Functional structure advantages and disadvantages

The functional organizational structure helps in achieving the benefits of specialization of work. Every functional in charge. Production of Workload. Executive Development.

In this article, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the functional structure , plus learn about other organizational structures in business. Organizations may choose from a number of common operating structures.

One popular structure is the functional organization. Each functional manager is able to report on his part of the project. In functional organizational structures, all the authority stays with the functional managers. Therefore the role of the project manager is very limited if he exists.

A functional organizational structure has a vertical and disconnected structure in which communication flows through the functional managers to the top management. See full list on projectcubicle. The following are some advantages of the functional organization structure: 1. This increases the performance of the team.

Employees are grouped by their skills.

The roles and responsibilities are specified. Each employee has a fixed job definition. This helps to prevent duplication of work. The reporting hierarchy is well defined and employees don’t have to report to multiple managers. The career paths are clear, the employees may be motivated to advance their careers.

Since there is a sense of job security, employees don’t move to another company. Communication and cooperation within the workgroup are strong. Since the employees are grouped by their knowledge and skills, competition may arise between them. Cooperation and communication between departments and units may be poor. Lack of teamwork and reduced flexibility may cause conflicts between departments and units.

If an organization gets larger, it will be difficult to manage and control. Departments may focus on their own goals rather than the organizational goal. Because of the strong hierarchy and delays may occur in decision making. Inside a department, employees know all the things but outside their department, they have limited knowledge which may cause problems.

When the employees become expert and more skilled in their departments, they will cost more. A high skilled employee means a high cost. Adaptation to changes is difficult in a fu. Also, the functional organizational structure suits best to the projects which require deep knowledge.

For example, the expertise of the department is very important for a research and development project.

Reporting hierarchy is clear in this structure. The type of organization is determinant on your role, career growth path, responsibilities, reporting system, and working culture. This type of organization is suitable for smaller companies or companies that focus on a standard product or service. When the company gets larger, a matrix organization structure will be suitable. The project manager’s role is very limited and the department manager’ s role is significant.

Unlike other organizational structures, a functional organizational structure gives a static role. You report to the functional manager in this structure while in other types of structures you may report to multiple managers. Note that this is one of the most important topics for the PMP CertificationExam.

You may encounter a few questions related to the topic. There are several advantages and disadvantages of adopting. What does functional structure mean? What are the advantages of functional organization? Here are the major disadvantages you must consider: Create Your Own Org Charts!

It will lead to poor communication and coordination across functional units. Another disadvantage of functional organization structure is that these functional groups may not be able to communicate more often which decreases flexibility and innovation. When a company uses this type of structure, it groups its people according to their knowledge and skills which help them become specialists on that field. This will reduce communication channels.

The work can be quite one dimensional. After a while, the employees may start feeling monotony or boredom. The lack of new challenges can make them unenthusiastic for the job at hand.

In this structure , the manager must take care of the appraisal system. Also learn about its advantages and disadvantages ! The organizational structure can be classified under following two types: ADVERTISEMENTS: 1. Functional Structure 2. You can easily access the experts you need because they are in the same functional area. Each department can be staffed by experts in that functional area. Coordination of activates within the departments is easy. Disadvantages of functional departmentalization.

Decision making becomes slower and more bureaucratic. De-emphasis of overall company objectives. Accountability and performance become increasingly difficult to monitor.