Kawaii Electronics sells air conditioning systems for office buildings. The company's marketing department is currently structured as a functional organization

Question

However, Kawaii is considering changing the structure to either a product management or a customer management organization. In a brief essay, describe each type of organization: functional, product management, and customer management. What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of each structure for Kawaii? Which structure do you recommend for Kawaii? Why?

Answer 1

(Students' answers may vary. The answer given below is indicative.)
Under the functional organization, different marketing activities are headed by a functional specialist — a sales manager, an advertising manager, a marketing research manager, a customer service manager, or a new product manager.

Under a product management organization, a product manager develops and implements a complete strategy and marketing program for a specific product or brand. Unless the company has a few standout products, this system will not benefit it as much as other methods. Considering that the company sells one basic product type, this system may not be profitable for the company. Under a market or customer management organization, the company is organized around the needs of specific customer segments. In firms that use this organization, one product line is sold to many different types of markets and customers that have different needs and preferences. Though the firm sells a single type of product and product line, all its customers are offices and significant differences will most likely not exist. Though the company may segment its market based on office size, this may be an inefficient use of company resources.