Organisations and

their structures
5.1 Theory: Organisational structures

Learning outcom es
■ Describe the three basic types of organisational structure.
■ Use collocations related to organisational structure.
■ Discuss problems and solutions related to reporting to two managers.

Introduction

Every com pany has two organisational

structures: the formal one is written on the charts;
the other is the everyday relationship of the m en
and w om en in the organisation. r>r>
Listening 1: Why do organisations need a structure?
Harold S. Geneen (former President and
CEO of International Telephone and
Telegraph Corp.) Professor Achim Weiand, lecturer in Human
Resources and Organisation at Neu-Ulm
University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

You are going to listen to an interview about organisational

structure. The speaker uses the example of a one-person
pizza restaurant to show why companies need organisational
structures.

1 Imagine that you want to start your own pizza restaurant as

a one-person business. What jobs would you have to do? Talk to
“I like to keep things simple.”
your partner and make a list.

Discuss the following questions. Example: cook

■ What does the cartoon tell you about the structure in this 2 Listen to the first part of the interview with Professor Achim
organisation? Weiand. Write down the jobs he mentions that are needed for
■ Would you prefer to work in a job where there is not much variety, a pizza restaurant. Then compare your list of jobs with the ones
but you can be a specialist in your work, or to work in a place that he mentions.
where you can work on a lot of different projects?
3 At the end of this part of the interview, Professor Achim
■ Would you preferto workforjust one manager, or have different
Weiand explains why company structures are necessary. If
managers who are responsible for different parts of your work?
necessary, listen again and complete the following sentence.
■ How can you tell if a person is organised in their work or studies?
■ How can companies help employees to organise their work? You have t o _______________________________________

4 6 5 ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR STRUCTURES

1 In the next part of the interview, Professor Achim Weiand 1 A number of terms are used to talk about organisational
describes three different types of organisational structure. Before structure. Match the following words and phrases to make
you listen, match the diagrams (1-3) with their types (a-c). collocations. There may be more than one possibility.

1 Headquarters 1 chain of a labour

2 conflict of b divisions
3 delegation of c responsibility
4 division of d command
5 line e for decision-making
6 organise f interest
7 regional g manager
8 responsibility h the company

G e nera l
M anager
2 Complete the text with collocations from e
All organisations need a structure to show how the management is
linked and who takes 1_________ The functional or line structure
is the most common form of structure for start-ups and traditional
companies. It has a very clear structure with everybody knowing
who they should report to and who their 2 _________ is. The levels
of hierarchy are very clearly defined in this structure: for example,
the HR Officer reports to the HR Manager who in turn reports to the
Chief Executive
Officer member of the board who is responsible for HR. Authority passes

Customer
down from the top through executives to managers and their
Financial Operation Business
Service
Controller
Manager
Manager Manager subordinates in a clear 3 _________
—Zi::...
Works Works
Planning Purchase
Manager Manager
Regional Marketing The divisional structure is more suitable for international companies,
Manager Manager Manager Manager
Site A Site B
as it enables them to 4 _________ around products, customers or
~~1
Regional
Logistics
Sales geographical areas. For example, there are different regulations in
Manager
Manager

a Functional or line structure different parts of the world, so it's more logical to have 5 _________
b Divisional structure who have expertise in these markets.The divisional structure is
c Matrix structure more flexible because there is a 6_________ from the head office to
individual regions and this allows decisions to be made locally.
2 Listen to Professor Achim Weiand describing functional or
line structure, divisional structure and matrix structure and The matrix structure lues to combine the benefits of the functional
answer the following questions. structure and divisional structure. On the one hand, there is the
traditional hierarchy of the line structure and on the other, there is a
Functional or line structure
more fluid management structure. One of the results of the matrix
1 What types of companies tend to use functional or line structure? structure is that there isn't such an obvious 7 _________ as people
2 Why would such an organisation not appeal to someone who have responsibilities in different areas. A problem of the matrix
wants to experience different types of work? structure is that there is often a 8 _________ when a manager may
have to react to demands and requests from several superiors.
Divisional structure
3 What are the advantages for a large company of using the
Intercultural analysis
divisional structure?
4 What disadvantage could there be? Do you agree with Harold Geneen's quote in the Introduction?
Can the everyday relationships in a company be very different
Matrix structure
from the official structure? In your culture, do people prefer
5 What structures does the matrix structure combine?
to have a close relationship with their manager and feel just
6 What problems can arise from reporting to two different
as important or should the manager be a strong leader who
departments in an organisation?
doesn't socialise with staff? What do you prefer?
Now discuss the answers to the questions about each type of
structure.

