12 Principles of Organization Structure

Traditional organisation theorists developed certain principles of organization structure. These principles are intended for universal application to all enterprises. The most important of these principles of  organization structure  can be listed under the following heads: 1. Division of  Labor  or Specialization The classicists viewed specialization as the basis of efficiency. A group of individuals can secure better results by having division of work. F.W. taylor applied by breaking down jobs into single repetitive tasks performed on specialized tools. At higher levels, however, grouping jobs into manageable units and their co-ordination can pose serious problems. The principle of specializations has been challenged by the behaviorists and others. Fatigue, monotony and boredom are the inevitable outcomes of division of labor. While specializations cause great function interdependency among operatives, it also depersonalizes their activities so that individuals find little meaning in the work. Moreover, functional interdependency among work activities causes strains and tensions. Continue reading

Geographical Organizational Structure

Geographical organizational structure involves grouping of the activities according to regional or geographical locations. The territorial divisions become a complete administrative unit to cater to the need of the localities. The Regional Manager will practically be the chief controller of his region.   He is given full powers of managing his own region or zone.   His office functions as a head office for all practical purposes.   The functions pertaining to finance, marketing, personnel and production development of low-level employees are completely vested in the zonal office which has separate departments of these functions to guide and control the respective activities of the zone.   The zonal office may have several divisional offices for executive functions. The area population and size of business in a zone will decide the number of divisional offices, their functional activities, and amount of authority and responsibility to be vested in the divisional managers. Continue reading

Competition Based Market Structures

The competitive structure of a market is defined by the number of competing firms in some segment of an economy and the proportion of the market held by each competitor. Market structure influences pricing strategies and creates barriers to competitors wishing to enter a market. Types of Competition Based Market Structures There are four basic types of competition based market structures. They are pure competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. Pure competition exists when there are no barriers to competition. The market consists of many small, competing firms and many buyers. This means that there is a steady supply of the product and a steady for demand for it. There fore, the price cannot be controlled by either the buyers or the sellers. The product itself is homogeneous – that is, one seller’s offering is identical to all others offerings. The markets for basic food commodities, such as rice and Continue reading

Basics of Commodity Futures Markets

Futures markets have been described as continuous auction markets and as clearing houses for the latest information about supply and demand. They are the meeting places of buyers and sellers of an ever-expanding list of commodities that today includes agricultural products, metals, petroleum, financial instruments, foreign currencies and stock indexes. Trading   has also being imitated in   future contracts , enabling   option buyers to participate in future market with known risks. In other words Futures markets have been described as continuous auction market and as a clearing house for the latest information about supply and demand. Participants in Future Market The following are the participant in future market which are as follows: Hedgers: Hedgers are individuals and firms that makes purchases and sales in the future market   solely for the purpose   of establishing   a known price level —weeks or month in advance   -for something Continue reading

Types of Life Insurance Claims

Claims Management Department The claims department is one of the key departments in an insurance company. The claims department has the following functions to perform: To provide the customers of insurance and reinsurance companies with high quality of service. This role gives a long-term edge to the company and hence is referred to as the strategic role. To monitor the claims and see that whether the benefits of insurance exceed the costs of claims. This role is referred to as the cost-monitoring role of the claims department. To see that the expectations of the customers are met with regard to speed, manner and efficiency of the service. This is called the customer service role of the claims department. To meet the standard of service, to keep up to the customers expectations and still operate within the budget. This is the managerial role of the claims department. Both the quality of Continue reading

Types of Purchasing Systems

The effectiveness of purchasing activities can be enhanced by proper organization and coordination of the activities. There are four types of purchasing system:- Purchase made as per requirement: No purchase is made in advance. Purchase is done as need arises. Method usually applied for emergency requirement or infrequent goods. Contract Purchasing: Contract of material is given to an agency. It has an advantage that low price of those materials whose cost fluctuates highly. Market Purchase: Purchase is made from the market to take advantage of price fluctuations. Schedule Purchasing: It is a cyclic purchase model. A schedule of purchase is made and it is used for those commodities whose price do not fluctuate. Centralized purchasing means buying and managing purchases from one location for all locations within an organization.  This can also be run by a central location buying in to a distribution warehouse that feeds smaller warehouses.  This is Continue reading