University

 of  Djillali  Liabes  

Faculty  of  Economics,  Commerce  and  Management                    
Department  of  Economics  
Master  1  Audit  and  Corporate  finance  
Dr.  Nassima  Kaïd  
2019/2020  
 
 
Company  Structure  
 
Course  description:  
In   this   lesson,   students   will   learn   about   the   main   organizational   structures   of  
businesses.   After   the   completion   of   the   lesson,   Students   will   be   asked   to   create  
organizational  charts  for  corporations  of  their  own  choice.  
 
Every business, from a sole trader to the corporation, is organized in a particular
way. It helps determine the assignment and coordination of roles, power and
responsibilities within a business. It also defines how information flows between the
different levels of management. Most organizations have a hierarchical or pyramidal
structure, with one person or a group of people at the top, and an increasing number of
people below them at each successive level. There is a clear line or chain of command
running down the pyramid. All the people in the organization know what decisions they
are able to make, who their superior is, and who their immediate subordinates are. This
is known as the Line structure.
Some people in an organization have colleagues who help them: for instance,
there might be an Assistant to the Marketing Manager. This is known as a staff position:
its holder has no line authority, and is not integrated into the chain of command, unlike,
for example, the Assistant Marketing Manager, who is number two in the marketing
department.
Yet the activities of most companies are too complicated to be organized in a
single hierarchy. Today, most large manufacturing organizations have a functional
structure in which employees are grouped according to their roles or functions. This
means, for example, that the production and marketing departments cannot take financial
decisions without consulting the finance department.
 Another type of organization is the matrix management in which people report
to more than one superior. This type is set up in a grid or a matrix. For example, a
product manager with an idea might be able to deal directly with managers responsible
for a certain market segment and for a geographical region, as well as the managers
responsible for the traditional functions of finance, sales and production. This is one way
of keeping authority at lower levels, but it is not necessarily a very efficient.

Exercise 01: Match the appropriate structure to the types below

line structure matrix structure functional structure staff structure

A B C D

Exercise 02: What department does which job? Match each job from the column on
the left to a company department from the column on the right:
1. Puts the product into boxes? A. Training
2. Pays wages and salaries? B. Production
3. Plans how to promote products? C. Marketing
4. Has systems to prevent mistakes? D. Purchasing
5. Looks after the equipment? E. Personnel
6. Deals with complaints? F. Packaging
7. Manufactures the products? G. Sales
8. Sends invoices to customers? H. Accounts
9. Buys equipment? I. Payroll
10. Arranges credit facilities? J. Distribution
11. Helps staff develop new skills? K. Customer Service
12. Sends products to the customer? L. Financial Services
13. Buys media space? M. Quality
14. Recruits new staff? N. Advertising
15. Sends representatives to visit customers? O. Maintenance

Exercise 02: match the jobs/tasks on the left with the responsibilities on the right

 
1.  Accountant   a.  company,  a  person  or  a  country  that  provides  products  
or  materials  
 
2.  Executive  director   b.   owns   shares   in   a   company   and   gets   part   of   the  
company’s   profits   and   the   right   to   vote   on   how   the  
company  is  controlled.  
 
3.  Secretary   c.  someone  who  is  employed  to  do  office  work  like  typing  
letters,  answering  phone  calls,  etc.  
 
4.  Executive  secretary   d.   a   person   who   is   in   charge   of   the   department   that   deals  
with  the  computer  systems  in  a  company.  
 
5.  Director   e.   one   of   the   managers   who   leads   and   controls   a  
particular  department  in  a  company.  
 
6.  Executive  assistant   f.  inspects  a  company’s  accounts  once  a  year.  
 
7.  Shareholder   g.  a  person  who  supervises  the  managers.  
 
8.  Supplier   h.  a  person  who  examines  financial  records.  
 
9.  Auditor   i.  helps  an  executive  senior  manager  to  do  their  work.  
 
10.  Chief  Financial  Officer   j.  responsible  for  managing  the  financial  actions  of  a  
company.  
11.  Chief  Executive  Officer   k.   The   top   manager   in   a   company   who   has   the   greatest  
responsibility  and  makes  the  most  important  decisions.  
12.  Chief  Information  Officer   l.   a   secretary   in   an   organization   who   performs  
administrative  duties  for  people  in  senior  positions.  
13.  Chief  Operation  Officer   m.  invests  money  in  the  stock  market.  
 
14.  Chief  Strategy  Officer   n.   oversees   the   day-­‐to-­‐day   administrative   and  
operational  functions  of  a  business.  
15.  Investor   o.   develops   and   executes   strategies   to   accomplish  
financial  growth  in  a  company.