Unit 3 AOS1- Management structures

[costargh]

I have a question.
In the Steve Barrile text book the divisional model is described as such

"In the divisional model, staff are organised in departments based on division. The likely divisions are: product, service, customers, geography, or type of legal business entity.
Eg. Manager compact disc sales
Manager MP3 Product sales
Manager DVD sales
Manager Electrical Equipment Sales"

but in A+ Notes it says this:

"The divisional structure has the same foundation as the Functional, but it takes it one step further. Each Functional area is further divided into sub-sections with a a manger in charge of each of these.
Eg.                  HUMAN RESROUCES MANAGER
Training manager         Payroll manager        Recruitment manager"
 

From what I can see, there seems to be some major differences between the way the Divisional structure/model is described. Can someone please make the distinction or clear this up for me?

[Noblesse]

My Cambridge Essential Business Management book says a divisions are (no mention of divisional model specifically):

Organisational departments or divisions
Divisions are a key component of any organisational structure. Organisations
group workers together according to any of the following
classifications:
• Function—departments are based on the function performed. Most
organisations, for instance, group employees into one of marketing,
operations, finance, and human resources departments.
• Geographic—departments are often created based on the location
of the employees. For example, an organisation may have state or
regional branches; a transnational business will have branches
based in different countries.
• Product-based division are based on the actual product produced by
that group of employees. A sporting goods manufacturer may, for
instance, have departments such as ‘Footwear’, ‘Clothing’, and
specific types of sports such as ‘AFL’, ‘Football’, ‘Tennis’, ‘Netball’.
• Customer-based divisions are those based on a type of customer
who has special requirements. For example, a car manufacturer
will have distinct retail and fleet sales departments.

[costargh]

ARGHHH that just made it even more confusing lol.

The Barille text book describes the Divisional model as being product-based as well as based on other things if necessary.

But the A+ way of describing it is way differnt and from what I can see in your notes, its not mentioned there.

It just seems to me as another level of management, a more vertical hierarchy.

[jsimmo]

I think they really mean the same thing, hence they are both correct.

Basically the perfect definition for a divisional model would be the one from A+ notes:

'The divisional structure has the same foundation as the Functional, but it takes it one step further. Each Functional area is further divided into sub-sections with a a manger in charge of each of these.'

In regards to the specific name of the divisional managers, it really depends on the type of organisation   - for example, those two examples give varied names (product, service, customers - compared to training, recruiting, payroll managers)


So basically, both books generally give the same fundamental idea of what the divisional model is all about - just with different divisional manager terms/labels.

[costargh]

Ahk. Sorta cleared up

Thanks

[Odette.]

Odette to the rescue!

Functional: A structure in which positions are grouped together according to their main functional (or specialised) area.
Divisional: A structure in which positions are grouped together according to similarity of products, services or markets.
Hybrid: A structure adopting both functional and divisional structures at the same management levels.
Hope that helps xD