Describe how two businesses are organised

In the following report I will describe how both Tesco and the NHS are organised as they are 2 organisations that are very different as one is a for profit organisation which has private owners and one is a public service which is owned by the British tax payer and run by the government. Organisational Structure

There are many types of organisational structure which can be tall (have many layers of management with not many people on them), or flat (have not many layers of management with many people on each layer), the following are some examples of different types of ways that companies are structured: Geographical – When a firm is organised into geographical units that report to a central head office which administers the core functions such as planning and marketing. Product – Another structure which is organised by a specific product type. Each product group falls within the reporting structure of a manager and that person oversees everything related to that particular product line.

Functional – In a functional organisational structure, you will report to the functional manager, while in other types of structures, you will report to multiple bosses which could cause confusion. Matrix – A matrix organizational structure is a company structure in which the reporting relationships are set up as a matrix, rather than in the traditional hierarchy. In other words, employees have dual reporting relationships. Customer – Certain industries will organize by customer type. This is done in an effort to ensure specific customer expectations are met by a customised service approach in order to keep all customers happy. Tesco’s Hierarchical Structure

Tesco’s hierarchical structure has many layers as it is a tall hierarchical structure. The people at the top of the hierarchy are the ones who have the most power within the organisation, alternatively the ones at the bottom of the hierarchy are the ones with the least power. It is generally very large companies such as Tesco’s that have a hierarchical structure. A disadvantage of having a hierarchical structure is that information cannot be easily past form point a to point b as it has to go either up or down the hierarchical chain and as a result may get distorted in translation almost like in a game of Chinese whispers. Chain of Command

A chain of command within an organisation is the order in which power within the organisation is wielded from the top of the organisation to every level of employee within the span of control from the senior member of staff who gives the instruction. Tesco has got quite a long chain of command compared with other businesses as it is a very large organisation it has many layers of hierarchy which means if someone at the very bottom of the organisation has a message for the CEO it would have to go via many layers of management before it go there.

Functional Areas of Tesco’s

Finance – The finance department at Tesco is in charge of where all of the money is spent. It decides which other departments within Tesco should get what amount of money to make sure that every department within Tesco’s runs smoothly and efficiently as well as economically as possible, in order for Tesco’s to make the most amount of profit. HR – The HR department at Tesco is in charge of looking after its employee’s wellbeing, no matter how big or small the issue. As well as things like pay roll, hiring new staff or getting rid of staff as well as keeping on top of changes in tax laws. Operations – The operation management at Tesco is in place to make sure that Tesco’s are running at the highest level of efficiency possible. The reason operations management is in place at Tesco’s is so that they have the maximum possible profit levels. Sales and Marketing – The purpose of the marketing team at Tesco’s is find out what customers want in order to give it to them so they get as much business as possible even if it means losing out on profit margins by doing things such as sales promotions like BOGOF. The marketing team will then give the information that they have to the sales team in order for them to implement it in whichever way they see fit. Tesco’s Admin

Admin Manager – In charge of looking over the Admin team at Tesco’s and sorting out any problems they may have. IT Manager – In charge of sorting out all things to do with Tesco’s IT facilities and helping any other members of the IT staff at Tesco’s. PA/Secretarial Staff – Responsible for assisting Tesco’s senior managers. Admin Assistant – Assists with administration tasks within Tesco’s in selected areas.

Tesco’s IT

IT is probably the most rapidly changing thing that is happening with Tesco’s at the moment as well as many other businesses as new and better technologies become available which can make Tesco’s run more efficiently and ecomically as a business. The following are some examples of what the ITR systems and Tesco do: The management of the network

Creating access to the network for employees
Dealing with issues/queries
Setting up network services
Providing a help desk

Research and Development

Research and development is very important for Tesco’s as without it they would lag behind their rivals in what they could provide for their customers and risk losing their market share. As well as being very important for Tesco when it comes to expanding into new markets which is something Tesco have been very keen on doing in recent years. Customer Service

The following are a list of a few things that the customer service team at Tesco’s helps them achieve: Providing information to customers
Providing advice to customers
Providing credit facilities
Delivering goods
After sales service
The following are a list of job roles within Tesco’s customer service team: Customer manager – Responsible for overall customer service function and
staff within the department.

Technical manager – Responsible for all the technical services function and staff within the department.

Delivery manager – Responsible for overseeing the delivery and the delivery staff responsible for of all new goods sold from Tesco’s.

Customer assistant – Deals with customers face to face or on the phone and is also responsible for liaising with other staff on issues they may have with Tesco’s and then trying to sort them out.

Technical manager – Deals with customers who are experiencing technical difficulty and then tries to sort it out.

Without these people Tesco wouldn’t be able to provide good customer service to their customers as a result of which could lead them to losing business to their rivals.