Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril
Oscar Wilde, English writer
STARTING UP
A. What is a structure in general? Try to give a definition.
B. Choose the main components of a structure:
| · Responsibilities · People · Conceptions · Ideas | · Links · Mechanisms · Parts · Constructions |
C. Company structure is often described in an organization chart or organigram, a simplified diagram showing areas of responsibility for key personnel.
What can be included into an organization chart?
D. Use the words below to create the management structure of a typical company:
| · Managing Director (or Chief Executive Officer) · Senior management | · Middle management · Board of Directors |
E. Why is it vital to see clearly a company structure? Give your reasons.
VOCABULARY
We can describe a company in terms of:
· hierarchy
· responsibilities/functions
· titles
· affiliates
· structure
Hierarchy
1. Romford Engineering is a public limited company and its shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange. The chart below shows the lines of communication and command between the company’s senior officials.
The company is headed by the Managing Director (MD) and Chairperson.
The Marketing Director reports to the MD.
The Marketing Director is under the MD.
The Marketing Director is accountable to the MD.
The Marketing Director is supported byan Overseas Sales Manager.
The Marketing Director is assisted bya Market Research Manager.
2. After studying the chart answer the following questions:
a) From whom do the Marketing Director, the Production Manager, the Personnel Manager and the Financial Manager in other words the Departmental Heads take their orders?
b) From whom do the Line Managers and the Chief Engineer take orders?
c) If the Managing Director and the Production Manager had a meeting, what do you think they might discuss?
d) How many executive directors are there in Romford Engineering?
e) If the Computing Manager was sending information to the Managing Director, should he send it through the Financial Director? Why?
f) How many immediate subordinates does each of the Departmental Heads have?
g) In what circumstances do you think the Marketing Director and the Production Manager might have conflicting interests?
h) Would you expect the Chief Engineer to be paid more or less than the Production Manager? Why?
i) What sort of work would you expect the Wages Officer to do?
j) If there was a dispute between one of the line managers and the Chief Engineer, how would you expect it to be settled?
k) If there was a dispute between the Marketing Director and the Financial Director, how would you expect it to be settled?
3. The illustration below shows the organization of KAF Inc. Study the organization chart and complete the paragraph which follows, using the correct form of words or phrases from the box.
KAF Inc. is a building materials manufacturing company in Detroit. KAF _________ the Chief Executive Officer, _______________ the Board of Directors, which ___________ four people. The staff in each of the four departments ___________ a Vice-President who is also on the Board. In each department a managerial team of directors ______________ the Vice-President. In the Sales Department one director _______________ exports, the other _____________ domestic sales.
| be responsible for be in charge of be supported by assist be accountable to consist of be headed by |
Responsibilities/functions
The Controller is responsible for accounting throughout the company.
The Production Department takes care of product manufacturing.
The Factory Manager is in charge of plant and equipment.
4. Study the diagram below showing the structure of a mixed type of multinational company based in the USA: some activities are organized into domestic, regional and international divisions, others into worldwide product divisions.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
| Domestic Telecom-munications Division | Domestic Business Systems Division | Worldwide Defence Systems Division | Pacific Division (Telecom-munications and Business Systems) | International Division (Telecom-munications and Business Systems other than in the Pacific region) | Corporate Staff (Corporate Planning etc.) |
5. In pairs, write questions and answers using to be responsible for, to take care of, to be in charge of.
Example Who’s responsible for Business Systems in the Pacific? The Pacific Division takes care of that.
· Corporate Planning _______________________________________________________________
· Defence Systems in Africa _________________________________________________________
· Telecommunications in the USA ____________________________________________________
· Business Systems in Europe ________________________________________________________
· Telecommunications in SE Asia _____________________________________________________
Titles
 |
Below are the main managerial titles.
Managers and executives: UK
All the directors together are the board. They meet in the boardroom.
Non-executive directors are not managers of the company; they are outsiders, often directors of other companies who have particular knowledge of the industry or of particular areas.
The marketing director is the head of marketing, the IТ director is the head of IT, etc. These people heador head up their departments. Informally, the head of an activity, a department or an organization is its boss.
An executive or, informally, an exec, is usually a manager at quite a high level (for example, a senior executive). But 'executive' can be used in other contexts to suggest luxury, as in 'executive coach' and 'executive home', even for things that are not actually used by executives.
Managers and executives: US
In the US, the top position may be that of chairman, chairwoman or president. This job is often combined with the position of chief executive officer or CEO. Some companies have a chief operating officer to take care of the day-to-day running of the company. The finance director may be called the chief financial officer.
In the US, senior managers in charge of particular areas are often called vice presidents (VPs).
6. Look at the managers listed in Managers and executives: UK. Match each task (a-f) to the managers most likely to be responsible for doing it.
a. Meet with advertising agency to discuss new advertisements for the company's holidays.
b. Study possible new holiday destinations in detail.
c. See the research director to discuss new holiday destinations.
d. Contact newspapers to advertise new jobs.
e. Deal with complaints from customers.
f. Discuss sales figures with sales team.
