Advantages and Disadvantages of Functional Structure | Benefits, Characteristics, Merits and Demerits, Pros and Cons

Advantages and Disadvantages of Functional Structure: Functional structure is used to structure the organization and group the workers with common specialization. With the help of a functional structure, it becomes easy for the organization to manage the work with better output. Usually, the company is divided into workers with common specialization in different departments like sales, production, accounting, etc.

One of the significant shortcomings of Functional structure is the reality that there can be lacking participation among various offices and the board issues. However, they record high proficiency and efficiency. They need coordination among useful units or offices; this has an approach to dialling back efficiency. It might prompt resoluteness as individuals with the same abilities and information might foster a restricted point of view. A functional structure puts less accentuation on by and large undertaking goals than the targets sought after by a practical head.

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What is Functional Structure? Advantages and Disadvantages of Functional Structure 2022

Any company needs a proper functional structure to succeed in its business. Functional structure helps the organization manage their task by grouping the workers with specific specializations.

Mainly the company works with specialized departments which come under functional structures such as the sales department, the marketing department, the human resource department, the production department, the information technology department, and the legal department. There is one head of department in each department or head who controls the specific department. Every department plays an important role in their field by providing the maximum output without any other problems because the team has similar knowledge and specialization that helps to work together.

• Advantages of Functional Structure
• Disadvantages of Functional Structure
• Comparison Table for Advantages and Disadvantages of Functional Structure
• FAQs on Advantages and Disadvantages of Functional Structure

Characteristics of Functional Structure

Here are three characteristics of Functional Structure:

• Every department is managed by senior management, as they oversee the maximum work of the company. Not many employees are part of this senior management. This comes under a Functional structure top to down hierarchy followed by every organization.
• Every department of the company has a Department head who manages the department with a common specialization. The department head directly reports to the senior management and also some are part of the same.
• Every employee of the specific department is responsible for their specific work and manages only their field. They do not interfere in other departments. Employees are hired with their specific skills and expertise.
• Functional structure helps in clarity in the employee’s work and promotes productivity.

Advantages of Functional Structure

There are various advantages of Functional Structures in an organization that are helpful in the company increasing productivity and gaining profit. Majorly all organizations follow the functional structure applied to all small and big companies. Let us see here the major benefits of Functional structure:

Stability: The company has a skilled specialized group of workers that knows their work very efficiently which helps the company to make maximum output. As skilled specialized workers of the department know how to execute the work it becomes helpful to maintain stability in the process without confusion.

• Skill development: With the functional structural system in an organization every department gets a chance to make their team members in the particular department skill them. All the department consists of a small team that helps to manage the work of the organization by making its team more productive by providing them with more training.
• Productivity: As the different departments of the organization give their best productive output automatically the company’s productivity increases.
• Clarity: It becomes easy to manage the work with the same specialized team as they share the same work experience. So the work is more manageable and clear with the same department.
• Minimum cost operation: With the specialized department it becomes easier to operate the work using minimum cost as the various department try to do their work in a more effective way for the organizations. Thus more output can be produced by using minimum cost.

These were some of the most important advantages of the functional structure which gives various benefits to the organization.

Disadvantages of Functional Structure

With many benefits there come some drawbacks too. Sometimes functional structure adversely can affect the organization. Let us have a look at the different disadvantages of Functional structure

• Lack of communication: The different specialized departments are best in their work but in the end, all the departments have to communicate for the final output which is sometimes lacking due to differences in coordination between the departments.
• Knowledge limitation: Working within the department sometimes limits the knowledge to function with the other department. Every department has its importance in the organization and within the department, there is less scope for learning from the other department.
• Difficult to manage: If all the departments give different instructions to another department, then the confusion creates that tends to make it difficult to manage the task.
• Competition between departments All the department wants to show their best output to become more highlighted that sometimes becomes an unhealthy competition. Also, the final product gets affected by the quality and sustainability. In the end, sometimes, the organizations also get affected.

Thus these were some of the main disadvantages of the functional structure.

Comparison Table for Advantages and Disadvantages of Functional Structure

FAQs on Advantages and Disadvantages of Functional Structure

Question 1.
What Functional structure is? How was it used in any organization?

Answer:
Functional structure helps the organization manage their task by grouping the workers with specific specializations. Every department plays an important role in their field by providing the maximum output without any other problems because the team has similar knowledge and specialization that helps to work together.

With the help of a functional structure, it becomes easy for the organization to manage the work with better output.

Question 2.
What are the characteristics of a Functional Structure?

Answer:
Here are the characteristics of Functional Structure:

• Every department is managed by senior management, as they oversee the maximum work of the company. Not many employees are part of this senior management. This comes under a Functional structure top to down hierarchy followed by every organization.
• Every department of the company has a Department head who manages the department with a common specialization. The department head directly reports to the senior management and also some are part of the same.
• Every employee of the specific department is responsible for their specific work and manages only their field. They do not interfere in other departments. Employees are hired with their specific skills and expertise.
• Functional structure helps in clarity in the employee’s work and promotes productivity.

Question 3.
What are the disadvantages of Functional Structure?

Answer:
The different disadvantages of Functional structure are as follows

• Lack of communication
• Knowledge limitation
• Difficult to manage
• Competition between departments
• Increase complexity
• Gap between Top and Bottom departments.

With the many benefits, some drawbacks also can be seen in the functional structure in an organization.