Organizational Structure

Organizational Structure Paper

Every organization has an organizational structure. However, this structure is not the same for every organization. What works for a small company will not work for a large company. What works for a company that produces one product may very well not work for a company that produces a hundred different products. The function and role of the company affect which type of organizational structure the organization uses. Also a company that only sells products will have a different structure than a company that manufactures a product. A good example of this would be Journey's. Journey's is a shoe store that does not manufacture any of it's own products. They sell shoes, hats, shirts, and accessories.

At Journey's no employee just does one job, or has one specialty. Employees must be capable of customer service, sales, stock, inventory, and shipment. Employees must be able to perform the tasks that are needed at any specific time on any specific day. One day an employee may perform only sales, while the next they only handle shipments. However, there are also days where an employee must handle an array of different tasks.

There are also very few orders given between managers and subordinates. A manager will simply let an employee know that shipment has arrived, and the employee is from there just expected to take the hint (or advise) and know that shipment must be taken care of. There are no rules on how to perform sales. There are just suggestions on what things might assist a person in making a sale. A customer walking into Journey's would never be able to tell the difference between a manager and an hourly employee. This makes for a more personal type of communication inside the store. Everybody is on a first name basis, and there is very little formal communication.

This would make Journey's an organic structured organization. There are a few people that talk to the CEO and top-level managers, slightly more people that talk to the middle level managers such as the regional manager. At the store level there are store managers, however, everyone communicates amongst each other. This makes for a very laid-back work place. This is very different from a functional organization. It is different because nobody is separated. There are no special departments within the store. There is one human resources department that covers all stores a regional manager that covers a very large area, and a store with very little structure. It is also different from a divisional organization because there are no divisions to separate. There is not a stock department, sales department, and customer services department. They are all blended into one department.

Organizational functions determine what kind of organization a business or organization will use. A company with jobs that requires specific skills will not be able to use the same structure as one with very vague job tasks. Since Journey's main office performs all of it's human resources, advertising, and finance decisions, even the upper level management must be very flexible. However, the lower level has very little structure, and no specific