Corporate And Divisional Responsibilities

We are going to deal extensively on Corporate and Divisional Responsibilities in this article, thereby creating an awareness about the topic under consideration, and ensuring you have a clear understanding about the topic.

In a company, the organization may be structured as a decentralized or a centralized one. The nature of the structure will determine to a large extent the control of their marketing functions at the corporate and divisional levels. So many factors may guide such decision.

In a decentralized company, the division controls many marketing functions. If the company is centralized, the chief executive will rely on the guidance of the marketing director who is charged with the responsibilities of the marketing functions at the head office.

The size of division  and the revenue available to it will determine the level of marketing functions performed. In a big division with enough revenue, advertising and marketing research can be undertaken in addition to other functions. But smaller divisions will have to depend on the corporate staff to provide such services.This will, of course, depend on the availability of competent and experienced staff at the division. 

If the required calibre of staff are available only at the corporate head office, such services will be provided from there.

Similarity of products or markets will call for product planning at the corporate level. It will also be desirable to exercise corporate control over pricing.

Even when the divisions make different products which move into the same markets, this would require corporate marketing policies and controls to ensure a unified inter-divisional approach to common customers.

There may be need to carry out corporate advertising and award of central contract for advertising. In these two situations, planning at the corporate head office is the best option. This will reduce cost of advertising when compared to a situation where each division carries out its own advertising except it is found very necessary.

Divisions are charged with generating sales but they may call on the corporate marketing director to them make top level sales contracts. This will require the marketing director to call on the customers’ top management . The corporate marketing director also plays an important role when there is need to diversify into business fields which are beyond the authorities granted divisional heads.

Corporate And Divisional Responsibilities: Staffing The Organization

Staffing involves manning the organization structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal, and development personnel to fill the role designed into the structure. Most companies prefer to promote within, but find themselves forced to go outside for certain specialized personnel. Basically, there are both advantages and disadvantages of promoting from within and recruiting from outside. It is in this context that we shall examine staffing in marketing department or any other department.

Promoting from within offers such advantages as boosting the morale and motivating the personnel. This is achieved by the staff working hard with a view to being promoted to the next senior rank. It also reduces the risk of engaging staff with alleged strengths and unknown weaknesses. What most companies do in such situation is to favor the promotion of known staff with known weaknesses to higher positions.

An inside staff knows much about the company and does not require any further orientation to appreciate the company’s strengths and weaknesses. He knows the company, its products, and its markets. Promoting staff from within provides opportunity for executive development since the superior officers train and groom their subordinates. Such staff promoted from within are more likely to follow laid down company policy and would avoid ‘rocking the boat’. It is often cheaper in terms of compensation for the firm to promote its staff to higher ranks than to engage outsiders.

The disadvantages associated with promoting from within are by far less than the advantages. The company may be seen as adopting a closed system where all superior outside executive talents are shut off. The need to fill a new position or a vacancy may necessitate the rapid promotion of some individuals in the firm, and in so doing, efficiency may be sacrificed. Promoting from within does not make for innovativeness in the firm. Promoted staff in their desire to tow-the-line may not be able to introduce new systems of achieving faster results. Such a company may remain laggards in the face of changing trends. Often times, promotion may be politicized such that favoured staff will benefit from promotion exercise, not necessarily due to their merits or potentials.

Recruitment from outside the firms has its own advantages. Companies recruit from outside when they have need for experts who. are vastly experienced in given managerial functions. Such experts may be needed to revitalize a weak division, or to establish new departments. It may serve as a way of injecting new ideas into the operations of the company. This is the case when an organization which has been reluctant to employ university graduates decides to recruit some of them to strengthen its structure. Recruiting from outside may be necessary because the company lacks the talents as in the case of recruiting a computer scientist. In rare cases, it can help create a new and improved image to customers and shareholders.

There are also some disadvantages inherent in outside recruitment. There may exist a wide gap between the temperament of the new staff and the company. In such situations, reconciliation between the staff and the job or company will be difficult. This invariably will affect output. New staff recruited may affect drive and morale of the older executives who may feel they were by-passed in preference for outsiders. Such a situation may in extreme cases result in the resignation of valuable staff.