7. Who's who on this company board? Look at Managers and executives: US and complete the diagram.
| Montebello | Non-executive director |
| Dawes |
8. Which of the following people are likely to be on the board of directors of a company?
| · company secretary · non-executive directors | · CEO · managers | · executive directors · members of staff |
9. Use the terms in the box to complete the paragraph
| board of directors board senior executives chief executive officer managing director company secretary chair |
People at the head of an organization are ____________________ or senior managers. The _______________ is the person who has overall responsibility for the day-to-day running of an organization. In the case of a limited company the CEO is normally the __________________ , appointed by the ___________________ on the authority of its members. The same person is usually the __________________ of meetings of the _______________________ , i.e. the people who are legally responsible for a company. The person responsible for keeping the minutes of board meetings is the _________________.
10. Match each of the titles to the correct definition.
Director Executive director Non-executive director Board of directors
ü A company director with a seat on the board who is also a salaried employee of the company, and actively involved in the running of the company.
ü A director with a seat on the board who is not a working employee of the company, sometimes brought onto the board for his or her specialist knowledge. He or she takes no part in the running of the company.
ü The management committee of a limited company, the members of which are appointed by the shareholders whose interests they represent. They meet under the company chairman to decide on major policy matters and the appointment of key managers.
ü A person who is appointed an elected officer of the company at the annual general meeting (AGM) and manages the company on behalf of the shareholders. He or she acts by resolutions made at meetings of the board.
Affiliates
Rossoman International
| Rossomon France | Rossomon Germany | Rossomon Japan |
Rossomon International is the parent company.
Rossomon France, Rossomon Germany and Rossomon Japan are subsidiaries.
Structure
11. Below are departments that may be within a company. Find Russian equivalents.
| · Sales & Marketing ………………………………………………….. · Research & Development (R&D) …………………………………………………. · Production …………………………………………………. · Distribution …………………………………………………. · Finance ………………………………………………….. · Customer Services …………………………………………………. · Quality Control ……………………………………………......... | · Legal ………………………………………………….. · Accounts ………………………………………………….. · Personnel/Human Resources (HR) ………………………………………………….. · Purchasing ………………………………………………….. · Maintenance ………………………………………………….. · Information Technology (IT) ………………………………………………….. · Public Relations (PR) ………………………………………………….. |
12. In pairs, study the organization chart above.
 |
13. Which departments in the box are responsible for the activities below?
| Production PR Purchasing HR Accounts R&D Quality Control Sales & Marketing Legal |
a. Paying invoices and setting budgets _________________________
b. Recruiting staff ___________________________
c. Testing new products _____________________
d. Checking the standard of finished products _________________________
e. Increasing the number of clients _______________________
f. Running the factory ___________________________
READING
A. Look at the photos. Which departments of a company do they represent?
B. Someone is giving a visitor a tour of a company. Read about the nine departments and match the pictures with four of the paragraphs. Then complete the text with the names of departments.
OK, let’s start here, in _________________, or ______. This department is responsible for thinking of ideas for new products and finding ways to improve our existing products …
This department looks after our computer equipment. They deal with any problems. This is ______________________, or _______...
_________________ buys all the things we need to make our products. They talk to our suppliers and try to get the best price ...
This is the main factory area, the ____________________. Here we make our products. It's the biggest part of the company...
Here in the ______________________, they check how much the company is making and decide how much to spend. They also pay employees' salaries ...
This department looks after the people who work here. ___________________ is responsible for recruiting new employees, organizing training and helping with any problems ...
______________________ is very important. The marketing people think up the ideas for selling our products. The sales people go out and sell our products to our customers ...
_________________________ processes orders from customers. It organizes transportation, checks that customers have received their orders and deals with complaints ...
Finally, ____________________ is responsible for transporting our products. They receive orders from customer services, and plan how and when to transport the products so the customers receive them at the right time...
C. If you work draw an organigram of your organization.
If you don’t work draw an organigram of a famous company. Use the Internet.
LISTENING
A. Listen to seven people talking about their work and decide which department each one works for.
B. You are going to hear a presentation about the company structure of PMP, a company which manufactures security doors and gates. Listen and complete the organization chart below.
C. Listen to the presentation again and match 1-5 to a-e to form sentences.
| 1) Laura is responsible 2) Dr Karl Cooper is in charge 3) There are seven people 4) Sales & Marketing are part 5) The Main Board is responsible to | a) the shareholders. b) of the Commercial Division. c) of Production. d) for the Commercial Division. e) on the Main Board. |
D. Complete the sentences using a preposition: into, for, of, to, for, in.
· Dr Karl Cooper is in charge … the Production Department.
· 395 people work … PMP.
· The Commercial Division is responsible … advertising and promotion.
· The market is divided … three regions.
· The head of the Accounts Department reports … Jane Figgis.
· Mike Saunders works … the HR Department.
E. Below is part of the structure of a company. It is a medium-sized subsidiary of a UK parent company.
 |
Members of the Group Internal Audit team is visiting your firm. You will hear a series of questions, and you must help the auditors by answering their questions.
Example You hear: I have a question about the company’s sales budget.
You reply: You’ll have to see the sales people about that.