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Organizational structures

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Organizational structures

There are various types of organizational structures that an individual can pursue. An

organization structure can be tall whereby there are several tiers between the company owner and

entry level workers. Also, organizational structures can be fairly flat whereby few levels are

bringing a distinction between the top and the bottom. Depending on an individual`s goals, the

structure of pay and work division they can have a closer relation to one structure than the other

(Gebauer, Puetz, Fischer & Fleisch, 2009). Almost all the modern companies both international

and local employ the use of organizational structures for better operations. One of them is

Starbuck Coffee Company. The organization is the world`s largest chain of a coffeehouse. The

industry leadership of the firm is partially attributed to the wellness of its organizational model.

An association` organizational structure has an influence on management, change,

communication and other elements that are significant to the success of the company. Starbucks

has undergone evolution to have an organizational structure that is relevant to the current needs

of business (Meyer, 2017). The corporate model is something unique to the Starbucks though it

can be marked by an organizational structure`s traditional typology. Starbucks has been

successful due to the growth of the business with the organization chart. It has made the

organization to maximize processes and the quality of its services and goods. This paper

describes the four common organizational models or structures used by international businesses,

for instance, the Starbucks.

Global product organizational structure

This a form of organizational structure whereby a company is organized by a particular

type of product. Every group of a product falls within an executive`s reporting structure, and that

individual oversees everything that is related to the particular line of product. Kraft products, for
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example, would have the responsibility for each product that falls under the label including

sauces, dressing, and meats among others. This type of structure`s advantage is that it results in

the organization of products according to category while at the same time it can create a different

process from another line of goods within the company.

Starbuck is one of the international companies that employ goods-based units in its

organizational model. The units address lines of products. For instance, Starbucks possesses as a

unit that is meant for coffee and other products related to it, another for goods that are baked and

lastly one for merchandise such as mugs. This firm`s characteristic of the organizational model

makes it possible for the company to concentrate on given lines of product (Meyer, 2017).

Through this way, Starbucks in an efficient manner delivers its goods with aid from its

organizational model.

Area organizational structure

It is sometimes critical for a company to organize its structure according to the region if

the organization covers a wide area. The principal purpose of area organizational structure is

supported logistical demands. It also supports variations in geographic client needs. An area

organizational structure reports up to an oversight individual who is at the center. This type of

structure is common the organizations that have expanded their presence beyond a state or city

limit. In most cases, they have clients in multiple states or all across the nation.

The organizational structure of Starbucks Coffee involves area division. Currently the

organization three divisions of the region for the world market. They include one, Asia-Pacific

and China, two, Europe, Africa and Russia and lastly three Americas. Also, in the United States

market, the organizational model of Starbucks Coffee includes further area divisions that include

Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Western. In every area unit, there is a senior vice president.
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Through this structure, every manager working with Starbucks takes the report to two superiors.

The two superiors are the geographic head and the functional head. An example of the

geographic leader is the President of the United States Operations while the working head is the

Corporate Human Resource Manager. The feature of the organizational model of Starbucks

Coffee gives support to closer managerial assistance for geographic requirements. Every division

is provided with a high flexibility degree in making adjustments to policies and strategies to suit

particular conditions of the market.

Functional organizational structures

They are the most common in many companies both internationally and locally. This type

of corporate model puts individuals into groups by the specific functions that they carry out. The

departments that are common for example human resources, purchasing and accounting are

organized through separation from each other and managing them independently. All the

managers of various functional areas for instance report to the vice president or one to one

director who is responsible for all the areas of operation. The benefits of this kind structure

included separations of functions by expertise. However, problems set at the moment every

department only concentrates on their work without offering to give support to the other

departments.

Starbucks Coffee is one of the international companies that uses functional organizational

model. It has a marketing department, Human Resource department, and a finance department.

The staff appears at the top levels of the organization chart of Starbucks Coffee for instance at

the headquarters of corporate. This feature has a relation with the hierarchy in Starbucks`

organizational model. The corporate department of Human Resource, for example, implements

policies that apply to all the cafes of Starbucks. The functional structure characteristic the
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company`s organizational model facilitates to down oversight and control with the Chief

Executive Officer at the top.

Customer organizational structure

Some companies organize themselves according to the type of clients (Gebauer &

Kowalkowski,2012). The primary goals for this sort of organizational model are to make sure the

company meets the expectations of customers through a customized service method.

A good example of this kind of structure is in healthcare. In this case, a patient who goes

to the hospital as an outpatient has very different requirements when compared to the patients

spending time in the health facility as an inpatient. An organizational structure that is customer

centered creates care that is customized for the patients. The benefit of this type of structure is

that it specializes in every group of clients’ requirements. It can, however, ignore the need for

different kinds of customers. Some of the health care facilities that employ this type of

organizational model include Fortis hospital in India, Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore and

Should ice hospital in Canada.

Conclusion

In conclusion, most companies use the four primary structures of the organization. Most

of them are international companies. One the most common global company employing the four

is the Starbuck Coffee Company. The organization is the world`s largest chain of a coffeehouse.

The industry leadership of the firm is partially attributed to the wellness of its organizational

structure. Global product organizational structure is a form of organizational structure whereby a

company is organized by a particular type of product. Area organizational structure involves a

group holding its structure according to a region. Functional organizational structures put

individuals into groups by the specific functions that they carry out. Customer organizational
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structure involves companies organizing themselves according to the type of clients they serve.

The primary goals customer organizational structure is to make sure the company meets the

expectations of clients through a customized service method.

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References

Gebauer, H., & Kowalkowski, C. (2012). Customer-focused and service-focused orientation in

organizational structures. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 27(7), 527-537.

Gebauer, H., Puetz, F., Fischer, T., & Fleisch, E. (2009). Service orientation of organizational

structures. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 8(2), 103-126.

Meyer, P. (2017). Starbucks Coffee Company’s Organizational Structure - Panmore Institute.

Panmore Institute. Retrieved 7 June 2017, from http://panmore.com/starbucks-coffee-

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