How is Tesla organized as a company?
Tesla has a functional organizational structure that is flat as well. Tesla’s organizational structure is designed in a way that is easy to manage and built for maximum efficiency. Tesla can still be considered as a startup in the automotive industry as its competitors are typically 75+ years old. As a startup, Tesla is designed for efficiency, to begin with as it must be easier to group and manage similar tasks. 

 

Some of the key functional groups of Tesla is as below: 

 

Materials Engineering 

Artificial Intelligence for Auto Pilot 

Hardware design engineering 

Energy operations 

Global communications 

Global Environment health and safety 

Global security 

Chief of staff 

Information operations 

 

All the functional groups report to the CEO and Tesla has a heavy flat organization structure. Materials engineering is responsible for material research and development, design for both Tesla and SpaceX. Tesla separated out the autopilot unit from its technology and information operations as it needs a dedicated focus for Tesla to sustain its competitive advantage in this space.  

 

Certain functional units like global security and global environmental health and safety span across all the Tesla markets. Again, Tesla must have been designed to increase efficiency without creating complex divisional structures and duplicate efforts.