Company Structure

Not all the companies are organised in the same way, but they all have more or less the same bits and pieces. Let’s have a look at the organisation of a fairly typical company.

At the top there is the Board of Directors. Their job is to administrate the company, make general policies, and so on. There are two kinds of directors: non-executive and executive. Non-executive directors are not full-time employees. They are the sort of people who have some standing in various parts of the business world and are in a position to help the company to succeed. They only appear when there are meetings of the Board, and some of them are on the boards of other companies at the same time. Executive directors are full-time employees of the company. Most of them are the company’s departmental managers.

The absolute head of the company is the Chairman of the Board. (This position is called President in the USA.) He is appointed by the Board, and his job is to take the chair at the meetings of the shareholders and the Board of Directors, and to represent the company’s interests at outside functions. He does not take much part in the running of the business; generally he leaves the Managing Director to get on with the job.

The job of the Managing Director (Chief Executive Officer in the USA) is to coordinate the policies decided by the directors and see that they are carried out. This is done through various managers of departments.

Every department of the company has its own departmental manager; the most typical ones are the Production Manager, the Marketing Manager, the Purchasing Manager, the Chief Accountant, the Company Secretary and the Personnel Manager.

The Production Manager is responsible for seeing that the products are made properly and on time. The Marketing Manager’s main job is to sell the product. The Purchasing Manager makes sure that there are raw materials for the Production Manager to make the product for the Marketing Manager to sell. The Chief Accountant is responsible for the company’s finance. The job of the Company Secretary is to organise the work of the Board of Directors. The Personnel Manager recruits people to work for the company and looks after their welfare.

Success of the company’s activity depends on the coordinated work of all the departments.

Study and learn the following vocabulary on the topic:

1 same [seɪm] – такой же, одинаковый

in the same way – одинаково, одинаковым образом

at the same time – в то же самое время

2 bits [bɪts] and pieces [ʹpi:sız] – здесь составляющие

3 at the top – наверху, во главе

4 the Board [bɔ:d] of Directors [dɪʹrektəz], [daɪʹrektəz] – Совет директоров, Правление директоров

5 to administrate [ədʹmɪnɪstreɪt] – управлять, контролировать

6 make general policies [ʹpɔlɪsɪz] – здесь устанавливать общую политику, принимать общие решения

7 executive [ɪgʹzekjutɪv] – исполнительный

non-executive – неисполнительный

8 employ [ɪmʹplɔɪ] – брать (нанимать) на работу

employer [ɪmʹplɔıə] – работодатель, наниматель

employee [ˌemplɔɪʹi:] – рабочий, сотрудник

9 full-time – здесь занятый полный рабочий день, работающий на ставку. штатный (сотрудник)

part-time – работающий частичный рабочий день, внештатный (сотрудник)

10 standing – здесь положение, вес, репутация

11 to be in a position – здесь быть в состоянии, располагать возможностями

12 to succeed [səkʹsi:d] – преуспевать, добиваться успехов, syn. to flourish

13 meeting of the Board – собрание Правления

14 department [dɪʹpa:tmənt] – отдел (компании)

departmental [ˌdi:pa:tʹmentl] managers, managers of departments – здесь главы различных отделов компании

15 head [hed] – глава

to head – возглавлять

16 the Chairman [ʹtʃɛəmən] – Председатель (Совета директоров) (Am. English – the President [ʹprezɪdənt])

to take the chair [tʃɛə] – председательствовать, вести, возглавлять

17 to appoint [əʹpɔɪnt] – назначать

18 shareholder [ʹʃɛəˌhəuldə] – акционер, syn. stockholder [ʹstɔkˌhəuldə] 

share [ʃɛə], stock [stɔk] – акция

to hold [həuld] – держать, владеть

19 outside [ˌautʹsaɪd] functions [ʹfʌnkʃ(ə)nz] – здесь внешние функции

20 to represent [ˌreprɪʹzent] interests [ʹɪntrəsts] – представлять интересы

21 to run – здесь управлять, syn. to manage

22 to get on with this job – здесь заниматься этим

23 the Managing [ʹmænəʤɪŋ] Director – управляющий директор, генеральный директор (Am. English – the Chief [tʃi:f] Executive Officer)

24 to coordinate [kəuʹɔ:dɪnət] – координировать

25 to carry [ʹkærɪ] out – выполнять, осуществлять

26 produce [prəʹdju:s] – производить

production [prəʹdʌkʃn] – производство

the Production Department – отдел производства

the Production Manager – директор отдела производства

27 marketing [ʹma:kɪtɪŋ] – маркетинг

the Marketing Department – отдел маркетинга

the Marketing Manager – директор отдела маркетинга

28 purchasе [ʹpə:tʃəs] – покупать

the Purchasing [ʹpə:tʃəsɪŋ] Department – отдел закупок

the Purchasing Manager – директор отдела закупок

29 accounting [əʹkauntɪŋ] – бухгалтерия

the Accounting Department – отдел закупок

30 accountant [əʹkauntənt] – бухгалтер

the Chief [tʃi:f] Accountant – главный бухгалтер

personnel [ˌpə:səʹnel] – штат сотрудников, персонал

the Personnel Department – отдел кадров

the Personnel Manager – начальник отдела кадров

31 the Company Secretary [ʹsekrətərɪ] – секретарь компании

32 to be responsible [rɪʹspɔnsəbl] for smth – нести ответственность за что-то

33 to see – здесь следить, контролировать

34 proper [ʹprɔpə] – должный, правильный, соответствующий

properly [ʹprɔpəlɪ] – должным образом, правильно, соответ. образом

35 on time – вовремя

36 to make sure [ʃuə] – убедиться, удостовериться, обеспечить

37 raw [rɔ:] materials [məʹtɪərıəlz] – сырье, сырьевые материалы

38 finance [ʹfaınæns] – финансы

39 to recruit [rɪʹkru:t] – нанимать на работу, syn. to employ

40 to look after – следить, контролировать

41 welfare [ʹwelfɛə] – благополучие, благосостояние

Answer the following questions on the text:

1 Are all the companies organised in the same way?

2 What is there at the top of any company?

3 What is the job of the Board?

4 What types of Directors are there?

5 What are non-executive directors?

6 How can they help the company to succeed?

7 Are they directors of only one company?

8 What are executive directors?

9 Who is the absolute head of the company?

10 How is the position of the absolute head called in the USA?

11 What is the job of the Chairman?

12 Is this position appointed or elected?

13 Does the Chairman take much part in the actual running of the business?

14 Who is the real head of the company?

15 How is this position called in the USA?

16 What are the functions of the MD?

17 Which position is higher, the Chairman or the Managing Director?

18 What departments are there in a company?

19 What is the job of the Production Manager?

20 What is the job of the Marketing Manager?

21 What is the job of the Purchasing Manager?

22 What is the job of the Chief Accountant?

23 What is the job of the Personnel Manager?

24 What is the job of the Company Secretary?

25 Which position would you like to have in a company and why?

Fill in the following organisation chart:

			Position:
			BrE:		AmE:
			Duties:
			1. to
			2. to
Position:						Body:
BrE:		AmE:
Duties:						Duties:
1. to						1. to
2. to						2. to
						Types:
						1.
						2.
…………….. Manager						…………….. Manager
Duty:						Duty:
To						To
…………….. Manager						…………….. Manager
Duty:						Duty:
To						To
………………………….						………………………….
Duty:						Duty:
To						To

UNIT 5