Enterprise Architecture - Organization Model of Positions, Functions and Roles - Essay Example

?Running head: Enterprise Architecture: Develop Organization Model of Positions, Functions and Roles Enterprise Architecture: Develop Organization Model of Positions, Functions and Roles Insert Name Insert Course Title Insert Instructor’s Name 05 February 2012 Enterprise Architecture: Develop Organization Model of Positions, Functions and Roles Introduction Enterprise architecture attempts to define the organization structure with respect to what is going on in an organization. The enterprise information systems define a tailor-made organization architecture that directs its functions and processes towards desired goals and organizational purpose. Different organizations have different patterns, structure, and components of enterprise architecture that befit their operations and goals. Enterprise information system architecture seeks to supply a clear vision and structural aid to the organizational goals. Organization Models Positions, functions, and roles of employees in organizations are basically outlined by organizational structures, which refer to the way organizations align employees and jobs to enable effective performance of goals and tasks. In huge organizations, there is need for decisions to be made with regards to delegation of functions and roles. Through enterprise architecture, organizations can establish procedures where responsibilities are assigned for existing roles and functions. However, for small organizations with insignificant work groups, such structures may not be necessary, since there is high frequency of face-to-face communication. Irrespective of an organization’s complexities and uniqueness of tasks it carries out, positions, functions, and roles of employees are typically defined by their titles, what they do, who reports to them and to whom they report. Irrespective of individuals bearing the responsibility, the organization structure defines how functions and roles are assigned to particular positions. In this case, an individual employee bearing the position is responsible for tasks that go with it and thus performance cannot be affected by an incoming or outgoing individual. Functionality and relevance of an organizational structure is dependent on a variety of aspects such as the work done by the organization, the number of employees, range of entrepreneurial undertakings, facility geographic dispersion, and the organizations revenue. Entrepreneurial architecture has many structural variations depending on the organization’s need, although there are a number of common patterns and basic principles for organizations to apply. An organization that basically sells products and services to a wide customer base needs to organize itself with respect to the customers it serves with the aid of common patterns and principles of enterprise architecture. Letlet Distributors Limited, which sells office stationeries to consumers, small businesses, government clients and large businesses, organizes its operations as shown below. Its structure is on the basis of its different markets and therefore enabling employees to become proficient in performing the organization’s functions by meeting different customer needs. Letlet Organisation Structure The Chief Executive Officer, also referred to as the president, is the officer with ultimate management responsibility of the organization and reports directly to the organization’s Board of Directors. Functions to this position include implementing strategic objectives and goals of the organization through which Board of Directors fulfills its governance function. The Chief Executive Officer gives leadership and directions towards the organization’s achievement of its mission, philosophy, periodic goals and strategies. The functions also include informing and advising the Board of Directors, overseeing managerial functions, and interfacing between the staff and the Board of Directors. Overall, the Chief executive officer is responsible for formulating policies, recommending plans to the Board, and guiding courses of action through staff managers. The roles encompass spearheading community and public relations, motivating his or her junior staff, and overseeing positive stakeholder relations (Cannon, 2011, p.41). The staff member directly below the Chief Executive Officer can be referred as an executive assistant, whose functions encompass handling information that is confidential to the advantage of the organization, supporting the president on complex issues with relevant professionalism, and coordinating effective work relations between the office of the president, other staff, and the public. The role of the assistant executive position generally entails maintaining safety and high quality in the president’s official affairs. With respect to the organization’s distribution functions, the department managers are the next in command after the Chief Executive Officer. Although the Executive assistant has no hierarchical authority after the Chief Executive Officer, the position functions as the closest support structure after the president. Managers of different departments are equally important to the structure of the organization, since each position functions to oversee operations of the different departments. Consumer product manager is answerable to the Chief Executive Officer with regards to products and services to be offered, customers to be targeted, distribution channels, product pricing, as well as advertising. These functions encompass what the manager is responsible for irrespective of the means and staff members to be involved. Consumer product managers are responsible for the success of the products that the company distributes. Since the organization seeks to achieve growth and maximize profitability, the consumer product manager is responsible for ensuring products distributed have growth potential and generate maximum revenue for the company. Related aspects of consumer product management are initiated and controlled by the manager, while guiding staff towards achieving product success (Marquis and Huston, 2009, pp. 270-286). The business market manager’s position is tied with the responsibility of understanding consumers, business environment, and competitors to streamline business operations towards the right direction. Analyzing consumers, business environment, and competitors enables the manager to guide his team towards meeting customer needs, role, and gaining competitive advantage over other business entities. The functions are based on company’s overall goals where the position holder is responsible for putting in place relevant business strategies to promote the business. Their functions also include evaluating effectiveness of the business strategies put in place and taking corrective measures. Corrective measures may involve pricing strategies alongside evaluating budgets and making return on investment projections. However, the business market manager may perform roles and functions in coordination with the consumer product manager who also focuses on consumer perceptions affecting product performance. The position of finance manager functions to oversee preparation of direct investment, cash management, and financial reports preparation. These functions are universal for most organizations, although specialized roles vary depending on the organization. Specialized functions vary from financial controller, cash management, risk, and insurance management alongside finance manager. The functions entail guiding a team of specialized employees to summarize financial reports, income statement, and to forecast the financial position of the organization. It may also include overseeing auditing, accounting, and financial objectives of the organization. The role generally focuses on being accountable to the organizations financial matters irrespective of the junior staff undertaking financial duties with regards to the manager’s ratings and plan of events. Functions and roles of junior staff of the organization are defined by the functions of the departments in which they are appointed. Conclusion The Organization structure as modeled above is built with few levels of management and short chain of command. These attributes enable smooth running of operations by a majority of the organizations, considering friction is minimized with clearly defined functions and roles of structured positions. The model is structured in a manner that facilitates easy decision-making and accountability with respect to essential organizations tasks to enable maximum performance (Marquis and Huston, 2009, p.286). Top of Form References Cannon, D.L. (2011). CISA Certified Information Systems Auditor Study Guide. NY: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Marquis, B.L. & Huston, C.J. (2009). Leadership roles and Management Functions in nursing: Theory and Application. PA: Lippicott Williams & Wilkins. Read More