Question:

‘Soal Footwear Ltd.’ is known for its high quality athletic shoes and casual sneakers. With increasing competition and changing consumer preferences, it decided to diversify its product range by adding clothing, bags and accessories under the same brand umbrella. This diversification aimed to capture a larger share of the market and increase customer loyalty.

(i) Suggest with reason which type of organisational structure will be suitable for ‘Soal Footwear Ltd.’

(ii) State any two advantages of the organisational structure suggested in (i) above.

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The firm has diversified into many product lines, so a divisional (product based) structure suits it. Give any two advantages such as skill development of heads and easy expansion.
Updated On: Oct 26, 2026
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Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understand the situation:
Soal Footwear Ltd. made athletic shoes and casual sneakers. Now it has added clothing, bags and accessories "under the same brand umbrella".
The firm has moved from one product line to several different product lines. We need a structure that suits many products.

Step 2: Part (i): Suggest the structure with reason:
The suitable structure is the Divisional Structure.
Reason: a divisional structure groups the work by product. Each product line, such as footwear, clothing and bags, becomes a separate division with its own head and resources.
This works well when a firm has diversified and sells a wide variety of products, as Soal Footwear Ltd. has now done.

Step 3: Part (ii): Two advantages of divisional structure:
1. Product specialisation develops varied skills in the divisional head. A head who runs a full product line learns many aspects of business, and this prepares him for higher positions.
2. It facilitates expansion and growth. A new division can be added for a new product line, just by adding a divisional head and staff, without disturbing the existing work.
(Other correct advantages: accountability for profit is easy to fix; faster decisions because each division is an autonomous unit.)

Final Answer:
(i) Divisional structure, because the firm has diversified into many product lines. (ii) Development of varied skills in the divisional head; ease of expansion and growth.
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