Organizational Structure

In business organizational structure means the relationship between position and people who hold these positions.

The structure of organizations varies greatly according to the nature of the business. There are several factors which influence this structure:

s the number of locations and employees

s the economic sector

s the type of a market in which they operate

s the type of customers

s the degree of management control required

s the complexity of the business activities

The company is run by a Board of Directors; each Director is in charge of a department. However, the Chairman of the Board, someone who wears many hats, is in overall control and may not be the head of any one department. The Board is responsible for policy decisions and strategy. The Managing Director (sometimes called the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or President in the USA) is the head of the company, who has overall responsibility for the running of the business. In the US, senior managers in charge of particular areas are often called vice-presidents (VPs).

Most companies have Finance, Sales, Marketing, Production, Research and Development (R& D) and Personnel Departments. These are the most common departments, but some companies have others as well.

Most departments have a Manager, who is in charge of its day–to-day running, and who reports to the Director; the Director is responsible for strategic planning and for making decisions. Various personnel in each department report to the Manager.

People at the head of an organization are often called senior executives or senior managers, top executives or top managers.

Exercises in Word Study

Ex.1. Form verbs from the following nouns:

location, employee, decision, organization, operation, management, activity, director, executive, development.

Ex.2. Give the English for:

структура організації, службовець, економічний сектор, клієнт, управлінський контроль, керувати компанією, рада директорів, голова правління, керівник компанії, відділ збуту, виробничий відділ, відділ кадрів, стратегічне планування, приймати рішення, персонал, підпорядковуватися менеджеру, займати посаду.

Ex.3. Match words from list A with words from list B that have a similar meaning:

Ex.4. Match the nouns in the left hand column with the verbs in the right hand column:

Ex.5. The words in the box frequently occur before “manager”.

Find combinations that mean:

1. a person in control of staff in one section of an organization;

2. a person in control of staff but under the authority of a manager;

3. a person in control of the manufacturing process;

4. a person in control of the design and quality of goods made by a company;

5. a person who is at the head of an organization;

6. a person responsible for the sales staff and their work;

7. a person responsible for recruiting and training employees and dealing with their problems.

Ex.6. Look at the words and phrases in the box. Match them with the correct definition from the list below:

1. the place where something is located;

2. a person who works for another person, business or government;

3. a person who buys something from a shop, pays for a service or orders something from a company;

4. a group of directors who are responsible for running a company and usually have legal responsibilities to it;

5. a company director who is responsible for the day-to-day running of a company;

6. the chief officer of a company who is responsible for deciding and carrying out company policy;

7. a person in charge of a department;

8. the people employed by an organization; the staff;

9. people at the head of an organization;

Ex.7. A department can be involved in a number of activities. The following diagram shows some very commonly used verbs to talk about these activities. Study the diagram, consult your dictionary and translate these verbs into Ukrainian. Make up sentences with them.

Ex.8. Write the appropriate word or phrase in the following spaces. Translate the sentences into Ukrainian:

1. She is … of this company.

2. Our company treats its … well with fast service and good products.

3. … is discussing the annual pay rise.

4. She is … the new project.

5. She is … of the finance committee.

6. My partner takes care of the … operations of the company.

7. He … a quick decision to buy the TV.

8. Training courses are provided for all company ….

9. She … directly to the company’s president.

10. New staff should report to the ….

11. … is responsible for making policy decisions.

12. Another title for the managing director is the … or the … in the USA.