Etude de cas Organisation Groupe Airbus

Airbus : Baptiste BUROT Baptiste

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1)  Airbus Group presents a divisional structure in its organizational chart.

Indeed, at the first level we have the 3 principal divisions of the Airbus Group, such as Airbus commercial aircraft, Airbus helicopters and Airbus defence and space. Each division works on its objectives.

2) Airbus is a huge group which works on different objectives as we can see in it 3 divisions before. Airbus includes his board of directors and the CEO at the top of the company. The CEO leads all the Airbus Group and the 3 divisions. The directors of these divisions take part in the executive committee like the CEO.

These divisions are divided by customer groups and the type of product. Airbus wants to focus on different markets.

Then there is a second level, which corresponds to a functional organization. It regroups the managers for each division as the CFO the HR director, etc. It’s a sort of hybrid organization because there is a divisional part at the first level and a functional part for the second and the third level.

Then the third level works with the second. This third level presents more specific job as general assistant or intern audit which helps to manage a division.

The Airbus Group is like 3 companies with his 3 divisions led by the same board of directors. And these companies have a functional structure.

The structure has a strict hierarchy with three distinct levels and a lot of employees hidden behind that whom work for their manager and respect directives. Airbus uses that to have more authority and to set precise objectives which can be supervised by each manager for each department of each division. There is the decentralization of the decisions and power.

This hierarchizing process helps Airbus to manage each of his business.

3) The Divisional structure has advantages and disadvantages.

First, Airbus is a huge group, so this type of organization let Airbus manage all these different markets. It’s easier for Airbus to separate services and products into division because each manager leads his team and focus on a product line. Thanks to that Airbus can be on different markets.

Then the functional in each division helps to distinguish the roles and responsibilities of the employees. Each employee within the structure is specialized in his field and he can develop his skills.

It also helps to the organization of the firm because a large group as Airbus couldn’t be competitive with just a functional organization. That would mean that the CFO for example should manage Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Airbus Helicopters and Airbus Defence and Space. It’s too much work to do. That is why the divisions are more efficient.

And finally, it helps to a better accountability. It’s better organized for accountants to make the end-of-year report.

However, this type of organization also has drawbacks. First of all, there is poor coordination between each division. Indeed, each division is focused on its objectives and do not coordinate with each other.

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