Homemadestuff.com 

Organizational Structure

The organization of this Internet company is made up of a hybrid structure with departmentalization by geography.  Because of the different cultural markets within Germany, and the extra large role that Marketing will have in this organization I believe this will be the best structure.  The main goal of this organization is to help people sell their “homemadestuff”, this “stuff” consists mostly of products that originate from normal people’s hobbies or other activities done for relaxation, giving these people – our future partners – an opportunity to bring these products to market either with their own e-shop Website or as a part of the “homemadestuff” e-mall.  Being different from “Ebay” and other customer-to customer e-Businesses of this sort, homemadestuff will use its extraordinary costumer service representatives to do face-to-face consulting with potential partners.  Separating the organization into four regional operation centers with one each vice-president residing as regional chief will allow a closer relationship with each different geological and cultural market. This will hopefully ensure the success of this business.  Making sure that potential partners are given the best possibilities for their success, and to reach the goals of “homemadestuff”.

Starting at the top, I will open the curtains to give you a closer look at each operational area.  The curtains will be pulled back on the following areas: President/CEO, all four staff office positions, the regional offices and how they are broke down, and the very special costumer service managers and his representatives.

The President/ CEO

The President is a top level manager that will guide and control all of the organization, whose main objective is to form strategy, planning and is responsible for developing the organization’s overall mission to ensure the long-term success of the organization.  

The Staff Offices

Director of Human Resources and Personnel

 

Our human resources (HR) office must have a clear understanding of our organization’s business objectives and be able to devise and implement policies which will select, develop and retain the right staff needed to meet these objectives. The exact nature of the work activities are likely to include:

•     working closely with all four regions, increasingly in a consultancy role, assisting line managers to understand and implement policies and procedures;
•     developing policies on issues such as working conditions, performance management, equal opportunities, disciplinary procedures and absence management;
•     promoting equality and diversity as part of the culture of the organization;
•     liaising with a wide range of organizations involved in areas such as race relations, disability, gender, age, religion and health and safety;
•     recruiting staff: this includes developing job descriptions, preparing advertisements, checking application forms, short listing, interviewing and selecting candidates;
•     developing, with line managers, HR planning strategies, which consider immediate and long-term staff requirements in terms of numbers and skill levels;

Director of Public Affairs

Public affairs officers work on behalf of the organization, carrying out tasks such as:

•     monitoring information sources produced by government departments; the think-tanks; non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other bodies, in order to keep clients
• informed of any developments related to their field of activity;
• communicating this information on the organization’s intranet
• advising on potential responses that may be required;
• researching, forecasting and evaluating the effects of public policy on an the organization through public sources, political intelligence and personal contacts;
• writing newsletters, briefings, campaign material and press releases;
• arranging meetings;
• attending select committee hearings, party conferences and other events;
• establishing and maintaining two-way communication with any significant official bodies;
• maintaining regular contact, in person and in writing, with politicians, civil servants, and/or staff in local authorities and regulatory bodies to brief them on clients' work and concerns; providing strategic advice to clients;

Training Director

 

 

 The training director’s duties in our organization consist of the following:

• Supervise two trainers that will implement training to new employees on a regular basis to included inductions for new staff, and conduct special training seminars, and other formal training;
• maintain a sharp look-out for any emerging technological advances that can help the organization to succeed;
• keep the organizations training section of the intranet updated with new information and news from every different functional area;
• analyzing training needs in conjunction with regional vice-presidents.
• plan and organize participation by his subordinate trainers to train-the-trainer training who will in turn instruct the organization through interactive training (with help of the IT Group), or seminars and other formal training;
• schedule schools for selected individuals to receive additional specialization training;
• maintaining evidence of continuing professional development (CPD) by tracking the continued education of all employees in the organization;
• Counseling employees as to a proper work/school schedule so that the employee can choose a more flexible work schedule so that they can have proper time for classes.

Director of finances

 

 

 

The Director of Finances office which consists of the Director and three subordinates: the budgeting officer, finance officer, and an accountant, their typical work activities are:

• creating, implementing and monitoring processes and procedures around the creation of monthly forecasts;
• preparing periodic financial statements, including profit and loss accounts, budgets, cash flows, variance analysis and commentaries;
• informing strategic decisions and formulating business strategies;
• implementing corporate governance procedures, risk management and internal controls;
• designing reward strategies for executives and shareholders, where appropriate;
• ensuring the efficient use of resources;
• managing income and expenditure, sales, payroll and stocks;
• negotiating for major projects, loans and grants;
• offering professional judgment on financial matters and advising on ways of improving business performance;
• informing operational decisions;
• liaising with other staff officers to put the finance view in context;
• safeguarding tangible and intangible assets;
• advising on pay and other remuneration issues, including promotion and benefits;
• undertaking regular salary reviews;
• negotiating with staff and their representatives on issues relating to pay and conditions;
• administering payroll and maintaining records relating to staff;
• interpreting and advising on employment legislation;
• listening to grievances and implementing disciplinary procedures;
• planning and sometimes delivering training.

