Headquarters (HQ) denotes the location where most,
if not all, of the important functions of an organization are
coordinated. The
corporate
headquarters is the entity at the top of a
corporation taking full responsibility managing
all business activities.
In the UK
, the term
'head office' is most commonly used for the HQs of large
corporations.
The term is also used regarding
military
organizations.
Corporate headquarters
Entity at the top of a
corporation to
take full responsibility for the overall success of the
corporation, ensures
Corporate
Governance.
Corporate
headquarters are a key element of a corporate structure and
cover different corporate functions such as
strategic planning,
corporate communications,
tax,
legal,
marketing,
finance,
HR,
IT. The
corporate headquarters include:
CEO as a key person and his
support staff such as the CEO office and other CEO related
functions; the "Corporate policy making" functions: Include all
corporate functions necessary to steer the firm by defining and
establishing corporate policies; the Corporate Services: Activities
that combine or consolidate certain enterprise-wide needed support
services, provided based on specialized knowledge, best practices,
and technology to serve internal (and sometimes external)
customers and business partners; the
Interface: Reporting line and bi-directional link
between corporate headquarters and business units.
Business Unit headquarters
Includes leader of business unit and his staff as well as all
functions to manage the business unit and operational activities.
The head of the Business Unit is responsible for overall result of
the business unit.
Regional headquarters
Entity at the top of regional unit, including all activities of the
various business units, to take full responsibility for overall
profitability and success of this regional unit.
Functional headquarters
Entity at the top of a corporate function - in practice not very
common; usually this corporate function is integrated in the
corporate headquarters.
Military headquarters
Military headquarters take many forms depending on the size and
nature of the unit or
formation
they command.
Typically, they are split into the forward,
main and rear components, both within NATO
nations, and
those following the organization and doctrine of the former
Soviet
Union
(see Isby, 1988).
The forward or tactical HQs (known as 'Tac' for short) is a small
group of staff and communicators. Usually very mobile, they exist
to allow the commander to go forward in an operation, and command
the key parts of it from a position where they can see the ground
and influence their immediate subordinates.
The main HQs (known as 'Main') is less mobile and is involved in
both the planning and execution of operations. There are a number
of staff assembled here from various staff branches to advise the
commander, and to control the various aspects of planning and the
conduct of discrete operations. A main HQ for a large formation
will have a chief of staff (CoS) who coordinates the staff effort;
in a smaller HQ this may be done by the second-in-command
(2iC).
The rear or logistic HQs ('Rear') is some distance from the battle
or front line in conventional operations. Its function is to ensure
the logistical support to front line troops, which it does by
organizing the delivery of combat supplies, materiel and equipment
to where they are needed, and by organizing services such as combat
medicine, equipment recovery and repair.
Police headquarters
Police headquarters are usually located in a
city or
town and are run by the
local
police force. The
chief of police is in charge of all
units.
Religious headquarters
Religious organizations have their headquarters in a city or a
place.
The
headquarters of Catholic Church is Vatican City
. The World Council of Churches, including
Orthodox Churches, has its Headquarters in Geneva
,
Switzerland. The Headquarters of Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople is located in Istanbul
,
Turkey. And Anglican Communion Office is in London
.
Budō headquarters (honbu)
In
budō sports (Japanese martial arts)
like
karate,
judo,
aikido,
kendo, etc.,
there is usually a headquarter for each organization or region. The
Japanese word
honbu (本部) is generally
used for that, also outside Japan. Sometimes they refer to this
headquarters as
honbu dojo (本部道場) in which
dojo (道場) is a facility provided for practicing
discipline, the training ground. Sometimes
honbu is
written as
ho'm
bu, the way it is pronounced,
but according the Hepburn
transcription, the correct spelling should be honbu in
which the 'n' is a syllabic
n.
References
- Isby, David C. (1988) Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet
Army Jane's, London: 516 pp.
- Wanner, Herbert (2006) Global and regional corporate
headquarters in: Kählin, Christian, H. (Editor): Switzerland
Business & Investment Handbook; Orell Füssli and Wiley.
- Wanner, Herbert; LeClef, Xavier, & Shimizu, Hiroshi (2004)
Global Headquarters on the Move: From Administrators to
Facilitators Prims Second Semester 2004; Arthur D.
Little.
Notes
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