Tesla is a unique company in many ways, and this uniqueness also extends to its organizational culture. In particular, Tesla, unlike most companies of its size, does not have a well-known management structure. There is no organizational structure or a public list of senior executives; however, the organizational structure of Tesla can be described as divided. The organizational structure of Tesla includes several divisions, such as energy, engineering and manufacturing, human resources and communications, law and finance, sales, and software.
Tesla’s functional or U-shaped organizational structure uses corporate function as the primary determining factor. For example, a company may have several structural groups, one of which is engaged in sales and services and the other in production (Grant, 2016). Some structural characteristics of different types of corporate structures are also present in Tesla, although to a lesser extent (Kim, 2020). The following features are essential in the organizational structure of Tesla:
- Hierarchy based on functions.
- Centralization.
- Divisions (Kim, 2020).
The most crucial characteristic of Tesla’s corporate structure is a hierarchy based on functions in its global organization. This hierarchy includes functional groups or offices that control domestic and international operations. This feature is usually observed in traditional corporate structures, where companies maintain strict managerial control over their activities (Grant, 2016). In the organizational structure of Tesla, the following functional units manage and represent the global hierarchy:
- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
- Finance.
- Technology.
- International Sales and Service (Kim, 2020).
- Engineering.
Tesla uses centralization in its corporate structure, which focuses on managerial control over the entire organization through decisions made by a central group or team. In this case, the heads of the global hierarchy offices form the corporation’s main headquarters, which directly controls all operations (Grant, 2016). In this organizational structure, Tesla minimally maintains the autonomy of its regional or foreign offices (Kim, 2020). Divisions, as a characteristic of the corporate structure, focus on the scale of geographical or other types of divisions in the Tesla automotive business. The company’s main divisions in its corporate structure are the automotive industry and the production and storage of energy.
References
Grant, R.M. (2016). Contemporary strategy analysis (9th ed.). Wiley.
Kim, H. (2020). Analysis of How Tesla Creates Core Innovation Capability. International Journal of Business and Management, 15(6), 42-61.