Mintzburg's Taxonomy of Organizational Forms
Mintzberg's Taxonomy of Organizational Forms by Fred Beshears
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According to Henry Mintzberg, an organization's structure is largely determined by the variety one finds in its environment. For Mintzberg, environmental variety is determined by both environmental complexity and the pace of change. He identifies four types of organizational form, which are associated with four combinations of complexity and change.
To help explain each of the four organizational forms, Mintzberg defines five basic organizational subunits.
Basic Subunits | Subunit | Example positions from a manufacturing firm. | Strategic Apex | Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer | Technostructure | Strategic Planning, Personnel Training, Operations Research, Systems Analysis and Design | Support Staff | Legal Counsel, Public Relations, Payroll, Mailroom Clerks, Cafeteria Workers | Middle Line | VP Operations, VP Marketing, Plant Managers Sales Managers | Operating Core | Purchasing Agents, Machine Operators, Assemblers, Sales Persons, Shippers |
Each of the four organizational forms in Mintzberg's scheme depend on fundamentally different mechanisms for coordination.
Organizational Form | Coordination Mechanism | | | Machine Bureaucracy | Standardize procedures and outputs | Professional Organization | Standardize professional skills and norms | Entrepreneurial Startup | Direct supervision and control | Adhocracy | Mutual adjustment of ad-hoc teams |
And, in each particular form, different subunits tend to have greater influence. Machine Bureaucracy | Technocrats standardize procedures and outputs | Professional Organization | Professionals in the operating core (e.g. doctors, professors) rely on roles and skills learned from years of schooling and indoctrination to coordinate their work | Entrepreneurial Startup | Managers in the strategic apex directly supervise the work of subordinates. | Adhocracy |
[ Return ]
According to Henry Mintzberg, an organization's structure is largely determined by the variety one finds in its environment. For Mintzberg, environmental variety is determined by both environmental complexity and the pace of change. He identifies four types of organizational form, which are associated with four combinations of complexity and change.
To help explain each of the four organizational forms, Mintzberg defines five basic organizational subunits.
Basic Subunits | Subunit | Example positions from a manufacturing firm. | Strategic Apex | Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer | Technostructure | Strategic Planning, Personnel Training, Operations Research, Systems Analysis and Design | Support Staff | Legal Counsel, Public Relations, Payroll, Mailroom Clerks, Cafeteria Workers | Middle Line | VP Operations, VP Marketing, Plant Managers Sales Managers | Operating Core | Purchasing Agents, Machine Operators, Assemblers, Sales Persons, Shippers |
Each of the four organizational forms in Mintzberg's scheme depend on fundamentally different mechanisms for coordination.
Organizational Form | Coordination Mechanism | | | Machine Bureaucracy | Standardize procedures and outputs | Professional Organization | Standardize professional skills and norms | Entrepreneurial Startup | Direct supervision and control | Adhocracy | Mutual adjustment of ad-hoc teams |
And, in each particular form, different subunits tend to have greater influence. Machine Bureaucracy | Technocrats standardize procedures and outputs | Professional Organization | Professionals in the operating core (e.g. doctors, professors) rely on roles and skills learned from years of schooling and indoctrination to coordinate their work | Entrepreneurial Startup | Managers in the strategic apex directly supervise the work of subordinates. | Adhocracy |