Retail Management

SUMMARY: An organization is a formal structure of roles and positions put in place to achieve some specific goals. The structure of a retail organization defines the role of employees and the way in which the organization functions. This chapter discussed the steps involved in designing an appropriate retail organization structure to enhance a store's ability to serve its target markets. To design an effective retail organization structure, managers/ owners must define store objectives, identify the tasks, classify the tasks and jobs, and assign responsibilities and authority to various positions, and define the relation between them.

Organizations can have flat structures or vertical (tall) structures. A flat organization structure has only one or two levels of management, whereas a vertical organization has more than two levels of management.