3 Look at the diagrams in exercise 1 again. Which type of

structure would you prefer to work in? Why?

5 ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR STRUCTURES 4 7

 Transferable skill: Organising new vocabulary Output: Discussing a matrix problem

1 It is important to have a strategy for learning new In Listening 2 Professor

vocabulary. In pairs, briefly discuss how you record and learn Achim Weiand referred to
new words and phrases. the conflicting demands
made on employees
2 Look at these three suggestions for recording vocabulary.
working within the matrix
Have you used any of them?
structure:

d iv is io n
y~ So there are
.
different conflicting
o f labour p a 3 d e /ie H u e
interests and this
mpyda
person has to report
to two people and
balance conflicting
responsible- t o \ demands. That's a
huge disadvantage of
the matrix structure. 99
Stage 1
Read about the problem of an employee who works in a matrix-
structured company and is in a very difficult situation with two
line managers.
Miranda works for a large multinational that produces clothes. She is
currently working on a project to produce women's clothes for sale
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ u ' ' ' * > > 1 1 1 { in S.E. Asia. Her project manager has told her that the line o f clothes
» - <«. - « « « « :: J.* ?: • - -
should be'sporty'and'young'since he has done a lot o f market research
on this and the results show that this is what will sell well. However,
hierarchy
Miranda's functional manager has told her that she should aim for
/'h a ia rfl:k i/
'elegant'and 'smart'clothing since this is the style which the brand is
In some o rg an isa tion s, th e lines o f hierarchy are very famous for. The functional manager is worried that if the company
clearly defined w ith th e CEO a t th e to p , th e m anagem ent produces'sporty' clothing, this may damage the brand's image.
below th a t, th e heads o f d e p a rtm e n t under th e m and so Miranda may also need to remember:
on down th e line. _ „_ ■ her functional manager decides on future pay rises and
prom otion in the company,
Tell the class about any more methods of recording vocabulary ■ her project manager has done the market research and this is a
that you know. Then discuss together the advantages and key project for the company,
disadvantages of these ideas. ■ the company has to think about its global image.

Stage 2
3 Look back at the vocabulary which was new to you in this
In pairs, make a list of the problems that may arise from
lesson. Do you want to record all of it? How do you decide what
this situation. Try to use some of the collocations from the
you want to learn? Mark in colour what you want or need to
Language focus.
learn. Then in pairs, discuss how you are going to record this.

4 Look at the following ways that can help you learn Stage 3
vocabulary. Which ones could / do you do? Now make suggestions for how this employee could solve the
problem.
■ explaining a diagram to a partner
■ saying the new words and phrases in your head (especially before I think she should ...
a situation when you know you will need them) It w ould be a good idea if she ...
■ creating your own sentences w ith the new vocabulary She could ...
■ rephrasing new vocabulary to a partner Work with another pair and compare your suggestions. Are
they realistic?
Now look at the new vocabulary in this lesson that you have
marked. Practise one of the ideas above with a partner.

4 8 5 ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR STRUCTURES

Learning outcom es
■ Talk about changing company structures.
• Use modal verbs to talk about future possibilities.
■ Present and discuss ideas for team -building w ithin a company.

Profile: Cisco Systems, Inc.

