A Functional Organization structure is a hierarchical type of organizational structure wherein people are grouped as per their area of specialization

and supervised by the functional manager with expertise in the same field, so that their skills can be effectively utilized and the organizations objective can be achieved. Here, all authority, budget allocation, and decision making power stays with the functional manager. A project manager has no role in this type of structure. Even if he exists, his role will be very limited and he has to ask the functional manager for his requirements. Here, a project manager may have the title of a coordinator or an expeditor. The Functional Organizational structure is suitable for an organization which has ongoing operations such as manufacturing and production operations. In functional organizations, the organization is divided into various specific departments; e.g. human resource, marketing, finance, operations, etc. Each department will have its own department head and he will be responsible for the performance of his section. This helps control the quality and uniformity of performance. Benefits of the Functional Organization Structure: Following are a few benefits of functional organizations:

Employees are grouped as per their knowledge and skills. Workers are very skilled and efficient because they are experienced in same type of work and hence they perform well. Job responsibilities and reporting are straight to the functional head, and the hierarchy path is clear. Employees feel job security, and therefore, perform without any fear. Employees have faith in the organization. Employees have a clear career growth path. Within the functional department communication, cooperation and coordination is excellent.

Disadvantages of the Functional Organization Structure: Following are a few disadvantages of functional organizations:

The employee may become lazy due to repeating the same type of work. Conflicts may arise due to the promotion of another employee. Highly skilled employees cost more to the organization. The functional manager pays attention to only his department; he usually doesnt care for other teams or sections. Poor communications and poor inter-department coordination. Employees may have little understanding or concern for anything happening outside of their functional area. This may cause obstacles in communication, coordination, and cooperation. Functional structure is rigid; therefore, they are very slow to adopt changes. Delays in decision making due to bureaucratic hierarchy.

In matrix organization structure, the knowledge and skills of the talented employees could be shared between the functional departments and the project management teams, as needed. Here, the employee generally works under two bosses. The authority of the functional manager flows vertically downwards and the authority of the project manager flows sideways. Since, the authorities flow downward and sideways, this structure is called the Matrix Organization Structure. In matrix organization structure, usually employees have two bosses to whom they may have to report. Which boss is more powerful depends upon the type of matrix structure. Matrix organizational structure exists in large multi-projects organizations so that they can move or relocate employees to any team wherever their services are needed. Matrix structure has the flexibility of applying the organizations talent where it is needed. Here, employees are considered to be shared resources between the project teams and the functional units. Matrix organization structure can be further divided into three categories; e.g. 1. 2. 3. Strong Matrix Balanced Matrix, and Weak Matrix.

Strong Matrix: In strong matrix, most authority and power lies with the project manager. Here, the project manager has a full time role; he controls the project budget, and he has full time project management administrative staff under him. Strong matrix structure has a lot of common characteristics of the projectized organization. Balanced Matrix: In balanced matrix, power is shared between the functional manager and the project manager. Although, the project manager has full time role, he has only part time project management administrative staff under him. In a balanced matrix both managers control the project budget.

Weak Matrix: In a weak matrix, the project manager has a part time role with very limited power and authority. His role will be more like a coordinator or an expediter. Weak matrix structure is very close to the functional organization structure. In a weak matrix structure, the functional manager controls the project budget.

Advantages of the Matrix Organization Structure: Followings are a few advantages of the matrix organization structures:

The main benefit of matrix organization is that highly skilled and capable resources can be shared between the functional units and important strategic projects. Communication is smooth across the boundaries. It is a good environment for professionals to develop their career. Project team can get the highly skilled personnel they require. People can be selected based on skills and suitability. Employees have job security. Typically the efficiency of matrix organizations is higher.

Disadvantages of the Matrix Organization Structure: Some disadvantages of matrix organization structure are as follows:

Employees may have to report to two bosses, which can add confusion, and conflicts may arise, particularly in the balanced matrix environment where both bosses have equal authority and power. Conflicts may arise between the bosses regarding the power and authority. Employees may become confused regarding their roles and responsibilities, especially when they are assigned to a task which is somewhat different than what they were doing. Sometimes unclear priorities may also confuse the employees. Generally matrix organizations have more managers, which make overhead cost very high. Many times in matrix organizations, workload is high. Employees have to do their regular work, along with the additional project related tasks.

