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The Four Major Types of Organizational Structures in Business

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The types of organizational structures in business are just as important as its products, marketing plan and long-term strategy. Businesses need a sturdy structure to attract and retain talented employees, as well as create a workable organizational hierarchy.

Typically, businesses choose from four types of organizational structure. Each comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Choosing the right one for your business is imperative because poor organizational structure leads to confusion among employees, poor decision-making among managers and, ultimately, less than ideal results for a business.

Students in Point Park University’s online Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership classes learn about management strategies and approaches to organizational design as part of a curriculum that prepares them for success as business leaders.

Picking The Right Organizational Structure

While there are variations, most companies are created based on one of the following four organizational structures. The goal for business leaders is picking the structure that works best for their particular situation.

Functional

A functional structure is the most traditional approach. It calls for grouping together people who do similar tasks based on their area of specialty. In other words, you’ll find all the accountants in finance and all the marketers in marketing. Managers led each area and report up to a director or executive who may oversee multiple departments.

The advantage here is clear: it provides those with similar abilities the ability to easily communicate and work on projects together. That’s also the reason this is the most popular business structure. The disadvantage is that teams may get “siloed,” unaware of what is happening in other areas of a company.

Divisional

In a divisional structure, people are grouped together based on the product or service they provide, not the work they do. For example, a large corporation such as General Electric has divisions for electronics, transportation, and aviation, each with its own team of accountants, marketers, etc. Global corporations may have divisions based on different geographic areas. On a smaller scale, a restaurant that also provides catering services may have separate divisions to oversee weddings, corporate events and business within the main restaurant.

Matrix

A matrix structure is a hybrid of the functional and divisional structures. It may involve employees reporting to different bosses depending on their current assignment. For example, a software design specialist may report to her boss in IT, but she’s also brought onto specific projects because of her expertise. When that happens, she will report to a different boss as long as that project continues.

The disadvantage is that employees may find it confusing to report to multiple bosses. But clear communication on priorities at all levels can eliminate these issues. The matrix structure requires a great deal of planning but can allow for the creation of the best possible teams to tackle the biggest challenges.

Flat

The flat structure dispenses with the usual hierarchy of a functional structure, decentralizing management and doing away with the need for middle manager bosses. Employees essentially act as their own boss, giving them the ability to communicate directly with peers on ideas and projects.

The advantage is a lot more freedom for employees, which requires a group of self-starters who don’t need managers checking up daily on their work. A flat structure is common in incubators and startups where the focus is on product and services design, not production or top-down management structures.

All four types of organizational structures in business can work well in the right situations. While most companies will choose from the functional or divisional approaches, a flat approach is becoming increasingly popular with modern companies.

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