. The structure of an organization based on functional departments is presented in the figure below.

►Fill in the empty boxes with the main activities of Finance and HR departments and explain those of the others:

‘PUZZLE-1’ POINT

►Each of the tasks below is carried out by a canned food company. Which functional area does each belong to? Sort the statements into piles (the first is done for you):

1. Interview a member of staff for promotion.

2. Prepare a report on daily sales figures.

3. Meet a sales representative from a supplier.

4. Order a supply of tomatoes.

5. Prepare a report on the health and safety policy.

6. Repair a faulty piece of equipment on the production line.

7. Test a new fast meal idea.

8. Pack the finished product into boxes.

9. Plan how many tomato cans need making next week.

10. Work with a trade union to solve a problem about a member of staff who is consistently late to work.

11. Do a survey of customers to find out their views of different products.

12. Pay taxes.

13. Order supplies of paper for the photocopier in the accounts department.

14. Investigate a new piece of software to monitor quality of tomato juice.

15. Deal with a complaint from an employee that the production areas are too cold.

16. Arrange the payment of the annual bonus to staff.

17. Strip down and clean production equipment each night.

18. Take the minutes of a meeting of the senior managers.

19. Plan a different way of producing the range of canned tropical fruit.

20. Discuss prices for the ‘Healthy Living’ range.

21. Produce leaflets and info about products, their effects on health and environment.

22. Deal with a complaint from a consumer about the quality of products.

23. Order new sets of overalls for the production workers.

24. Comparing budget with accounts.

25. Collecting and distributing mail.

26. Collecting information about changes in consumer demand.

27. Devise new mixture of canned fruits.

‘PUZZLE-2’ POINT

►Match each term from the box with its definition and translate into Russian:

delegation chain of command span of control

empowerment authority hierarchy

decentralized organization flat structure

1. the right to make decisions and carry out tasks
2. the number of people a superior is responsible for
3. likes when authority and control is delegated to the managers of individual centres of activity or operation
4. the relationship between different levels of authority in the business
5. shows the line management in the business and who has specific responsibilities
6. authority to carry out actions passed from superior to subordinate
7. the removal of levels of management gives this
8. giving responsibilities to people at all levels of the business to make decisions

‘THEORY-2’ POINT

Date: 2016-01-05; view: 1054