Firstbank Organizational Structure Paper
Organizational Structure MGT 230 April 16, 2012 Traci Thurman-Bowen FirstBanks' Organizational Structure Founded in 1963, FirstBank has been fortunate enough to have outstanding employees, financial stability, and the greatest customers they could ask for. They have maintained a strong commitment to convenience, intelligent, and friendly customer service as well as loyalty to those who work for them. Organizations require structure in order to grow and be profitable. FirstBank would not have been able to achieve what they have without having implemented a proper organizational structure. Vertical Structure FirstBank implements the vertical organizational structure that consists of authority in organizations, hierarchical levels, span of control, delegation,
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and decentralization.
Authority is the genuine right to make decisions and tell other people what to do (Bateman, pg 278, 2011). FirstBank gives authority to its upper-level managers who in turn give orders to the lower-level managers to carry out. Hierarchical levels consist primarily of the board of directors, under them it is the chief executive officer (C.E.O), chief financial officer (CFO), followed by the President, Vice-President, Assistant Vice-President, right under them its managers and supervisors and finally tellers. The number of people who report to the manager or supervisor are called the span of control (Bateman, pg 282, 2011). There are typically no more than five people reporting to any given manager. Delegation is the key to effective management, it allows them to use their time and energy on other projects and assign other responsibilities and authority to different tellers. It is important for managers to define the goal that must be attained also
provide the resources necessary and schedule check-points to ensure the goals are being carried out effectively. Managers delegate in order to get things done more efficiently (Bateman, pg 302,2011) . Finally, decentralization is the last portion of the structure and it goes hand-in-hand with delegation. FirstBank is both a centralized and decentralized organization. It is centralized in the way that high-level executives make most of the important decisions about the overall standing of the bank and in turn pass them down to the lower levels to implement. It is also decentralized because lower-level managers can make day-to-day decisions about the type of transactions performed or the operations of the bank they oversee. Vertical Structure vs. Matrix Organization The matrix organization is a mixture of a functional and divisional organization in which both managers and lower-level employees report to two bosses (Bateman, pg 292, 2011). It can have its advantages as well as disadvantages. An advantage can be that there are many levels of communication to process large amounts of information but from that a disadvantage can be that lower-level employees feel confused because they do not have a single authority who to report to. When speaking about FirstBank a matrix organization would not be quite the best to follow because there needs to be one main authority whom to report to because too many opposing views on how to do something can cause more damage than good. Vertical Structure vs. Functional Organization A functional organization is common in large and small companies. It is organized into different functional groups, such as human resources and marketing. Just as any other organization structure it has its pros and cons. People work on a certain function of the company ensuring that it is carried out effectively but at the same time they can become so caught up in their own function and forget about the company as a whole. FirstBank is partially a functional organization because it has people working in specialized areas of the bank but all employees are under the management of the top-level executive, which brings it back to the vertical structure. Organizational Functions Every company’s goal is to maximize its value and resources and FirstBank is no exception. For a company to be successful all functional areas must work together to execute a mutual goal. Depending on how the company is divided the best structure is determined by the organizations functions. Organizational Design For an organization or company to determine what type of structure are best suited, factors such as geographic location, product, service, marketing channels and more are taken into consideration. FirstBank took the functional organization with the vertical structure for the company because of its customer-based products and the different functions the company is broken into. Both of those types of structures contribute to the overall benefit of the company. Conclusion FirstBanks’ structure does not only benefit the company but also helps provide the best products available to their customers as well as provide its employees with loyalty and a great work environment. Companies and Organizations require a properly implemented organizational structure and a management team with the knowledge and ability to execute and attain desired goals.
and decentralization.
Authority is the genuine right to make decisions and tell other people what to do (Bateman, pg 278, 2011). FirstBank gives authority to its upper-level managers who in turn give orders to the lower-level managers to carry out. Hierarchical levels consist primarily of the board of directors, under them it is the chief executive officer (C.E.O), chief financial officer (CFO), followed by the President, Vice-President, Assistant Vice-President, right under them its managers and supervisors and finally tellers. The number of people who report to the manager or supervisor are called the span of control (Bateman, pg 282, 2011). There are typically no more than five people reporting to any given manager. Delegation is the key to effective management, it allows them to use their time and energy on other projects and assign other responsibilities and authority to different tellers. It is important for managers to define the goal that must be attained also
provide the resources necessary and schedule check-points to ensure the goals are being carried out effectively. Managers delegate in order to get things done more efficiently (Bateman, pg 302,2011) . Finally, decentralization is the last portion of the structure and it goes hand-in-hand with delegation. FirstBank is both a centralized and decentralized organization. It is centralized in the way that high-level executives make most of the important decisions about the overall standing of the bank and in turn pass them down to the lower levels to implement. It is also decentralized because lower-level managers can make day-to-day decisions about the type of transactions performed or the operations of the bank they oversee. Vertical Structure vs. Matrix Organization The matrix organization is a mixture of a functional and divisional organization in which both managers and lower-level employees report to two bosses (Bateman, pg 292, 2011). It can have its advantages as well as disadvantages. An advantage can be that there are many levels of communication to process large amounts of information but from that a disadvantage can be that lower-level employees feel confused because they do not have a single authority who to report to. When speaking about FirstBank a matrix organization would not be quite the best to follow because there needs to be one main authority whom to report to because too many opposing views on how to do something can cause more damage than good. Vertical Structure vs. Functional Organization A functional organization is common in large and small companies. It is organized into different functional groups, such as human resources and marketing. Just as any other organization structure it has its pros and cons. People work on a certain function of the company ensuring that it is carried out effectively but at the same time they can become so caught up in their own function and forget about the company as a whole. FirstBank is partially a functional organization because it has people working in specialized areas of the bank but all employees are under the management of the top-level executive, which brings it back to the vertical structure. Organizational Functions Every company’s goal is to maximize its value and resources and FirstBank is no exception. For a company to be successful all functional areas must work together to execute a mutual goal. Depending on how the company is divided the best structure is determined by the organizations functions. Organizational Design For an organization or company to determine what type of structure are best suited, factors such as geographic location, product, service, marketing channels and more are taken into consideration. FirstBank took the functional organization with the vertical structure for the company because of its customer-based products and the different functions the company is broken into. Both of those types of structures contribute to the overall benefit of the company. Conclusion FirstBanks’ structure does not only benefit the company but also helps provide the best products available to their customers as well as provide its employees with loyalty and a great work environment. Companies and Organizations require a properly implemented organizational structure and a management team with the knowledge and ability to execute and attain desired goals.