 | The different functions need to work together and
cooperate in achieving the one mission or set of goals. One way to promote
this is through a mission statement: a written statement that summarises the
organisation's vision and values. |
| The term division is often used to refer to the
separation of key business functions into specialised departments.
|
| The achievement of business goals depends on
coordination through good management: planning, organising, leading and
controlling. |
| A strategic plan is a long-term, holistic plan that
requires the commitment of each of the key business functions, whereas an
operational plan is a short-term plan that helps a business manage and achieve
its long-term goals. |
| Planning involves looking forward to see whether the
business is currently doing what it needs to in order to achieve its market
potential. It then implements a strategy to fulfill its vision. Planning is
both long-term (strategic) and short-term (operational). It involves setting
targets and goals, setting time frames to achieve them, prioritising
activities, suggesting resource allocation and defining parameters.
|
| Organising involves allocating resources, determining
the organisational design, assigning work to employees and setting channels of
communication. |
| Controlling involves reviewing actions undertaken,
creating performance reports, accounting for variations between planned and
actual performance and suggesting new parameters. |
| Organisational structures can be:
 | Functional: activities or operations are organised
according to key functions and geographic factors. |
| Market: design is based around markets or consumers.
|
|
| Key terms in relation to organisational structures:
| Division of labour: the separation of power that
occurs within organisations on the basis of responsibility and expertise. It
may be a function of hierarchy due to business structure, status due to
position, skill, education or experience. |
| Span of control: the number of people for whom a
manager is directly responsible as well as the ratio of managers to
subordinates across successive layers in an organisation. |
| Downsizing: the trend in business to reduce labour
and encourage more flexible skills in their remaining workforce. Employees
are now expected to have a broader range of skills than ever before and are
becoming more autonomous or responsible for the work they do. |
| Chain of command: the flow of authority from senior
management down to supervisors and then workers. |
|
| Traditional organisations tend to be less flexible than
new and emerging organsiational structure which aim to be more fluid and
responsive to changes in the external business environment. |
| Synergy means that the 'whole is greater than the sum
of the parts'. When everyone is working together the goals achieved will be
greater than the goals achieved if each department works in isolation.
|
