Mgt/230 Organizational Structure Paper
Organizational Structure
Kimberly Chappell
MGT/230
February 4, 2015
Otha Starr
Organizational Structure
Organizational structure is a system used to define a hierarchy within an organization. It identifies each job, its function and where it reports to within the organization (Friend, n.d., para.1). The organizational structure is used to determine how a company operates, how it positions its employees, and how the organization carries out job functions to obtain goals presently, and in the future. According to Waters (2006), “An organizational structure divides a whole organization into distinct parts and defines the relationship among them” (p. 923). Large companies thrive from implementing these types of structures because …show more content…
of the dual tasks presented. Smaller companies are not large enough to truly benefit and find these structures unnecessary. In order to be successful, it is the responsibility of the business heads to determine exactly what skills an employee has, who will report to who and how job functions will be performed. Companies use several different types of organizational structures that all operate completely different from one another. The Organizational structure of Wal-Mart
The organizational structure of the large company Wal-Mart is considered a divisional structure. Wal-Mart was started in 1962 and opened the doors for business in Rogers, Arkansas. The company eventually expanded and incorporated to Wal-Mart stores Inc. in 1969 (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2014). Wal-Mart employs over two million employees and has over eleven thousand locations. Wal-Mart is considered one of the largest retailers in the world (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2014). The organizational structure for Wal-Mart is divisional. The divisional structure breaks down into three parts made up of market structure, products, and geographics. The company utilizes all three structures and this systematical approach allows Wal-Mart to zone in and provide extra attention the important areas like customers and customer service, products and service. Comparing the divisional structure to the functional and matrix structures, it is important to understand that each structure acts as a support to a business.
The functional structure is for the employees that perform a specific job or task for the company, and are strategically placed into the department for the sole purpose of performing in an area that specialized in their area of expertise. Commonly, those areas are human resources, accounting, and quality assurance. One of the benefits is to encourage and educate one another and to hone in and strengthen the skills for each other. This structure also calls for the departments to become independent as well. The divisional structure places employees according to a certain product the company is producing. It allows the departments to move to other locations within the business with market changes while creating redundancies. The matrix structure acts as a functional and divisional structure and creates a stand-alone business for certain products or service in a particular market. One of the disadvantages of the matrix structure is how much it cost to hire a functional production manager (Sharrieff, n.d.).
There are duties performed in a department called organizational functions.
Organizational functions consist of operations, human resources, marketing and finance. These functions are handled by department managers and work side by side with one another to accomplish company goals. These functions influence ideas and resources to allow the lines of communication to remain open among one another. Marketing constantly attempts to understand the customer’s expectation and their desires as a consumer. The finance department at Wal-Mart plays a significant role in preparing financial reports for the business. The financial reports and background must be reported to the stakeholders to show how contributions were put to use. Human resources influences the organizational structure when dealing with the placement of employees for recruitment and the selections process. The operations function is a vital step in the development and achievement of the goals of the …show more content…
company.
Managers assist in the selection of different elements of the organizational structure. The goal is for the company to complete their objectives. This process is called organizational design. The organization design helps to assist customers through demographic, service preferences and products. The design is automatically adjusted to the structure because they are international. This is a key factor in how the company does business because they offer a variety of products and goods for little to no cost. While shopping in a Wal-Mart store, it is very close to a one stop shop. The goods are quality and there is sound research on the merchandise to ensue accountability to push a quality product. The design is beneficial to low and high end income classes because it provides a quality product at a very inexpensive price.
Conclusion
The organizational structure of Wal-Mart is sound.
It has proven over the years to be a very successful business strategy. Wal-Mart continues to improve the quality of products they produce for customers world-wide. The divisional structure enables Wal-Mart to maintain goals and to make sure the customer’s needs are met. Even though there are other structures and processes, the divisional structure seems to work best with the vision and the goals for Wal-Mart incorporated. The organizational functions like finance, human resources, and marketing play a big part in how the organizational structure is influenced. Each departments ability to adapt, co-exist, and communicate with each other has contributed to the success and growth of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart may be known for closing up the smaller businesses because they can provide a one stop shop that will sell a quality product.. Because Wal-Mart’s organizational structure has the ability to execute a plan of action, the business has catapulted the company into
success.
