Different Types of Organizational Structure
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.
– Steve Jobs
As Steve Jobs states in the opening quote, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life”, ”and the only way to do great work is to love what you do”. Growing up we all had dreams of what organization we would work for. We dreamt of either owning our own organization or working for someone else’s. We all had different dreams because we all have a different genetic makeup that determined our personality and our values. Since no one person has the same genetic makeup, it is not hard to believe that not all organizations are going to operate the same.
By definition, “organizations are groups of people who are working interdependently toward some purpose.” (McShane, 2013) pg. 4. Knowing that all people have a different genetic makeup and that organizations are made up of groups of people, it is not had to believe that not all organizations are alike. Henry Mintzberg explains five distinct organizational structures one should consider when determining coordination of an organization; simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy. (Mintzberg, 1981) pg. 103.
Simple structure as Mintzberg points out is, “not much more than one large unit consisting of one or a few top managers.” (Mintzberg, 1981) pg. 105. Machine bureaucracy is, “the offspring of industrialization, with its emphasis on the standardization of work for coordination and its resulting low skilled, highly specialized jobs.” (Mintzberg, 1981) pg. 108. Professional bureaucracy’s, “configuration relies on the standardization of skills rather that work processes or outputs for its coordination”. “It relies for
– Steve Jobs
As Steve Jobs states in the opening quote, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life”, ”and the only way to do great work is to love what you do”. Growing up we all had dreams of what organization we would work for. We dreamt of either owning our own organization or working for someone else’s. We all had different dreams because we all have a different genetic makeup that determined our personality and our values. Since no one person has the same genetic makeup, it is not hard to believe that not all organizations are going to operate the same.
By definition, “organizations are groups of people who are working interdependently toward some purpose.” (McShane, 2013) pg. 4. Knowing that all people have a different genetic makeup and that organizations are made up of groups of people, it is not had to believe that not all organizations are alike. Henry Mintzberg explains five distinct organizational structures one should consider when determining coordination of an organization; simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy. (Mintzberg, 1981) pg. 103.
Simple structure as Mintzberg points out is, “not much more than one large unit consisting of one or a few top managers.” (Mintzberg, 1981) pg. 105. Machine bureaucracy is, “the offspring of industrialization, with its emphasis on the standardization of work for coordination and its resulting low skilled, highly specialized jobs.” (Mintzberg, 1981) pg. 108. Professional bureaucracy’s, “configuration relies on the standardization of skills rather that work processes or outputs for its coordination”. “It relies for
References: McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2013). Organizational Behavior (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Mintzberg, H. (1981). Organizational Design: Fashion or Fit? Harvard Business Review, 59(1), 103-116.