Reading 1: Background to Cisco's problem

1 Look at the following diagrams that show how Cisco changed

part of its organisational structure. What differences do you
Cisco was founded in 1984 by a small group of scientists
notice?
from Stanford University in the USA. Since then it has
grown into a major enterprise with 300 locations in 90 O ld Structure
r
countries. Cisco has 46 data centres and server rooms In te llig e n t N etw ork Services H Data Center Services and Support
supporting the 70,000-plus employees; 14 of the data
centres/server rooms are production or customer-facing Financial Operating
Architecture Financial
and 32 are used for product development. Cisco is a Support System
Support
Validation
worldwide leader in systems for the Internet.
Engineering
Engineering Data Center
and Operations Tool
Infrastructure
Introduction Development
and Technology
DMZ Engineering
Discuss the following questions.
and Operations
■ How well do you deal w ith change? How w ould you feel if you Unix/Linux Storage
Engineering Engineering
had to change your job, your home or the country you live in? and Operations and Operations
■ What was the last change that you had to deal with in your working
or study life? Were you happy about it? Windows
■ When companies change their organisational structure the Engineering
and Operations
following can happen:
- Staff may find themselves working in different teams.
New S tructure
- Staff m ight have a different manager.
- Staff m ight have to follow different rules. Prepare: 1 Design: a Operate:

- Staff could have more or less work. A rc h ite c tu re 1 t; 1 -

How would you deal w ith these changes at work?
Plan: B BS! Im plem ent: Optimise:
P ro gra m O ffice Im p le m e n ta tio n s Business O ffice
Language focus 1: Vocabulary for describing changing
structures
2 Now read the text about why Cisco made these changes and
Match the words 1- 7 with their definitions a-g.
answer the questions.
1 to implem ent a to have or make room for
1 What type o f structure did Cisco's Network and Data Center
2 duplication b to put a plan or system in operation
Services (NDCS) have in the past?
3 to accommodate c the good use o f tim e and resources
2 What were the regional network teams and regional voice teams
4 deployment d an exact copy o f something responsible for?
5 to handle e to deal w ith
3 What was one o f the main problems w ith the structure?
6 to disperse f to spread people across a large area
4 What did the NAIS report say m ight happen if Cisco's NDCS hadn't
7 efficiency g the m ovement o f people to other places
changed?
or departments, usually for a short tim e
5 ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR STRUCTURES 4 9
 Like most IT organisations of large enterprises
Cisco’s Network and Data Center Services
(NDCS) used a traditional divisional structure.
The original organisational model included Cisco Lifestyle
1 5 regional network teams and regional voice
M ethodology
teams that were responsible for all aspects of
im plem enting and operating their environments
and services. This led to a lot of duplication
across the organisation, which most employees
10 were unaware of.
5 The resulting organisational structure from the
Cisco IT’s NDCS organisation needed focus. lifecycle methodology was made up of the six
It asked Cisco Advanced Services’ Network key phases: Prepare, Plan, Design, Implement,
Availability Improvement Services organisation Operate and Optimise. Organisationally the
(NAIS) to identify the areas that needed to change involved moving some resources from
is be changed and how they could make these io the form e r Engineering and Operations teams to
changes. The result of the report that was the new Implementations team. This was a key
prepared showed John Manville, Vice President component of the restructuring and presented
of IT NDCS that ‘The Network and Data Center the o pportunity for the new Operations team
organisation could not accommodate the kind to focus on operations without worrying about
20 of growth and technology evolution that Cisco is deployments, which happened a lot in the old
and Cisco IT were expecting. The existing system. Also, other NDCS team members were
resources were not structured to support this, able to concentrate on their specific areas of
and there was significant duplication of work expertise. For example, before there was a single
and processes. These would likely be strained, Storage Engineering and Operations team,
25 possibly to the breaking point, with even a 20 which handled the implementation, operation
minim al amount of growth.' and design of storage. In the new organisation,
this storage team was dispersed into the
Implementation, Operations and Design teams.
Reading 2: The reorganisation of NDCS Jim Scaduto, service delivery executive, has
25 experienced a dram atic difference: ‘ Previously,
Read the second part of the text and decide if the following most NDCS personnel had to balance design,
statements are true or false. operational and architectural issues, which is
1 The w hole o f the Engineering team and the Operations team practically impossible. Now the design engineers
are now in the new implementations team. are less likely to be pulled out of meetings or
2 The new Operations team doesn't have to w orry about people
30 be on call after their regular work hours for
emergencies. Likewise, the Operations teams
being moved to other departments.
can concentrate on providing priority services
3 NDCS members in the new system use their expertise more now.
to the clients. Now we know exactly who has the
4 The storage team still all work in the same department.
focus and expertise in a specific area. I used
5 Jim Scaduto thinks that before the changes the NDCS team had 35 to have to invite several people to meetings
a very difficult job. because no one IT staff m ember had the
6 Design engineers now work more than their normal hours. specific expertise that was needed.’
7 It is now easier to know which individual has the necessary
The new organisational structure enables Cisco
expertise.
NDCS to look for new ways to improve efficiency
8 Experienced engineers don't need to train newer staff members. 40 in managing service support. Experienced
9 The NDCS will be able to find problems before they have an engineers are called to train newer staff
effect on the customer. members to handle incidents more quickly,
10 The staff have less tim e to talk to customers than before. which in turn reduces the impact time. Tools
are being created to identify problems before
45 they cause client impact. And the new structure
Manville’s solution was to restructure the NDCS has meant that staff have more tim e to talk to
to Cisco’s lifecycle business model, which was clients and help them with Cisco’s processes.
usually used by Cisco for customer network Overall, this change has increased awareness,
implementation. The model looked like this: communication and improved customer
so satisfaction.
Source: Organizational Change and Advanced Services for '
Operational Success, by Cisco Systems
5 0 5 ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR STRUCTURES
 6 Look back at the article about Cisco. What do you think will or
Critical analysis
will not happen after the reorganisation? Write one prediction
Why do you think many employees are often worried about for each of the prompts below with could, will, m ig ht and m a y
company restructuring? [not). Put each of your predictions in one of the three categories
below depending on how certain you are about your opinion.

