Appex
1. Mechanistic organizations are characterized by high formalization, high specialization, and a clear chain of command with narrow spans of control. Despite its rigid structure, a mechanistic approach can be well suited for a company under several conditions.
For a mechanistic organization, stability is the key; when the environment is stable enough such that the industry produces a constant and consistent stream of uniform products, a company will see success in adopting a mechanistic structure. As the mechanistic organization stresses importance on consistency, it deals well in a situation where the company must survive in a constant or steadily growing market, and where there is a stable demand for the product or service. Appex Corporation offers two clearly defined lines of products – Intercarrier Services (ICS) and Cellular Management Information Systems (IS) – which experience steady demands from a broad range of customers. Also, it holds long-lasting contracts with these large-scale customers in North America, further stabilizing Appex’s position in the environment. In such a case, Appex would fare well by adopting a mechanistic or bureaucratic structure in its organization.
The goal of a mechanistic organization is efficiency, thus worker efficiency is also a condition in which this structure works well. In a mechanistic organization, workers are treated more as machines than as humans. Or rather, they are treated as the intermediary between the machine and the final output in the production process; this means they are expected to work as efficiently as machines in order to produce a high volume of goods. In the case of Appex, since the cellular telephone industry is a rapidly growing industry with subscribers growing from 92,000 to 3.5 million in just 5 years (p.4), workers need to be efficient at producing the output volume that these subscribers demand. They are also forced to carry on multiple projects at the same time, oftentimes feeling
For a mechanistic organization, stability is the key; when the environment is stable enough such that the industry produces a constant and consistent stream of uniform products, a company will see success in adopting a mechanistic structure. As the mechanistic organization stresses importance on consistency, it deals well in a situation where the company must survive in a constant or steadily growing market, and where there is a stable demand for the product or service. Appex Corporation offers two clearly defined lines of products – Intercarrier Services (ICS) and Cellular Management Information Systems (IS) – which experience steady demands from a broad range of customers. Also, it holds long-lasting contracts with these large-scale customers in North America, further stabilizing Appex’s position in the environment. In such a case, Appex would fare well by adopting a mechanistic or bureaucratic structure in its organization.
The goal of a mechanistic organization is efficiency, thus worker efficiency is also a condition in which this structure works well. In a mechanistic organization, workers are treated more as machines than as humans. Or rather, they are treated as the intermediary between the machine and the final output in the production process; this means they are expected to work as efficiently as machines in order to produce a high volume of goods. In the case of Appex, since the cellular telephone industry is a rapidly growing industry with subscribers growing from 92,000 to 3.5 million in just 5 years (p.4), workers need to be efficient at producing the output volume that these subscribers demand. They are also forced to carry on multiple projects at the same time, oftentimes feeling