REAL LIFE EXAMPLE AND CASE STUDY

1. GOOGLE

Google Inc. is a multinational company that mainly deals with internet-based products and services including

search engines, software, cloud computing and online advertising. The company was cofounded by Larry Page

and Sergey Brin and incorporated as a private limited company in 1988. It was later changed to a public limited

company in 2004. Since its incorporation, the company has had remarkable success. Only three years into

operations, the company was already making annual sales in excess of $ 900 million and $ 150 million in net

profit per annum. By the time it was made public its value had grown to well over $ 23 billion. Apart from its

core search engine, ‘Google’, the company offers other web based products including advertising services,

communication and publishing tools, development tools, map related products and statistical tools. Right from

the time it was incorporated, the company’s mission has been “to organize the world’s information and make

it universally accessible and useful. The company zealously protects its brand and maintains high standards

within the organisation in order to sustain brand loyalty. It also aims at inspiring bold and fresh ideas by

creating a fun workplace environment and giving the employees freedom to work on pet projects.

Google's organisational structure

Google follows a cross-functional organizational structure, or in other words, a matrix corporate structure.

Using the cross-functional or matrix structure means that staff from different functions with a variety of skills
are grouped together to work on a certain project or product development. Each cross-functional group is
usually headed by a senior manager who is responsible for leading that group.
Google 'structure involves three main characteristics which are:
 Function-based - Google's structure involves a functional side as the company has its separate
functions such as finance, sales, and marketing, research and development, etc. grouped into
different functional departments. All functions are led by an executive who manages the function and
makes strategic decisions.
 Product-based - The products that the company produces are developed through product groups that
involve employees from various functions. Google has two main product-based groups which are
responsible for cloud operations and another one for artificial intelligence operations. There is also an
executive responsible for each of those groups that assist in developing product lines.
 Flatness - The organization is relatively flat meaning that employees are able to communicate
to Managers of various levels throughout the organization without middle Management being
involved. Even in the functional-based areas, employees are able to communicate with
higher Managers. This allows for information to flow effectively within the function and across
departments which encourages innovation.
Google's organizational structure can be illustrated in the diagram below.
 2. AMAZON

Amazon is the American electronic commerce and cloud computing company based in Seattle, Washington,
that we’re all very familiar with. Founded by Jeff Bezos in July 1994, Amazon is the world’s largest Internet
retailer measured by both revenue and market capitalization and is the second largest in total sales volume
after China’s Alibaba Group.
Amazon initially started life as an online bookstore, however, Bezos recognized that the only way to succeed
online was to grow big, and fast! Taking full advantage of the impending Internet boom, Bezos rapidly
expanded Amazon’s product offerings and services over time.
Today, Amazon sells everything from books to television sets and car parts to outhouses. It has become a one-
stop-shop for almost any product and a range of other business ventures, such as Amazon Web Services,
provide a range of other solutions to industry-leading companies and even government agencies such as the
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Amazons organisational structure

Amazon’s organizational structure is a functional one that focuses on different business functions and
components as bases for defining the interactions and reporting relationships among these different
components. As you can see from Amazon’s org structure that we’ve recreated with our org chart tool
Organimi, it consists of three primary components:
1. An overarching global hierarchy
2. Global groups based on function
3. Geographic divisions with their own sub-divisions
An overarching global hierarchy
Corporations swear by hierarchical structures. They were the very first type of org structure and most big
businesses still use them today, especially those with a global reach like Amazon. In the case of Amazon.com,
the hierarchy is expressed in terms of a global system of clear lines of authority that heavily influence the
firm’s operations.
For example, Jeff Bezos sits at the top exercising ultimate control over all senior executives and managers, who
in turn apply directives through the sectors under their control either at their own discretion or at the
direction of Jeff Bezos. These directives impact all relevant offices of the company all over the world.
It is overarching hierarchies like this that enable complete managerial control over entire organizations, even
where there are multiple product lines, services, and divisions

3. SAMSUNG
Samsung is a South Korean company originally founded as a grocery trading store by Lee Byung-Chull in March
1938. The company forayed in the electronics industry in 1969 and its first electronic product was a black-and-
white television. Soon, the company also started exporting its products and became a major electronic
manufacturer in its home country.

samsung Organizational Structure: Divisional

Samsung organizational structure is divisional and the company is divided into three key divisions: IT & Mobile
Communications (IM), Consumer Electronics (CE), and Device Solutions (DS). The rationale behind the choice of
divisional organizational structure relates to Samsung’s large product portfolio and differences between
products and services the company offers to the market.

Accordingly, Samsung’s each division is managed separately taking into account the characteristics of their
products that have implications on new product development, marketing, selling and other aspects of the
business. Moreover, Samsung Electronics has more than 200 subsidiaries around the world.