Facebook’s Funky Organisational Format

By Melody McGuirk

December 6, 2020

Before I tell you… what type of organisational structure do you think Facebook has? Functional structure, divisional structure, matrix structure or network structure?

I hope you guessed correctly; Facebook has a matrix organizational structure. This structure is very popular as it is a hybrid of functional and divisional structure.

A matrix organisational structure does not look like a traditional tiered pyramid or hierarchy, but more like a grid that has employees from different functional areas working together on specific tasks.

Main features of Facebook’s Matrix Organisational Structure

1) Corporate Function-Based Teams

2) Geographic Divisions

3) Product-Based Divisions

I will briefly explain these features, but they can be found in more detail on Panmore Institute’s website, “Facebook Inc.’s Organizational Structure (Analysis)”.

Corporate Function-Based Teams

These are the main corporate function-based teams in Facebook’s organizational structure:

· Chief Executive

· Finance

· Operations

· Information

· Technology

· Accounting

· Privacy

· Security

· Marketing

· Legal

· Business & Marketing

· Global Public Policy

· Investor Relations

· Product Management

· Human Resources

A senior manager or executive heads each team.

Image from orgcharting.com

Geographic Divisions

Facebook Inc.’s organizational structure includes the following geographic divisions:

· North America

· Latin America

· Europe, Middle East & Africa

· Asia & South Pacific

Facebook has these different divisions due to the variation in social networking, online advertising laws and cultures in the different areas. Having these different geographic divisions also decreases the amount of international travel.

Product-Based Divisions

Facebook also employs people based on their product portfolio. Their matrix organizational structure includes the following product-based divisions:

· Family of Apps

· New Platforms and Infrastructure

· Central Product Services

All in all, I think that Facebook has chosen an organisational structure that is well suited to their business as it provides clear project objectives and provides more support from the functional areas, for all their employees.

It also allows Facebook to be flexible, expand and diversify. The matrix structure enables them to react to market changes and trends in a simple manor. I think that this is well aided by the geographic divisions so Facebook can be more precise and target certain areas.

Conclusion

Once again, I really hope you enjoyed reading my second blog post. If you did, make sure to leave a comment and share. I will be posting more blogs after Christmas… so I will see you next in 2021!

References

Sdecoret, Sep 16th 2019, Man with floating Facebook new logo between his hands and digital connections. 3D rendering [image] Available at https://stock.adobe.com/ie/search?load_type=search&native_visual_search=&similar_content_id=&is_recent_search=&search_type=autosuggest&k=facebook&acp=1&aco=face&asset_id=290074543 [Accessed 6 December 2020]

Lombardo, J. (2018). Facebook Inc.’s Organizational Structure (Analysis) Available at http://panmore.com/facebook-inc-organizational-structure-analysis#:~:text=Facebook%20has%20a%20matrix%20organizational,Corporate%20Function%2DBased%20Teams [ Accessed 6 December 2020 ]

Cronin, C., 2020. Lecture 7- Introduction to ORGANISING (Company Structures, Roles, Functions), DL840- Introduction to Management

Nancy. Facebook Organizational Structure: Check The Big Figure [image] Available at https://www.orgcharting.com/facebook-organizational-structure/ [Accessed 6 December 2020]