Book,
The Structuring of Organizations: A Synthesis of the Research
Prentice Hall, Eaglewood Cliffs, (1979)
Abstract
Synthesizes the empirical literature on organizationalstructuring
to answer the question of how organizations structure themselves
--how they resolve needed coordination and division of labor. Organizationalstructuring
is defined as the sum total of the ways in which an organizationdivides
and coordinates its labor into distinct tasks. Further analysis of
theresearch literature is neededin order to builda conceptualframework
that will fill in the significant gap left by not connecting adescription
of structure to its context: how an organization actuallyfunctions.
The results of the synthesis are five basic configurations (the SimpleStructure,
the Machine Bureaucracy, the Professional Bureaucracy, theDivisionalized
Form, and the Adhocracy) that serve as the fundamental elementsof
structure in an organization. Five basic parts of the contemporaryorganization
(the operating core, the strategic apex, the middle line, thetechnostructure,
and the support staff), and five theories of how it functions(i.e.,
as a system characterized by formal authority, regulated flows, informalcommunication,
work constellations, and ad hoc decision processes) aretheorized.
Organizations function in complex and varying ways, due to differing
flows -including flows of authority, work material, information,
and decisionprocesses. These flows depend on the age, size, and environment
of theorganization; additionally, technology plays a key role because
of itsimportance in structuring the operating core. Finally, design
parameters aredescribed - based on the above five basic parts and
five theories - that areused as a means of coordination and division
of labor in designingorganizational structures, in order to establish
stable patterns of behavior.(CJC)
