LECTURE 1

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES

Lect. Dr. Sorina Chiper

Lect. Dr. Anca Irina Cecal
UAIC, FEAA
Objectives
 To acquire basic knowledge of organisational
structures
 To be able to distinguish between several

types of managers
 To acquire specific vocabulary
 To practice modal verbs
I. Types of organisational structures
 Formal structure
– organisational
chart
 Informal

structure –
human relations
1. Functional / line structure

 Used by start-ups and traditional companies

 Each department specialises in its own field
 Advantage: clear structure, everybody knows

who they should report to and who their line

manager is
 Disadvantage: there is little chance for people

in a department to experience other types of

work
2. Divisional structure

 Suitable for international companies

 Advantages: it allows the company to organise its

structure around regions, customers and products

 There is more specialisation, flexibility and speed of
reaction to changes
 There is delegation of responsibility from the head
office to individual regions, and decisions are made
locally
 Disadvantage: each part of the structure
(department) can occur several times within the
company
3. Matrix structure

 It combines some features of functional

organisation and divisional organisation:
 -traditional hierarchy of the line structure
 - more fluid management structure
 Disadvantage: - no obvious division of labor

(people have responsibilities in different

areas)
 -There can be a conflict of interest and the

chain of command may not be clear

II. Types of managers (1)

 Functional manager - has management

authority over an organizational unit—such
as a department—within a business,
company, or other organization.
 Project manager - has the responsibility of

the planning, procurement and execution of

a project, in any undertaking that has a
defined scope, defined start and a defined
finish; regardless of industry
II. Types of managers (2)

 Top manager - member of the senior, top-

level management of the organization (CEO,
COO, CFO)
 Middle manager - manager in an

organization at a level between senior and

junior managers
 Lower (line) manager - manages employees

who are directly involved in the production or

delivery of products, goods and/or services
II. Types of managers (3)

 Division manager - oversees a wide range of

personnel and job functions, with large
organizational responsibility while reporting to
a vice president, general manager or controller
 Senior accounts manager -  has a key part of a
company's sales team, whose job is to meet
sales goals; he /she is responsible for
developing relationships with clients to
acquire new business and network with
existing customers to retain their business
III. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY (1)

 Responsible to vs responsible for

 + TO - when you are naming the person or

group of people to whom you have a duty:

 E.g. The company president is responsible to

the Board of Directors.

 We are responsible to our clients.
 + FOR - when you are naming a task that a

person or group has to carry out:

 E.g. We are responsible for the program.

 Marian is responsible for overseeing the project.

III. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY (2)
 Customer-facing = dealing directly with customers
e.g. Customer-facing staff play a vital role in the
experiences consumers have with a certain company.
 Liaise = to establish and maintain communication for

mutual understanding and cooperation

e.g. In his new position, he has to liaise extensively with
consultants and accountants on a daily basis.
 Worldwide = global/globally

e.g. We distribute worldwide through 34,234 stores on

all continents.
III. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY (3)
 Strain = pressure
e.g. I have been under so much strain recently
because I had to find a new job and a new house.
 Disperse - to cause to become spread widely
 e.g. The General ordered the troops to disperse

over the valley.

 - to cause to evaporate or vanish
 e.g. The CEO’s statement on the radio

dispersed all rumors of the company’s possible

bankruptcy.
III. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY (4)
 to pull out = to leave, to depart, to withdraw
 e.g. Because of the Corona virus, many companies
have pulled out of China.
 on call = ready to respond to a summons or
command
 e.g. Who is the doctor on call in the Emergency
ward tonight?
 to brief: to give someone instructions or
information about what they should do or say
 e.g. The interpreter was briefed by the lawyer
about how she should behave during the trial.
III. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY (5)
 to debrief:  to interrogate (someone, such as
a pilot) usually upon return (as from a
mission) in order to obtain useful
information; to carefully review upon
completion
 e.g. At the end of the project, we had a

debriefing session, trying to see what went

well and what went wrong during the process
of completing it.
IV. FOCUS ON GRAMMAR: Modal
verbs
 To express possibility: can, could, may, might
 To express probability: must
 To express certainty: will
 + short infinitive (main verb/auxiliary verb)
 Do not take ”s” in the 3rd person
 Interrogative form: inversion: modal verb +

subject+verb
 Negative form: subject+ modal verb+NOT
Examples
 You can apply for a scholarship for the
summer school if your English is good and
you are motivated to study.
 I am sorry I could not come earlier, I was

caught up in traffic.
 May I borrow your car for the weekend?
 I might be able to join the Skype session if I

have good internet connection in my hotel.

 After rehearsing the presentation for so long,

you must know it by heart now.