ABSTRACT
This chapter presents different types of organizational structures used by multi-business firms to implement their diversification strategies. It also describes that multi-business firms must change their organizational structure as they grow over time and diversify their business activities. The chapter discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the main organizational structure implemented by multi-business firms, that is, the multidivisional structure. It also presents different types of organizations must be used to implement different corporate level strategies. Organizational structure refers to the design of the firm's organization and includes the lines of communication and authority across administrative offices, as well as the information that flows among them. A firm's organizational structure specifies its formal reporting relationships, procedures, controls, and authority and decision-making processes. Dow's organizational matrix had three elements: functions, businesses and geography. In the 1980s, attention began to move toward a new' organizational form, the network organization.
