Reframing Organizations, 4th ed.
Chapter 3
Getting Organized
Getting Organized
 Structural Assumptions
 Origins of the Structural Perspective
 Structural Forms and Functions
 Basic Structural Tensions
 Vertical Coordination
- Authority
- Rules and Policies
- Planning and Control Systems
 Lateral Coordination
 McDonald’s and Harvard: A Structural Odd Couple
 Structural Imperatives
Structural Assumptions
 Achieve established goals and objectives
 Increase efficiency and performance via
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specialization and division of labor
Appropriate forms of coordination and control
Organizations work best when rationality
prevails
Structure must align with circumstances
Problems arise from structural deficiencies
Origins of the Structural Perspective
 Frederick Taylor – Scientific Management
 Efficiency, time and motion studies, etc.
 Max Weber – Bureaucracy
 Fixed division of labor
 Hierarchy of offices
 Performance rules
 Separate personal and official property and rights
 Personnel selected for technical qualifications
 Employment as primary occupation
Structural Forms and Functions
 Blueprint for expectations and exchanges
among internal and external players
 Design options are almost infinite
 Design needs to fit circumstances
Basic Structural Tensions
 Differentiation: dividing work, division of labor
 Integration: coordinating efforts of different
roles and units
 Criteria for differentiation: function, time,
product, customer, place, process
 Suboptimization: units focus on local
concerns, lose sight of big picture
Vertical coordination
 Authority (the boss makes the decision)
 Rules and policies
 Planning and control systems
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Performance control (focus on results) vs.
action planning (focus on process)
Lateral Coordination
 Meetings
 Task Forces
 Coordinating Roles
 Matrix Structures
 Networks
 Strengths and Weaknesses of Lateral
Strategies
McDonald’s and Harvard: A Structural
Odd Couple
 McDonald’s: clearer goals, more centralized,
tighter performance controls
 Harvard: diffuse goals, highly decentralized, high
autonomy for professors
 Why have two successful organizations developed
such different structures?
Structural Imperatives
 Size and Age
 Core Process
 Environment
 Strategy and Goals
 Information Technology
 People: Nature of Workforce
Conclusion
 Structural frame – understanding the social architecture of work
 Structure is more than red tape and bureaucracy
Bad structure wastes resources, frustrates individuals, and
undermines effectiveness
 Good structure empowers individuals and units to work
together and achieve goals
 Differentiation and integration as the central structural
challenge: how do we divide the work, and how do we
coordinate once we divide?
 Structure depends on situation
 Simpler more stable  simpler, more hierarchical and
centralized structure
 Changing, turbulent environments  more complex, flexible
structure
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