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PART B: BUSINESS ORGANISATION STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONS AND GOVERNANCE 
 
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2.2.3 Professional bureaucracy 
The professional bureaucracy is based on clear lines of authority and standard practices. The practices 
are often built on standards set by law, regulations or independent external bodies, such as professional 
associations (eg law, accountancy). The operating core is the major coordinating influence and people 
are usually well motivated. 
2.2.4 Divisionalised 
In a divisionalised structure, a small central core provides guidelines for business units that enjoy a high 
degree of autonomy. The middle line forms a strong coordinating influence, as it translates the demands 
of the central core into the objectives of the operating core.
2.2.5 Adhocracy 
The adhocracy is task or project-based, and needs to respond quickly to changing demands such as 
rapidly evolving markets, or technological innovation. Defined processes are less important as a result. 
Research and development is usually the primary driver of adhocracies. 
So, in most organisations, tasks and people are grouped together in some way: on the basis of 
specialisation, say, or shared technology or customer base. This is known as 
departmentation
. Different 
patterns of departmentation are possible, and the pattern selected will depend on the individual
circumstances of the organisation. 
2.3 Functional departmentation 
Organisations can be 
departmentalised
on a 
functional
basis (with separate departments for production, 
marketing, finance, etc), a 
geographical
basis (by region or country), a 
product
basis (eg worldwide 
divisions for product X, Y, etc), a 
brand
basis, or a 
matrix
basis (eg someone selling product X in country 
A would report to both a product X manager and a country A manager). Organisation structures often 
feature a variety of these types, as