Example:
Language focus 2: Modal verbs for possibility and a I'm quite certain: The reorganisation will probably lead to
probability redundancies.
1 Look at the things th at can happen when a company b I think it's possible: It may lead to redundancies.

restructures. Do you think they are likely? c I'm not very certain: The reorganisation might lead to
redundancies.
Some people could lose their jobs.
Staff may need training, in order to improve coordination between 1 Some m iddle m anagers/lose their jobs

departments. 2 The company / become more efficient

Managers m ight have problems w ith the changes in their roles. 3 Customer services/be improved

Staff w ill have a better relationship w ith customers. 4 The company / become more profitable
5 Communication between departments / be difficult
The underlined verbs are all modal verbs that say that
something is possible or probable. The modal verbs w ill and 7 Work in pairs or small groups and discuss the sentences you
could are more frequent than m a y and m ig h t in English. have written down. What other predictions can you make?

2 Look at these examples from business conversations and

Output: Team-building
answer the questions.
1 Which o f the sentences say or ask if something is possible? Stage 1

2 Which o f them say that something is probable? You all work for a big company which has reorganised its

3 Which o f them say that something is certain? departments.

a So, you m ight not be able to stop them. Work in two groups. Group A is responsible for team-building.

b Could the price be reduced if we buy more? Group B are employees in the company.

c We could just scan in the brochures we've got. Group A: turn to page 136.
d They will deliver it free o f charge, Group B: turn to page 141.
e They may go o ut o f stock,
Stage 2
f How m ight advertisers change the campaign?
Group A: give your presentation on the ideas you have
g That m ight be difficult to change,
discussed.
h Rachel's not very busy; she could do that,
Group B: listen and ask questions after the presentation.
i The new system will probably be very different from the old one.
Stage 3
3 Which of these rules about modal verbs are correct?
Discuss how you feel about the team-building exercises and
a Modal verbs always need a main verb or an auxiliary verb,
what other worries you have. Discuss the possibilities for the
b Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive w ith to.
future and try and make a plan for future training and team ­
c Modal verbs take an 's' in the third person singular (he/she/it).
building activities.
d To ask a question, you reverse the order o f the subject and the
modal verb,
e Use do not to make a modal verb negative.

4 Correct the incorrect rules from exercise 3.

5 Which modal verb expresses the most certainty? Which

expresses the least certainty? Add will, could, m a y and m ig ht to
the diagram below.

most certain least certain

5 ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR STRUCTURES 5 1

5.3 Skills: B riefing

Learning outcom es
■ Explain, check and clarify information.
■ Use language describing a range of job activities.
■ Brief somebody and actively respond to a briefing.