The Regional Offices

Regional Vice-Presidents

The Vice-President is a top level manager that will guide and control the operation of a regional office; his main objective is to implement the strategy and planning of the President, and is responsible for developing the region’s overall mission to ensure the long-term success of his region and the organization. He is on the top of the chain-of-command for his region.

Marketing Executive

The work of a marketing executive in our organization typically involves:

• liaising and building relationships with a range of stakeholders, e.g. customers, suppliers, colleagues;
• developing advertising opportunities, which can involve placing adverts in national, regional and specialist publications, or on the radio (depending on the organization and the campaign);
• maintaining and building contacts with the media;
• writing and distributing press releases;
• preparing photo shoots;
• managing the production of marketing materials, including leaflets, posters and flyers - this can involve writing and proofreading copy, and liaising with designers and printers;
• arranging for the effective distribution of marketing materials;
• maintaining and updating mailing databases;
• organizing and attending events and exhibitions;
• securing sponsorship to assist with the publicity and funding of marketing projects;
• carrying out market research and customer surveys to assess demand, brand positioning and awareness;
• evaluating marketing campaigns;
• monitoring competitor activity;
• analyzing pricing positions;
• contributing to long-term marketing plans and strategies;
• managing budgets;
• supporting the regional vice-president, and other colleagues;
• work closely with the IT Team to help the team to develop the organization and costumer’s Websites by developing the look and feel of the site and be able to communicate the message and brand identity of both the costumer and the organization.

IT Team

 

 The IT Team is an entity within our organization that is made up of three individuals: a Web design Manager, a graphics artist, and a programmer/database administrator.  This team together, is the money makers in each regional office. The activities these guys perform primarily consist of the following:

Web Design Manager (project manager)

• The Web design manager is involved with the project from start to finish. 
• He or she is in charge of determining and documenting the requirements of a project, and insuring that the project stays on schedule and on budget.

Graphic designer

• The job of the graphic designer is to create a consistent and visually appealing look for a Web site. 
• The graphic designer will also create Flash animations or design user interfaces for a Web application.

Programmer/Database Administrator

• responsible for programming any special applications that may be needed for individual Websites;
• are responsible for the interactivity of the Websites;
• are responsible for the database integration and searchablity of the Websites.

Environment Management

 

Environment Manager/Network Administrator

An Environment Manager/network administrator has the following as a minimum of duties:

• supervise a team of two network technicians;
• understand the monitoring and development of network security systems;
• research, test, procure, install and configure upgrades to network equipment;
• implement, and plan network topology, including links between our organization, and partners that have access to the organizations extranet/intranet;
• know of the system development life cycle, and network designing methods;
• boast the interpersonal skills necessary to advise and give practical help to other staff involved in various development projects;
• perform needs analysis, procurement support, installation, training, and problem resolution for the regional office LAN;
• take responsibility for the configuration, operation, and administration of network server hardware, operating systems, and communication links.

Control Center Operator/Network Technician

A Control Center Operator/Network Technician mostly does the following tasks:

• assists the Environment Manager in implementing, managing, and maintaining the organization’s local area network;
• Perform maintenance on the organization’s intranet;
• assists organization users that have service problems;
• runs a Help Desk and Control Center.

Costumer Service Manager

 

 

Our customer services manager’s first priority is to ensure that we satisfy our customers' needs. The main aim of a customer services manager is to provide excellent customer service. At every regional office they work at various levels, from head office to the front end of the business. Their work load includes: helping to develop a customer service policy for the entire organization; managing a team of four customer services representatives; and handle special face-to-face enquiries from customers.

Costumer Service Representatives

Although the work will vary, typical activities of these representatives are likely to include some or all of the following:

• providing help and advice to customers, using the organization’s products or services;
• communicating courteously with customers by telephone, email and face to face;
• investigating and solving customers' problems (these may be more complex or long-standing problems that have been passed over by customer service assistants);
• handling customer complaints or any crises, such as security issues or a customer being taken ill;
• issuing refunds or compensation to customers;
• keeping accurate records of discussions or correspondence with customers;
• producing written information for customers, often involving use of computer packages/software;
• writing reports analyzing the customer service that our organization provides;
• visiting customers to provide a one-to-one service;
• developing feedback or complaints procedures for customers to use;
• developing customer service policies and standards for your organization or department;
• meeting with other managers to discuss possible improvements to customer service provided;
• being involved in staff recruitment and appraisals;
• training staff to deliver a high standard of customer service;
• learning about your organizations’ products or services and keeping up to date with any changes;
• keeping ahead of developments in customer service by reading relevant journals, going to meetings and attending courses.

 

I think seriously that we can pull this business plan off with the 64 employees that I have listed here.  This is of course is what the full blown staff will eventually look like after the establishment of the core competencies during our start-up phase of organizational development, using just the staff officers, and only one regional office to get the ball rolling. In the best case scenario this business will start in one region in the beginning and eventually break out into other markets after initial and costly induction training of the second regional office. Things should work more smoothly for the third and four regions.  During this time the organizational structure may take more than one revision.

 

 

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