Some advantages include hiring local personnel that are of the same culture of many of the customers you may be serving. Local personnel can offer insight on local customs, business practices and behaviors as well as applicable laws and regulations. This can help with management and making decisions that will have a direct impact on the business. Having a geographical structure allows a group to be located within the region and fosters the building of relationships between personnel, employees and their local customers. Customers feel more comfortable speaking with their neighbors when seeking a service from a business as opposed to the other option of placing a call and potentially getting a customer service representative on the other side of the world that you might not be able to verbally understand due to language barriers and accents.
Within the structure, team building occurs as you work side by side with your fellow employees and develop positive work relationships. Collaborative teams can be formed. Local culture can be integrated with company culture achieving greater customer service quality. Home offices can pool from all the geographical areas for diversity which allow for a gathering of information from a larger group.
Some disadvantages of the divisional structure may include the duplication of personnel between home office and regional offices. There may be conflict and unhealthy competition between different areas. Also, it makes it more difficult to be consistent in core company beliefs from one area to the next. More flexibility is needed and if unable to have it might lead to frustration and a feeling of division within the company. This may be alleviated with using metrics for tracking the performance and profits of each region. If local managers are consulted in regard to decisions affecting the local region, cohesiveness is achieved.
Within the structure, team building occurs as you work side by side with your fellow employees and develop positive work relationships. Collaborative teams can be formed. Local culture can be integrated with company culture achieving greater customer service quality. Home offices can pool from all the geographical areas for diversity which allow for a gathering of information from a larger group.
Some disadvantages of the divisional structure may include the duplication of personnel between home office and regional offices. There may be conflict and unhealthy competition between different areas. Also, it makes it more difficult to be consistent in core company beliefs from one area to the next. More flexibility is needed and if unable to have it might lead to frustration and a feeling of division within the company. This may be alleviated with using metrics for tracking the performance and profits of each region. If local managers are consulted in regard to decisions affecting the local region, cohesiveness is achieved.
