Organisational Structure Changes Essay

From the information provided it seems that the conflict is arising in the operational area between the manufacturing and marketing department. Both departments are seeking their own division goals and are neglecting the overall effect on the organization. Indeed the manufacturing manager is probably regarding the marketing section as the extra expense, while the marketing manager perceives the manufacturing branch as the threat. This conflict being at managerial level will most likely transmit to the section’s staff, increasing the divergence between the two. The problem not only lies at the departmental area, but also at executive stage. Indeed this conflict should be managed at top management level by adhering more to the marketing concept. The first change that should be implemented is in the organizational structure from a functional one to a category management combined with brand teams. Such structure consists of routing a category manager for each shoe product line. This team will comprise marketing staff, like brand managers, information specialists and sales people, and individuals from other departments, such as research and development professionals, finance manager and staff from manufacturing, distribution and more. By including manufacturing staff with marketing employees, one can diminish such conflict because the production people would realize that marketers work is important for the organization and thus the threat element will decrease. Top management should also commence showing the utility of each department for the organization, by for example preparing value added statements in order to further sustain the aforementioned point. If this conflict would still be present after such changes in structure, it might be necessary to perform changes in the operational management of such sections.