Structures in an organization can have a massive impact on you as a leader and the style of leadership or management in which you're going to bring into the organization. Now, as I talk you through different structures and their approaches, think back to all the different styles of leadership, which we've currently gone through, and how you're going to have to now adapt your leadership style into what the company is or trying to do. Now, there are different structures within an organization. First of all, a more functional based organization is a company which has set departments like you'd have a sales department, the customer service department, a human resource department, and so on the company's split into quite manageable functions. Now, this style of cultural structure might then bring out more transactional autocratic style of leadership. You may say However, the transformational style of leadership could still come out within these functions.

However, it's up to the leader to sort of adapt and bring in our own styles and skills within the different sections. Now, there are also lots of companies out there who have different products. So as well as been split into functions, they might be a more product based organization. I don't know that's just been called something like a multinational business that has a railway company, a soft drinks company, a food manufacturing company, and so on and so on. Now, each one of those different parts of the company is completely different. So you may be working in a company for a long period of time in the railway company, but then be asked to move into the food production company, then your leadership style may have to change with it, because that brings out a whole new way of working and a whole new structure of working as well.

Now over big companies may be split into what's called a geographical structure. Now in this particular structure, it could be national or international. It could be national, where you may be a recruitment office here in the UK, with offices in London, Manchester and Liverpool, or you may be a more global company, with satellite offices in different cities across the world. Again, when you're looking at the structure of the organization, you need to think about how your leadership style is going to change with that, too. You know, in one country do you need to be more autocratic, whereas in one country do you need to be more charismatic? This is where you'd actually start to bring out a lot more of your transcultural leadership skills.

Remember what I showed you back in the first learning outcome. So really, what I want you to start thinking about now is the leadership styles which I've gone through and taught you and how you're going to now think about the structure of the organization which are going to work in or currently work. And how you need to adapt it to suit that style.