June 07, 2023

Company Structures And Departments Every PhD Should Know

3 minutes

Join Isaiah as he takes a look at several company structures and breaks down departments that PhDs need to be familiar with

In this week’s episode…

First, Isaiah explains how a company’s structure determines the flow of information and responsibility at a given business

Next, he touches on a few popular structures that PhDs should be familiar with and what makes them different

Finally, Isaiah takes a look at a few different departments most industry companies have and explains a little about what each one does

Understanding A Company’s Organizational Structure Is An Important Part Of Your Job Search

If you’re new to industry, you might not know exactly what I mean by company structure.

Company structure describes the way that information flows through the company to each individual department, then to each employee, and eventually to each consumer of the company’s products.

There are many types of company structure – Functional, Divisional, or Flatarychy, to name a few.

A Company’s Structure Determines How Information Flows From The Leadership Level To Associates

Functional is the most common structure.

It breaks up a company into departments, and each department’s workforce deals with a specific aspect of the business.

Management decisions in this structure flow from the top, say the CEO, on down to the organization’s managers. From there, it moves down further to personnel management and junior employees.

By contrast, a Flatarchy is a startup-inspired organizational structure.

It replaces a more traditional chain of command like ones we see with Functional organizations. This style decreases the number of touchpoints with management and invites employees to take ownership of a department’s success.

Most Companies Have Some Departments In Common, Regardless Of Their Structure

Regardless of structure, a company will have departments that information flows through. They might be called groups, teams, or divisions rather than departments.

The process of information flow does have steps, but the flow of this information through a company behaves much more like a living organism than a checklist.

Let’s say your work for a biopharma company. The Executive or Finance department is likely the department that decides what to invest in and how much.

It’s Marketing’s job, once that is decided upon, to work with Sales to determine how to meet sales goals.

Then it’s R&D’s job to work with Marketing to develop a product or service that is needed in the market-one with enough demand and potential profit margin to meet these goals too.

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** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

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