In this assignment, I have been asked to investigate how two contrasting businesses
operate in the local economic environment. Therefore, I will explain how the two
businesses I have chosen; Jaguar Land Rover and Children in Need (BBC) are
organised. I will also explain how the functional areas inside these businesses help
make the strategic objectives set by the businesses a reality as well as explaining
how these functional areas all work together.
An organisational structure is a way of structuring a business by delegating,
controlling and organising roles and responsibilities in a sensible way to make the
business more efficient. An organisational structure also controls how information
reaches different levels of the business and how responsibilities are given
throughout the business. One of the reasons why organisational structures are
useful is because employees know what their role is and which division they work
for.
Jaguar Land Rover prides itself in being the UK’s largest automotive manufacturer,
building two main car brands; Jaguar and Land Rover. Their mission statement is ‘to
be a shining example of a truly modern, ‘intelligent’ business’.
The organisational structure for Jaguar Land Rover is shown below.
JLR JLR JLR JLR
Operations Finance Human Resources Marketing
Jaguar Land Rover has a tall structure. This is most likely because it is a large
organisation with many layers in its hierarchy. As there are many layers, they are
only controlled by the board of directors (highest part of the hierarchy). Instructions in
the structure are passed from top to bottom most the time. However, as the
instructions are passed from top to bottom, this can lead to ineffective
communication. This is because the messages take longer to reach lower levels of
the hierarchy. Therefore, the message could be different when it reaches its
destination. This is also a problem if a message must be passed from the bottom to
the top. If an idea is thought of but need’s approval from a higher division, then it
may take time to get there before anything can be done about it, this means