Innovation Project  - Session 3

Think about how your company is structured. First of all, determine where the headquarters of your company are – of course you may also have divisions or subsidiaries in other countries / cities. 

Then try to find and depict the ideal company structure for your company – discuss pros and cons of different organisational forms. 

Prepare an organisational chart for your company. 

Finally, find a legal entity that is suitable for your purpose. Last, but not least, write a short company history.

Here is useful vocabulary:

Your company will be headquartered in a city (this is the town where its headquarters are – be careful, headquarters always needs an “s” and can be used with either a plural or a singular verb); this means it is based in e.g. Graz, or Graz-based. You can also say that it is located or situated in Graz. When describing your company, you can say it consists of / is made up of / is divided into / comprises different divisions, sections, or business units. 

Some companies are divided into different business units (Geschäftseinheit), for example based on products, regions where the company is active or projects (there may be a business unit for consumer products and one for industrial products). 

Some companies for example are divided into divisions (Geschäftsbereich) according to business functions, such as purchase, sales, finance, production, personnel, etc. These divisions can then be divided further into departments.

Below is an overview of typical functional divisions and their according departments:

As far as the chain of command is concerned, hierarchies can be either steep or flat. Steep hierarchies are sometimes top-heavy (this refers to structures with too many well-paid fat cat managers which might result in high costs for administrative support personnel). An advantage of flat hierarchies may be that the employees´ level of responsibility is elevated and that there are no excess layers of management which may improve the speed of communication between employees and accelerate the decision-making process. Flat organizations have few managerial levels and there may be no middle management. An advantage of steep hierarchies may be that the levels of leadership, authority and responsibility are clearly defined within the organization.

A company which has just been founded is called a start-up. Smaller companies are often family businesses (very small ones are sometimes called mom-and-pop businesses) – larger enterprises are sometimes referred to as corporations. Very large and successful companies are called blue-chip companies.

There are different legal entities. Use the grid below to discuss what the main characteristics of the various types of business listed below are.

• Cooperative
• Sole trader
• Partnership
• Limited company
• Private limited company
• Public limited company

Companies often have affiliate or associate companies – these companies belong together. The main company that leads the group can be called umbrella company. A parent company may have wholly owned or minority owned subsidiaries. You company may also have offices abroad and branches all over the world. Please note that there is a difference between the word branch (Niederlassung) and industry (Branche). In order to break into new markets, CEOs sometimes decide to go for a joint venture.

Finally, here are some verbs that might be useful when describing your company´s history.

Take us on an imaginary company tour and describe the company´s headquarters and its facilities. Start by describing if your company is located in a business park or a warehouse (or somewhere entirely different?). Include an illustration of you company´s head office. Facility-wise, what can your company offer their employees to make them happy?

Do you have any branches abroad or overseas? Describe them and explain their purpose.

Here is useful vocabulary:

Many manufacturing companies are situated in a business park or an industrial estate. The company premises may include an office block, a warehouse and production facilities.

When visitors arrive, they can either use the car park or underground car park to park their vehicle before accessing the building through the entrance. They are often given a warm welcome in the lobby and are then led to the showroom. If security is an issue, there may be CCTV cameras to follow their every move.

Often, the white-collar employees´ workspace is on the first floor. Some companies prefer open-plan offices, with or without cubicles, while others consider it important for every employee to have their own office. Do you know what hot-desking is?

Sometimes, employees who have been promoted, get their own corner office.

Often, the last floor is the so-called executive floor – it includes the boardroom.

Some companies offer their employees perks or fringe benefits, including free access to the company gym or a day-care centre.

Who is at the top of your company and who do your employees report to?

Describe the most important positions (according to your organizational chart) and discuss these employees´ responsibilities and tasks. Make sure you talk in detail about everyone who is potentially involved in the technical development of your innovative product and give a detailed description of your R&D Department.

Here is useful vocabulary:

Usually, the CEO or MD heads up a company – s/he is at the helm and oversees all business activities. The heads of department report directly to the CEO – they are accountable to him/her.

Here are verbs that might be useful when describing people and responsibilities:

• to be accountable for
• to be in charge of
• to take charge of
• to have joint responsibility for
• to have sole responsibility for
• to take on (more) responsibility
• to be responsible for (doing) something
• to supervise somebody

Where are your production facilities? Which facilities do they include? Draw a map of your production facilities and describe the equipment used and the assembly line.

Are any of the production facilities you use located abroad? If yes, where, and why?

Here is useful vocabulary:

A manufacturing plant is an industrial site, and consists of buildings and machinery. It is the place where workers or robots manufacture goods and operate machines processing one product into another.

Most modern factories have heavy equipment used for assembly line production. Large factories often have direct access to means of transportation.  

A factory often includes the following areas:

• shipping and receiving (goods reception)
• cleaning
• packing
• storage area (e.g. for raw materials)
• processing (e.g. assembly line, furnaces, grinding, polishing, etc.)
• relaxation are for workers (including restrooms, showers, etc.)

Equipment used in a factory can be:

• generators
• inspection equipment
• cleaning machines
• drilling machines
• pick-and-place machines
• forklifts
• compressors
• pumps
• measuring units
• industrial ovens
• printing machines

Here are some examples of factory layouts:

https://i.redd.it/4clmnpyenmq31.jpg

https://supremegarments.wordpress.com/facilities/facilities/

http://henryardians.blogspot.com/2017/04/factory-layout.html

Some companies decide to outsource or offshore their production facilities. 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of offshoring production?