Definition
A divisional organizational structure usually consists of several parallel teams focusing on a single product or service line. Examples of a product line are the various car brands under General Motors or Microsoft's software platforms. One example of a service line is Bank of America's retail, commercial, investing and asset management arms. Unlike departments, divisions are more autonomous, each with its own top executive--often a vice president--and typically manage their own hiring, budgeting and advertising. Though small businesses rarely use a divisional structure, it can work for such firms as advertising agencies which have dedicated staff and budgets that focus on major clients or industries.

Advantages
Divisions work well because they allow a team to focus upon a single product or service, with a leadership structure that supports its major strategic objectives. Having its own president or vice president makes it more likely the division will receive the resources it needs from the company. Also, a division's focus allows it to build a common culture and esprit de corps that contributes both to higher morale and a better knowledge of the division's portfolio. This is far preferable to having its product or service dispersed among multiple departments through the organization.

Disadvantages
A divisional structure also has weaknesses. A company comprised of competing divisions may allow office politics instead of sound strategic thinking to affect its view on such matters as allocation of company resources. Thus, one division will sometimes act to undermine another. Also, divisions can bring compartmentalization that can lead to incompatibilities. For example, Microsoft's business-software division developed the Social Connector in Microsoft Office Outlook 2010. They were unable to integrate Microsoft SharePoint and Windows Live until months after Social Connector could interface with MySpace and LinkedIn. Some experts suggested that Microsoft's divisional structure contributed to a situation where its own products were incompatible across internal business units.

LINE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE:Line organization structure is perhaps the oldest and the simplest form of organization and is also known as scalar military, vertical or departmental organizations. Under this organization the line of authority flows vertically from top to bottom. There is a single head of the organization who commands the whole affairs. The chief executive holds the authority and he delegates it to the subordinates and the subordinates further delegate the authority to their subordinates and it reaches to the bottom. Chief Characteristics of Line Organization:(i) It implies vertical relationships. The authority and instructions flow from the to the top bottom. (ii) The principal of unity of command is followed, i,e, each subordinate receives instructions only from his immediate superior and is responsible to him alone. (iii) This structure specifies responsibility and authority for all the positions limiting the area of action by a particular position holder. (iv) All persons at the same level are independent and are only responsible to the chief executive. 2. DEPARTMENTAL LINE ORGANIZATION:Under this form of organization, the entire activities of the organization are divided into various departments on the basis of some similarity headed by one departmental superintendent. Each department is self-contained unit in itself and is responsible only to the chief executive. Chief Characteristics of Departmental Line Organization:(i) This form is very simple in both understanding and implementation.

It can easily be explained to workers. They have no confusion in their authority. responsibility and roles. (ii) Shirking of responsibility is not possible under this form of organization because the responsibility is fixed at each level of hierachy. Everyone knows to whom he is responsible and who os responsible to him. In this way discipline is maintained in the organization. (iii) Unification of authority, control and fixed responsibility ensure quick and prompt decision making possible. (iv) This form has the advantage of flexibility The adjustment and changes can easily to made with the changing conditions due to unified control and fixed responsibility. (v) It follows the principle of scalar chain. The executive head at the top of the line is responsible for the acts of line personnel the commands the whole line and greater control, discipline and better direction is possible. LINE AND STAFF ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE:This type of organization has been evolved to achieve the advantages of the two forms of organization; line organization and functional organization, The first insists two much on the unity of command while the later insists too much on decentralization on control. In order to strike a happy balance between the two, the line and staff organization was evolved. In this organization, the structure is basically that of line organization but staff officers who are functional experts are provided to advice the line authorities in the performance of their duties. Chief Characteristics of Line and Staff Organization Structure:(i) This system combines the advantages of the line and the functional organization. The line

organization insists on unity of command and the functional organization insists on decentralized of control for specialization purposes. (ii) As because staff people are consulted before taking and decision. The quality of decision is certainly high. Some methods adopted by IBM for effective organization.