PHR®/SPHR® Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide, Third Edition

2.19. Organizational Structures

Keeping a large group of people with different perspectives and assignments moving in the same direction is a challenge for organizations. Organizational structures were designed to provide a framework that keeps information flowing to the functions and employees who need it to keep the organization moving forward. Some structures are more successful at this than others, and over time, as the business environment changed, different structures were developed to solve the shortcomings of traditional structures. In some cases, organizations may use different structures in different business units. For example, the vice president of sales in an organization with a functional structure reports to the CEO, but the sales ...