Each entrepreneur, creating a company, should think about what kind of organizational structure will be inherent in his enterprise. It should be borne in mind that each employee must understand what department he works in, what is in his tasks and who is his manager. And the entrepreneur should not monitor the results of the work of each employee, but for those who are responsible for a particular job.
The organizational structure of management is the composition, subordination and interconnection of different units, as well as individual officials who perform the management functions assigned to them.
The management structure consists of links and steps. A link is a separate unit whose functions are strictly defined and limited. A step is a collection of links that are at the same level in the management hierarchy.
Organizational structures are of several types. The subject of today's discussion is a linear-functional structure.
Among the advantages of such a system are the following:
- professional and business specializations are stimulated;
- Increases the responsibility of the boss for the end result of managing the organization;
- the productivity of various types of labor increases;
- conditions and opportunities for career growth are created;
- not very difficult control over the activities of employees of all departments.
The linear-functional structure has the following disadvantages:
- the head of the company is fully responsible for making a profit;
- the coordination of actions between units becomes more complex;
- the process of making and implementing decisions slows down;
- there is no flexibility in the structure, since the basis of functioning is a set of different rules and principles.
The linear-functional control structure is a mixture of linear and functional systems, which absorbed the advantages of the first and second. It is formed according to the chess principle of specialization and construction in the management process. The linear-functional structure of the enterprise is formed by the type of activity where the divisions of the enterprise are created. And functional units are divided into even smaller ones that perform a certain range of tasks.
The linear-functional management structure is currently the most common and is used by small and medium enterprises. Basically, such firms are engaged in the production of a limited range of products and operate under stable external conditions. Large organizations use a divisional approach to management.
The linear-functional structure is based on system-forming relationships. Those here are vertical, among which linear (or main) and functional (or additional) are distinguished. Through the former, subordinates are managed. The head determines what tasks will be solved and by whom specifically. Through functional units of the highest level give instructions to subordinates.