Nike (Discuss in essay format Nikes organisational structure and how

Nike (Discuss in format Nikes organisational structure and how Nike has affected and been affected by the external environment.) - Essay Example Nike’s organizational structure is characterized by both vertical and horizontal functional levels that are basically democratic in nature though its administrative apparatus has some elements of bureaucracy too. With the appointment of Mark Parker as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nike, the organization has yet again proved to the rest of the world how much the top command of Nike places emphasis on its modern innovative approach to business growth and corporate success. While its current functional level structure is less vertically integrated there is a broader horizontal level integration of both managerial functions and subordinates’ tasks to achieve a broader level of integration within the defined hierarchy. Vertically the organizational structure of Nike tends to be more or less paternalistic and bureaucratic with the founder/president still having control over much of the operational structures of the organization while horizontally it’s much more democratic thus facilitating communication, delegation of power and responsibility to subordinates and above all well coordinated Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at the international level across its many production facilities in the world. Organizational structure consists of differentiation and integration within the organization hierarchy. Differentiation in turn consists of vertical and horizontal distribution of functions and tasks. Vertical differentiation basically refers to the distribution of decision making functions within the organization while horizontal differentiation refers to the distribution individual tasks such as non-decision making duties of employees (Wokutch, 2001). Nike has a flatter horizontal hierarchical distribution of functions thus effectively facilitating the democratic decision making process within the organization. Integration refers to coordination among a number