References
Bateman, S., Thomas, Scott, A. S., Management leading and collaborating in a competitive world (9th e.d) Organizational structure, retrieved from University of phoenix library, ISBN 9780078137242
Mirko, K., Mark, M., Kodri, B., Zoran, A., (2014) Managerial competencies and organized structures, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 114 Iss 6 pp.922-935 The University of Phoenix database http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-01-2014-0019
Sharrieff, M., (2015) Small business models & organizational structure, Compare organizational structure types, retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/compare-organizational-structure-types-1763.html.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (2015) Our Story, retrieved from http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/
Kimberly Chappell
MGT/230
February 4, 2015
Otha Starr
Organizational Structure
Organizational structure is a system used to define a hierarchy within an organization. It identifies each job, its function and where it reports to within the organization (Friend, n.d., para.1). The organizational structure is used to determine how a company operates, how it positions its employees, and how the organization carries out job functions to obtain goals presently, and in the future. According to Waters (2006), “An organizational structure divides a whole organization into distinct parts and defines the relationship among them” (p. 923). Large companies thrive from implementing these types of structures because …show more content…
of the dual tasks presented. Smaller companies are not large enough to truly benefit and find these structures unnecessary. In order to be successful, it is the responsibility of the business heads to determine exactly what skills an employee has, who will report to who and how job functions will be performed. Companies use several different types of organizational structures that all operate completely different from one another. The Organizational structure of Wal-Mart
The organizational structure of the large company Wal-Mart is considered a divisional structure. Wal-Mart was started in 1962 and opened the doors for business in Rogers, Arkansas. The company eventually expanded and incorporated to Wal-Mart stores Inc. in 1969 (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2014). Wal-Mart employs over two million employees and has over eleven thousand locations. Wal-Mart is considered one of the largest retailers in the world (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2014). The organizational structure for Wal-Mart is divisional. The divisional structure breaks down into three parts made up of market structure, products, and geographics. The company utilizes all three structures and this systematical approach allows Wal-Mart to zone in and provide extra attention the important areas like customers and customer service, products and service. Comparing the divisional structure to the functional and matrix structures, it is important to understand that each structure acts as a support to a business.
The functional structure is for the employees that perform a specific job or task for the company, and are strategically placed into the department for the sole purpose of performing in an area that specialized in their area of expertise. Commonly, those areas are human resources, accounting, and quality assurance. One of the benefits is to encourage and educate one another and to hone in and strengthen the skills for each other. This structure also calls for the departments to become independent as well. The divisional structure places employees according to a certain product the company is producing. It allows the departments to move to other locations within the business with market changes while creating redundancies. The matrix structure acts as a functional and divisional structure and creates a stand-alone business for certain products or service in a particular market. One of the disadvantages of the matrix structure is how much it cost to hire a functional production manager (Sharrieff, n.d.).
There are duties performed in a department called organizational functions.
Organizational functions consist of operations, human resources, marketing and finance. These functions are handled by department managers and work side by side with one another to accomplish company goals. These functions influence ideas and resources to allow the lines of communication to remain open among one another. Marketing constantly attempts to understand the customer’s expectation and their desires as a consumer. The finance department at Wal-Mart plays a significant role in preparing financial reports for the business. The financial reports and background must be reported to the stakeholders to show how contributions were put to use. Human resources influences the organizational structure when dealing with the placement of employees for recruitment and the selections process. The operations function is a vital step in the development and achievement of the goals of the …show more content…
company.
Managers assist in the selection of different elements of the organizational structure. The goal is for the company to complete their objectives. This process is called organizational design. The organization design helps to assist customers through demographic, service preferences and products. The design is automatically adjusted to the structure because they are international. This is a key factor in how the company does business because they offer a variety of products and goods for little to no cost. While shopping in a Wal-Mart store, it is very close to a one stop shop. The goods are quality and there is sound research on the merchandise to ensue accountability to push a quality product. The design is beneficial to low and high end income classes because it provides a quality product at a very inexpensive price.
Conclusion
The organizational structure of Wal-Mart is sound.
It has proven over the years to be a very successful business strategy. Wal-Mart continues to improve the quality of products they produce for customers world-wide. The divisional structure enables Wal-Mart to maintain goals and to make sure the customer’s needs are met. Even though there are other structures and processes, the divisional structure seems to work best with the vision and the goals for Wal-Mart incorporated. The organizational functions like finance, human resources, and marketing play a big part in how the organizational structure is influenced. Each departments ability to adapt, co-exist, and communicate with each other has contributed to the success and growth of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart may be known for closing up the smaller businesses because they can provide a one stop shop that will sell a quality product.. Because Wal-Mart’s organizational structure has the ability to execute a plan of action, the business has catapulted the company into
success.
References
Bateman, S., Thomas, Scott, A. S., Management leading and collaborating in a competitive world (9th e.d) Organizational structure, retrieved from University of phoenix library, ISBN 9780078137242
Mirko, K., Mark, M., Kodri, B., Zoran, A., (2014) Managerial competencies and organized structures, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 114 Iss 6 pp.922-935 The University of Phoenix database http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-01-2014-0019
Sharrieff, M., (2015) Small business models & organizational structure, Compare organizational structure types, retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/compare-organizational-structure-types-1763.html.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (2015) Our Story, retrieved from http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/