Mintzbergs 5 building Blocks 1 / 9

Henry Minztberg

1

Henry Minztberg produced an organisational ideology divided into 5 organisational configurations

that help in understanding better how an organisation should be structured.  

It is important to add that these configurations may not exist in real world but can be very helpful for someone who would like to understand the realities of an organisational structure.

The groups are...

  1. Strategic Apex = Top Management

     Strategic Apex has to do with the top management and those who make the rules (decision makers)

    It drives the direction of the business through control over decision-making.

  2. Middle Line = Management

    – performs the managerial functions of control over resources, processes and business areas.

  3. Operating Core = Normal employees of the firm

    – performs the routine activities of the organisation, also known as the “do-er's”.

  4. Technostructure = No line management responsibilities. Produce systems manuals etc 

     These are the people who guide the operating core in being efficient in their jobs.

    They drive efficiency through rules and procedures.

  5. Support Staff = Secretarial, cleaning, repairs, IT etc

    – support all the companies' activities and provides expertise and service to the organisation.

Whichever group is most powerful dominates the organisation structure

Most powerful groupStructure
Strategic ApexEntrepreneurial. Leaders give sense of direction
Operating CoreHighly skilled workers with lots of influence e.g. Schools, hospitals
Middle LineLocalised and divisionalised company

Remember that poor performance in a company may simply be due to having an inappropriate structure for the environment and the strategies it follows

Mintzberg's Configurations

  1. Simple Structure

    Entrepreneurial. Strategic apex gives direct control, little middle line, support staff or technostructure. Owner are often managers. Flexible, quick to react. Minimal formal procedures and rules.

  2. Machine / Functional Bureaucracy

    Technostructure dominant. Controls through regulations. Slow to react to change

    Needs standardisation in simple, repetitive and stable environments. Typically found in large, mature organisations.

    Economies of scale can be achieved.

  3. Professional Bureaucracy

    Operating Core dominant. Highly skilled professionals abound

    Machine bureaucracy generates its own standards BUT  professional bureaucracy standards come from the outside 

    It's "the power of expertise"

  4. Divisionalised

    Middle line dominant. Division leaders are powerful and often able to restrict strategic apex influence

    The autonomy in the Professional Bureaucracy are individuals—BUT—in the Divisionalised Form they are units in the middle line

    Each division has its own structure.

    Divisions are created according to markets served

  5. Adhocracy

    Complex and disordered. Extensive teamwork/project type work. Support staff very important as close relationship to external suppliers can be vital. Innovation is a strength here

    No standardisation

    Most suitable structure for innovative organisations which hire and give power to experts

    Project managers are particularly numerous

  6. Missionary organisations

    They have little structure or formal control but are held together by a shared set of values, reinforced by a strong culture.

    It is more appropriate for start-ups in their early stages, or for campaigning organisations (especially smaller NGOs)

Basic / Traditional Organisation Structures

The basic organisation structures are the entrepreneurial, functional and divisional. 

Each of these three basic structures is better than the other in the following aspects:

  • Controllability

    Functional is the best and divisional is the worst.

  • Flexibility

    Entrepreneurial is the best and functional is the worst.

  • Knowledge sharing

    Functional is the best and divisional is the worst.

  • Efficiency

    Entrepreneurial is the best and divisional is the worst.

  • Manager motivation

    Divisional is the best and entrepreneurial is the worst.

  • Level of service

    Divisional is the best and entrepreneurial is the worst.

  • Innovation and accommodating to market demands

    Entrepreneurial is the best

  • An entrepreneurial structure organisation is responsive to the market, makes decisions and acts on them very quickly and has good control of it's resources.

Complex Structures / Matrix Structure

While many organisations choose one or the other of the simpler organisation structures, larger organisations often need to adopt a more complex form in order to fit the nature of their business. 

In large organisations, it is common to see mixed structures with some parts being organised functionally, others divisionally, and maybe even the occasional matrix. 

The matrix attempt to combine the strengths of two or more of the basic structures. 

It attempts to combine the controllability and knowledge sharing of the functional structure with the flexibility and the service levels of the divisional structure. 

In a matrix structure an employee may report to a line manager as well as a product or project manager. 

This encourages employee flexibility and multiple reporting.

A matrix structure aims to combine the benefits of decentralisation (for example, speedy decision making) with those of co-ordination.

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