Introduction Listening: Informing a colleague

S3
1 Look at the dictionary definition of the verb to brief from the
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, then discuss the
1 You are going to hear a conversation from the Sales
questions below.
Department of an Internet Service Provider. Paul is the division
manager and Daniel's boss. Daniel is the new senior accounts
brief (GIVE INSTRUCTIONS) /briif/ verb [T] FORMAL to give manager. Paul is briefing Daniel about the department and his
someone instructions or information about what they should do
new job.
or say: We had already been briefed about/on what thejob would
entail. 1 How long do you think Daniel has w orked for the company?
How do you know?
1 What information does the dictionary give you about how to 2 What kind o f work will his jo b involve?
pronounce and use the word? 2 Listen again and answer these questions.
2 What do you think debrief means?
1 Has Daniel met everybody in the department?
3 Can you think o f situations w hich involve briefing (e.g. telling a
2 What three things is Daniel doing this week?
new employee w hat the main duties o f the jo b are)?
3 Is Daniel worried that the w ork will be too difficult? How do you
2 In a briefing situation, there are two roles: know?
■ the role o f the person w ho does the briefing 4 How many companies should Daniel contact?
■ the role o f the person being briefed. a 300 b 150 c 30?
What reasons does Paul give?
How are these roles different? What things are important for
5 How many action points should he get from his calls?
each person to do for the briefing to be successful? Discuss and
write your ideas in the table.

The person who does the The person being briefed

When you are briefing someone or are being briefed, you often
briefing
need to:
Give clear instructions... Listen carefully...
■ explain things
■ check or clarify information
■ show enthusiasm
■ be an active listener to show you understand, for example by
saying yeah, OK
■ use vague language w hen you are unsure o f information or
because you w ant to be polite.

1 Look at the following phrases for doing each of the things

above. Which of the expressions do Paul or Daniel use? Listen
again and tick ( / ) the ones that you hear.

5 2 5 ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR STRUCTURES

 1 Explaining organisational structure and procedures Language focus 2: Job activities

You need to ... □ You have to ... □ Match the verbs and nouns to create collocations describing
job activities. Some of these verbs can be matched with more
So w hat you're doing this So w hat you're doing this
week is finding o u t ... u week is you're going to ... u than one noun to form different collocations.

You should go into ... □ You can go into ... □ 1 attend

2 w ork in
a accommodation
b training sessions
I will go through that I will run through that 3 book c a budget
with you ... u w ith you ... □ 4 enter d business partners
2 Checking and clarifying 5 report to e a manager

Have you had a t o u r ...? □ Have you seen ...? □ 6 arrange

7 maximise
f
g
revenue
data
What I'm not sure about What I'm unsure about 8 liaise w ith h meetings
at the m om ent i s ... □ at the m om ent i s ... □ 9 manage i a team
Do you w ant me to ...? □ Should I ...? □ Output: Taking part in a briefing session
3 Showing enthusiasm

I'd like to get going as I'm keen to get going Stage 1

soon as possible. u as soon as possible. u Work in pairs.
Student A
4 Active listening
Think about the company you work for or an organisation
Sure. □ OK. □ that you know well. Decide what job you do in the company.
Yeah. □ Absolutely. □ Spend five minutes making notes on what information you

Great. □ Wonderful. □ would give to a new employee at your organisation. Think

about the company structure, rules, your job description and
5 Vague language
training opportunities. Make notes and try to use some of the
a bit o f □ a fair am ount o f □ vocabulary from the lesson.

kind of □ sort of □ Student B

and so forth □ etc. □ Spend five minutes thinking of questions to ask about Student
A's organisation. Think about the company structure, rules, your
job description and training opportunities. Make notes and try
2 Notice that Paul uses all the language for explaining, but that
to use some of the vocabulary from the lesson.
both speakers check and clarify things. Why do you think this is?
Stage 2
3 What about the other language: showing enthusiasm, active
Have the briefing session with Student A briefing Student B
listening, vague language?
about his or her organisation.
1 Which are used by just one speaker? Why?
2 Which are used by both? Why?

When answering the questions, think again about the roles

each of the speakers plays in this situation.

Critical analysis

1 How does Daniel take an active role in this situation?

2 Why?
3 When somebody briefs you, in your culture is it im portant to
react in a similar way?

S ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR STRUCTURES 5 3