Organizational structure is the way in which the members of the organization and their job responsibilities are arranged.  The organizational structure typically consists of various business units formed around functions (e.g., research and development, manufacturing, sales and marketing, finance, human resources, etc.), products, markets or customers that are arranged in a hierarchical fashion. The organizational structure includes several important components (i.e., roles, relationships, responsibilities and scope of authority and communications/reporting channels); determines how power, authority and accountability are formally distributed throughout the organization; and obviously has a strong influence on how members and different business units interact with one another and the degree to which they will share information and collaborate to achieve the overall goals and objectives of the organization.  This book is intended to be a valuable resource in identifying and implementing the appropriate structure for your organization.