1. Introduce your organization by presenting a detailed historical description of the organization from inception to a discussion of current issues and major initiatives (500-1000 words).
a. As an organization, GEICO has a colorful history. Originally founded in 1936 by Leo Godwin, Sr., GEICO today has grown into a massive company, holding the title as the second largest private auto insurance company within the United States. With its original founding, Godwin sought to create a product that was marketed directly to certain target groups, thereby giving him the ability to lower premiums (Calandro, 2011). The first such group were government employees, hence the long name of Government Employees Insurance Corporation, or GEICO for short. By …show more content…
The organizational structure of GEICO begins with Berkshire Hathaway, which is run by Warren Buffet and would be considered a conglomerate with companies operating in multiple industries. Directly below Warren Buffet is Tony Nicely, the Chairman and CEO of GEICO. Mr. Nicely has multiple senior vice presidents reporting to himself, including the president of GEICO, Bill Roberts. Under the president is where the vast majority of the decision-making occurs by the various Senior Vice-Presidents (SVP). Under these SVP’s, various departments are broken down into region specific areas, such as the Midwest and Southeast. These regions are headed by a specific Regional Vice-President (RVP), who then oversees an Associate Vice-President Line (AVP Line), which makes most of the day-to-day decision making within the region. The RVP is more concerned with overall business strategy and the planning center forecast for the coming year. The AVP Line does more communication with the various Directors of specific claims divisions such as Liability, Auto Damage, Special Investigations, and Service. These different divisions represent the core of GEICO and are standard region to region. Some regions have additional divisions, such as Chevy Chase, which is home to the Claims Home Office (CHO) and is responsible for training auto damage adjusters as well as setting corporate policy for auto damage and general claims handling criteria. After the breakdown into these divisions, there are …show more content…
When it comes to looking at the organizational structure of GEICO, there are various ways it can be improved to increase efficiency and productivity. According to Kilburg and Donohue (2014), an efficient and simplified organizational structure is needed to give an organization its full potential. With GEICO, there are too many overlapping supervisors and positions, with it sometimes being extremely difficult to determine who is the appropriate person to talk to. Further, GEICO does not provide any structure in choosing your supervisor with some adjusters moving back and forth between numerous supervisors over the course of a year. By redefining certain key roles and disseminating what those are, GEICO can make huge strides in improving organizational structure. All businesses, especially those the size of GEICO are infinitely complex but by structuring the organization more efficiently and improving communication, more can be achieved overall. By consolidating certain operations such as auto damage under one umbrella instead of by region, adjusters can work together more and learn from each other, something that is almost impossible today. Improving and streamlining organizational structure is key to continued development and future
a. As an organization, GEICO has a colorful history. Originally founded in 1936 by Leo Godwin, Sr., GEICO today has grown into a massive company, holding the title as the second largest private auto insurance company within the United States. With its original founding, Godwin sought to create a product that was marketed directly to certain target groups, thereby giving him the ability to lower premiums (Calandro, 2011). The first such group were government employees, hence the long name of Government Employees Insurance Corporation, or GEICO for short. By …show more content…
The organizational structure of GEICO begins with Berkshire Hathaway, which is run by Warren Buffet and would be considered a conglomerate with companies operating in multiple industries. Directly below Warren Buffet is Tony Nicely, the Chairman and CEO of GEICO. Mr. Nicely has multiple senior vice presidents reporting to himself, including the president of GEICO, Bill Roberts. Under the president is where the vast majority of the decision-making occurs by the various Senior Vice-Presidents (SVP). Under these SVP’s, various departments are broken down into region specific areas, such as the Midwest and Southeast. These regions are headed by a specific Regional Vice-President (RVP), who then oversees an Associate Vice-President Line (AVP Line), which makes most of the day-to-day decision making within the region. The RVP is more concerned with overall business strategy and the planning center forecast for the coming year. The AVP Line does more communication with the various Directors of specific claims divisions such as Liability, Auto Damage, Special Investigations, and Service. These different divisions represent the core of GEICO and are standard region to region. Some regions have additional divisions, such as Chevy Chase, which is home to the Claims Home Office (CHO) and is responsible for training auto damage adjusters as well as setting corporate policy for auto damage and general claims handling criteria. After the breakdown into these divisions, there are …show more content…
When it comes to looking at the organizational structure of GEICO, there are various ways it can be improved to increase efficiency and productivity. According to Kilburg and Donohue (2014), an efficient and simplified organizational structure is needed to give an organization its full potential. With GEICO, there are too many overlapping supervisors and positions, with it sometimes being extremely difficult to determine who is the appropriate person to talk to. Further, GEICO does not provide any structure in choosing your supervisor with some adjusters moving back and forth between numerous supervisors over the course of a year. By redefining certain key roles and disseminating what those are, GEICO can make huge strides in improving organizational structure. All businesses, especially those the size of GEICO are infinitely complex but by structuring the organization more efficiently and improving communication, more can be achieved overall. By consolidating certain operations such as auto damage under one umbrella instead of by region, adjusters can work together more and learn from each other, something that is almost impossible today. Improving and streamlining organizational structure is key to continued development and future