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Organizational Structures: Functional, Service Line, Matrix, & Flat

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Institution

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Introduction

An effective organizational structure is critical to the sustainability of any business.

Structures regulate not just the multiplicity of activities and procedures to achieve organizational

goals. However, they also considerably impact who has the power inside an organization. An

organization's structure considerably influences how information flows through and across its

levels. Among the numerous possible acts are establishing rules, providing employment, and

carrying out duties. It is also the structure's role to control the flow of information between

departments and levels. Only a few of the many fundamentally different organizational structures

possible include functional, service line, matrix, and flat structures. Organizations, at their

discretion, may use these frameworks.

Functional Organizational Structure

Employees in a functional organizational structure are assigned jobs that utilize their

expertise and experience. The corporation's organizational structure is vertical, with various

specialized departments reporting directly to senior management (Akhmetshin et al., 2018). Each

organizational level is often liable for a certain item, product, or service and is handled by a

single individual. Marketing, information technology, research and development, and product

quality assurance are examples of departments or functional units. This is an example of a format

that would be applicable in my current workplace:

Functional
CEO

Human Accounting Administration Sales Manager

Resource Manager
Manager
Manager
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Service Line

The departmental organizational structure is a modernized version of the previous

functional organizational structure that focuses on internal resource management and strategic

planning. The service line organizational structure is less hierarchical and more horizontal than

the functional organizational structure, allowing businesses to be divided into more manageable

pieces (Mosca et al., 2021). Customers are happier when firms, as a consequence of simplified

organizational structures, emphasize meeting their needs more. Furthermore, there are often few

defined reporting methods inside firms. This is particularly obvious given that the structure

serves fewer tasks. The underlying structure may look like this:

General Manager

Production Finance
Marketing
Manager Manager
Manger

Sales Officer

Sales Person

Matrix Organizational Structure

Workers in a matrix organization are distributed over various teams based on the tasks

being done at any given time. Employees often report to the functional manager in charge of the

division or department and the project manager or product manager in charge of the project. The

functional manager's role is to ensure that everyone on the team knows what needs to be done

first and to assess completed work to guarantee that the projects are on schedule (Akhmetshin et

al., 2018). On the other hand, the product/project manager is responsible for leading operations
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from the standpoint of the company's product offerings, and divisions cooperate cross-

functionally rather than hierarchically. The structure has piqued the attention of many people

because it promotes open communication, boosts workplace flexibility and dynamism, and

reallocates resources to where they are most needed. An example of a matrix organizational chart

is shown below:

Matrix

CEO

Vice president Innovation Vice president production Vice president sales

Project lead A Engineer Designer

Designer

Project Lead B Engineer Designer

Designer

Flat Organizational Structure

A flat organizational structure has few or no managerial layers. Workers and supervisors

may form strong connections because of the absence of seniority, and the organizational

structure fosters greater autonomy, responsibility, and independence for all employees (Mosca et

al., 2021). The main benefit of this structure is that employees are given greater decision-making
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autonomy. Most organizations start with a flatter organizational structure before transitioning to

a more traditional, hierarchical one. Here's an example of a flat structure:

Manager

Employee Employee Employee Employee

Mission Statements and Rationale

Functional

Mission: To inspire to achieve the best

Rationale: Most organizations with a functional structure can afford a full mission statement

since they are well-established and expanding.

Service Line

Mission: Provide the best experience ever.

Rationale: This is since a service-oriented company, such as a meal delivery service, is more

likely to have a defined goal that emphasizes the reliability and punctuality of its delivery

services.

Matrix

Mission: By using best practices, we can create a consistent approach to project management.

Rationale: A matrix organization's high degree of interconnection between divisions generates a

sense of community among workers. This becomes further apparent when considering the need

for tight staff cooperation.

Flat

Mission: To increase workplace retention and employee motivation

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Rationale: This is OK since it may be utilized by a business whose owners want to promote their

company as innovatively.

The organizational structures of a corporation determine who does what, who has

authority over what, and how things are done. As a result, the structure of an organization is

critical to its success. There are numerous organizational structures available for a new business,

but choosing the best one is critical since it will significantly impact the company's future

success. The four most common organizational structures are flat, matrix, functional, and

service, line models. The functional structure of an organization has been employed the most and

for the longest time. A separate organization has been established, with different duties and

divisions at various levels. While matrix and service line organizational models focus on projects

and human resource management, flat organizational structures are designed to decrease

seniority.
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References

Mosca, L., Gianecchini, M., & Campagnolo, D. (2021). Organizational life cycle models: a

design perspective. Journal of Organization Design, 10(1), 3-18.

Akhmetshin, E. M., Vasilev, V. L., Mironov, D. S., Zatsarinnaya, Е. I., Romanova, M. V., &

Yumashev, A. V. (2018). Internal control system in enterprise management: Analysis and

interaction matrices.