Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Divya | Delivered October 11, 2019

Organization Structure

Goals

In order to help a current client restructure, provide some sample organizational structures for companies that have around 100 employees, making note of which industry the structure is suggested for. Additionally, provide the suggested number of employees per department and their suggested roles/job titles. 

Early Findings

We were unable to find any references to organizational structures for companies based on number of employees, other than the fact that flat structures should generally be reserved for only very small companies. 

Instead, we found that structures generally vary based on the type of work the company is going to do. We have provided some basic structures based on type of work below. 

Functional Organizational StructureA functional organizational structure is one of the most common types of structures. It consists of different departments organized by common job functions. 
Common departments include marketing, sales, services, and HR. 
It has the benefit of being easily scalable, but can also inhibit the growth of employees. 
Product-Based Divisional StructureA product-based divisional structure is organized by product lines. Within each product department, there are further teams, like sales teams, marketing teams, etc. 
This structure is generally used by companies offering multiple different products or product lines, and can help reduce the time it takes to bring new products to market. 
A disadvantage is that the duplication of efforts and resources could result from having similar teams in each product department. 
Market-Based Divisional StructureThis is similar to a product-based structure, except that instead of being organized by product it is organized by markets, industries, or customer types. 
This structure is "ideal for an organization that has products or services that are unique to specific market segments." 
A disadvantage is the potential for incompatibility between divisions. 
QuartzWe were able to find one company, Quartz, that shared their structure. They have around 200 employees, but started implementing the structure when they had about 100 employees. They now utilize a Product-Based Divisional Structure.