Internal Organisational Structures
Business: Cambridge International GCSE (2027 Exams), topic 2.2.1
Internal Organisational Structures
An organisational structure is the system that defines a hierarchy in an organisation. An organisational structure identifies every job in an organisation, the responsibilities of each job and how each job is related to other jobs.
Hierarchy
- A hierarchy just means layers, with certain jobs within the organisation having authority over others.
- Jobs higher up in the hierarchy will therefore have more power in decision making.
- The manager of a football team manages the players and guides them on what to do in a game. Jose Mourinho manages Paul Pogba in the hierarchy at Manchester United.
Directors
- Directors are at the top of an organisation’s hierarchy. They have the most influence over a company’s decisions.
- Directors decide what the firm’s strategy is and make important decisions for the business as a whole.
Managers
- Managers are the next rung down on the ladder.
- They help to communicate the strategy of the firm to their subordinates (people below them in the hierarchy).
- They also organise the people below them in the hierarchy (span of control) to achieve the firm’s objectives.
- Note – there may be more than 1 layer of managers within a firm.
Supervisors
- Supervisors are the lowest level of people in a hierarchy that are still responsible for managing other people.
- They manage the people at the lowest level of the organisation.
- These people usually manage specific projects that are conducted (done) in small teams.
Operatives
- Operatives are at the lowest level in an organisation. These people are not responsible for anyone else.
- In a hotel, a normal cleaner is usually an operator.
- Similarly in a restaurant, a pot washer is usually an operative and does not manage anyone else.
- Factory workers are often operatives.
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Business Hierarchies