Компания «Северные магистральные нефтепроводы».

Компания «СМН» является звеном единой нефтетранспортной системы «Транснефть», связывающим нефтедобывающий регион на севере Европейской части России с центром страны. Объектом деятельности «СМН» являются нефтепроводы Уса - Ухта и Ухта – Ярославль. Протяженность нефтепроводов составляет 1559 км. Сегодня «СМН» принимает и транспортирует нефть от тридцати нефтедобывающих предприятий в Республике Коми и Ненецком автономном округе.

«СМН» активно внедряет новые технологии, направленные на повышение экологической безопасности и технической надежности. В 2001 году реконструирована локальная вычислительная сеть управления и внедрена система «Галактика», обеспечивающая единый бухгалтерский, кадровый учет. Сегодня ОАО «СМН» - современное промышленное предприятия к устойчивым финансово-экономическим положением. Технико-экономические показатели деятельности «СМН» на протяжении ряда лет имеют устойчивую динамику роста. Подтверждение этого – результаты работы «СМН» за 2004 год. Выручка от реализации услуг в 4 раза превысила прибыль за 2000 год.

Talking point

a) Imagine that you are a PR representative of one of the oil companies. You are asked to make a press release about main activities and historical background of your company.

b) Pair work. You were invited for a job interview. You are an applicant and talk to an interviewer of an oil company. Find out as much information as possible.

Text 2

Pre-reading task

a) Discuss the following questions before reading the text.

1. Why do you think some companies are successful and some are not? What factors can influence the success of the company? Are the staff and type of management very important in the company?

2. Do human relations matter in doing work? Do you think all the workers of a company are to have equal responsibility for the success/failure of the work? If not, why?

b) Key words: hierarchical structure, decision-making, to be responsible, matrix structure, a superior, an objective.

Look up the key words in the dictionary to find out the exact meaning. Write them out.

Reading Company Structure

One of the most important tasks for the management of any organization employing more than a few people is to determine its organizational structure, and to change this, when and where necessary. The need for a solid structure within all business companies is absolutely fundamental. Organizational structure concerns who reports to whom in the company and how different elements are grouped together. A new company cannot go forward without this and established companies must ensure that their structure reflects their target markets, goals and available technology. Depending on their size and needs there are several organizational structures that companies can choose from. But in the constantly changing business environment many firms are choosing a kind of a hybrid of all of them.

Most organizations have a hierarchical or pyramidal structure, with one person or a group of people at the top, and an increasing number of people below them at each successive level. There is a clear line of chain of command running down the pyramid. All the people in the organization know what decisions they are able to make, who their boss is (to whom they report), and who their immediate subordinates are (to whom they can give instructions). Most large manufacturing organizations have a functional structure, including production, finance, marketing, sales, and personnel departments. It means that, for example, the production and marketing departments cannot take financial decisions without consulting the financial department. Functional organization is efficient, but there are two standard criticisms: people are usually more concerned with the success of their department than that of the company, and because of this type of organizational structure there is practically no way for innovations. This type of structure can also be a bureaucratic set up which prevents speedy decision-making, and people at lower levels are unable to make important decisions, but have to pass on the responsibility to their boss.

Моrе and more companies are organizing themselves along product lines where companies have separate divisions according to the product that is being made. In this case the focus is always on the product and on how it can be improved.

Another type of structure is a matrix structure. It first appeared when NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the USA) were developing a project that needed to pool together different skills from a variety of functional areas. Here people report to more than one superior. A product manager, for example, might be able to deal with managers responsible for a certain market segment and for a geographical region, as well as with managers responsible for the traditional functions of finance, sales and production. Essentially the matrix structure organizes a business into project teams, led by project leaders, to carry out certain objectives. Training is vitally important here to avoid conflict between the various members of the teams. Multinational companies tend to use geographic structure, but in this case there must be local managers in each country who would help to adapt the, products for the local market, make the necessary changes to meet the needs of the demanding customers.

Comprehension check

I. Answer the following question.

1. What kinds of company structure are mentioned in the abstract?

2. What does a pyramidal structure presuppose?

3. What does the structure of the company reflect?

4. What are the disadvantages of hierarchical structure?

5. Why do some companies organize themselves along product lines?

6. When did a matrix structure appear?

7. What does a “project team” mean in your opinion?

8. What kind of structure do multinational companies tend to use?

9. What problems do multinational oil companies have in organizing their branches in foreign countries?

II. Say if the statements are true or false. Correct false statements.

1. Any business organization is supposed to have some structure.

2. The structure of a company reflects the desire of its owner.

3. In organizations with hierarchical structures employees work at their successive level.

4. In companies with a functional structure different departments can take their own decisions, disregarding other departments.

5. The matrix structure is suitable for carrying out certain objectives.

6. Multinational companies have a pyramidal structure.

7. Most companies represent a mix of different organizational structures.

III. Translate into English.

1. Необходимое изменение организационной структуры – это одна из задач управления.

2. Следует понимать, как различные элементы компании соотносятся друг с другом.

3. Иерархическая структура имеет четкую линию подчинения, во главе которой стоит один человек или группа людей.

4. При функциональной организации успех одного отдела ставится его работниками выше успеха всей компании.

5. В компании с матричной структурой существует разветвленная система подчинения, т.е. у подчиненного может быть несколько начальников.

6. Участники проектной группы обычно обладают различными навыками и умениями во множестве функциональных сфер.

Quick Reading

Look through the following abstract and find the definitions of the terms which describe new trends in company restructuring.

Outsourcing, netsourcing, re-engineering, e-lancing (e-lance structure)

Try to explain these terms in a simple way.

Recent years have seen a wave of massive restructuring that went through industry around the globe.

Among the trends that currently influence company structure is the move towards centralization and outsourcing (employing another company for performing its non-core functions, i.e. subcontracting) and netsourcing (creating a network of subcontractors that use data networks and a set of powerful online application). This type of structure has a “customer- centric” approach that is especially popular and effective in banking industry. One more trend in restructuring is re-engineering (the idea that an organization should not change incrementally, but should start from scratch with no preconceptions how things should be done, not just in manufacturing but in all the processes that contribute to what an organization does, which is called business process re-engineering (BPR). In the future, as the communication technologies advance and networks become more and more efficient, the world and company organization and structure will be moving towards what can be called “an e-lance economy or e-lance structure”, which will be characterized by shining coalitions of freelancers and small firms using the Internet for much of their work. The dominant business organization of the future may not be a stable, permanent corporation but rather a flexible network of individuals and small groups that might sometimes exist for no more than a day or two. The 'world will enter the age of the temporary company structure.

Talking Point

a) Look through the structural scheme of the company “СМН”. Work in groups of 3-4 students. You are to prove your view on the type of organizational structure of this company.

b) Think and say what a certain department deals with.

ex: I think, that technical department deals with questions of implementation of know-how, automatization and mechanization of production processes.

Организационная структура аппарата управления