Summary Chapter 3:
The Structural Frame
Wendell W. Brown, Sr.
What is a Frame?

Coherent set of ideas that enable you to
see and understand more clearly what
goes on day to day.
The Structural Frame
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Oldest and most widely used ways of
thinking about organizations.
Core Premise of the Structural
perspective
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Clear, well-understood roles and
relationships and adequate coordination
are key to how well an organization
performs.
Example
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USS Kennedy vs. Rescue efforts at The
World Trade Center
Structural Assumptions
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Organizations exist to achieve established goals and
objectives.
Organizations increase efficiency and enhances performance
through specialization and a clear division of labor.
Appropriate forms of coordination and control ensure that
diverse efforts of individuals and units mesh.
Organizations work better when rationality prevails over
personal preferences and extraneous pressures.
Structures must be designed to fit an organization’s
circumstances (including its goals, technology, workforce, and
environment).
Problems and performance gaps arise from structural
defiencies and can be remedied through analysis and
restructuring.
Origins of The Structural
Perspective
Intellectual Roots of The Structural
View
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The work of industrial analysts bent on
designing organizations for maximum
efficiency.
Main Theorist
Frederick W. Taylor (1911) – father of
time – and – motion studies; he founded
an approach that he labeled “scientific
management.”
 Henri Fayol ([1919] 1949), Lyndall Urwick
(1937), Luther Gulick (Gulick and Urwick,
1937) – principles focused on
specialization, span of control, authority,
and delegation of responsibility.
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Monocratic Bureaucracy
Fixed division of labor
 Hierarchy of offices
 Set of rules governing performance
 Separation of personal from official
property and rights
 Technical qualifications ( not family ties or
friendship) for selecting personnel
 Employment as a primary occupation and
long-term career.
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Main Theorist
Max Weber (Sociologist who wrote around
the beginning of the twentieth century.)
 Blau and Scott (1962)
 Perrow (1986)
 Thompson (1967)
 Hall (1963)
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Structural Forms and Functions
Blueprint for formal expectations and
exchanges among internal Players
(executives, managers, employees) and
external constituencies.
 Enhances and constrains what an
organization can accomplish.

Moeller Study (1968)
Explored the effects of structure on
teacher morale in two school systems.
 One was structured loosely and
encouraged wide participation in decision
making
 One was tightly controlled, with a
centralized hierarchy and a clear chain of
command.
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Results of Moeller’s Study
Moeller found the opposite of what he
expected.
 Faculty morale was higher in the district
with tighter structure.
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Basic Structural Tensions
The Heart of Organizational Structure
How to allocate work (differentiation).
 How to coordinate roles and units once
responsibilities have been parceled out
(integration).
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How do you group people into
working units, the task integration
Functional Groups based on knowledge or skill
 Units created on the basis of time, as by shift

(day, swing, or graveyard)
Groups organized by products (detergent versus bar soap)
 Groups established around customers or clients
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(hospitals, computer sales departments, or schools)
Groupings around place or geography
 Groupings by process
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Vertical Coordination
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Higher levels coordinate and control the
work of subordinates through authority,
rules and policies, and planning and
control systems.
Authority – a “boss” someone with formal
authority.
 Rules and policies – Standard Operating
Procedures
 Planning and Control Systems – Performance
Control imposes outcome objectives without
specifying how the results are to be achieved
(increase sales by 10% this year) and Action
Planning specifies methods and time frames for
decisions and actions (increase this month’s
sales by using a company wide sales pitch).
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Lateral Coordination
Lateral Techniques
Formal and Informal Meetings
 Task forces
 Coordinating roles
 Matrix structures
 Network organizations
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McDonald’s and Harvard
Two highly successful organizations
 Contrasting structures
 Optimal blend of vertical and lateral
strategies
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McDonald’s
Managers and employees
Limited discretion about how to do their
jobs
 Work is controlled by technology
 Parent company has powerful systems to
ensure that food and service conform to
standard specifications
 Big Mac taste the same around the world.
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Harvard University
Professors and Instructors
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Small Administrative group at the top
More geographically concentrated
All activities happen within a few miles of
Cambridge, Mass.
Employees in one of several schools
Each school has a dean
Each school has its on endowment
Professors have choice of classes they teach
Each school has its own calender
Structural Imperatives
Table 3.1 Pg 59
Size and age – Complexity and formalization increase with size and age
 Core process – Core processes or technologies must align with structure
 Environment – Stable environment rewards simpler structures: uncertain,
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turbulent environment requires more complex, adaptable structure
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Strategy and goals –
Variation in clarity and consistency of goals
requires appropriate structural adaptations.
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Information technology –
Information technology permits
flatter, more flexible, and more decentralized structure.
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Nature of the workforce –
Most educated and professional
workers need and want greater autonomy and discretion
Summary of Chapter 4:
Structure and Restructuring
Wendell W. Brown, Sr.
Structural Dilemmas
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Differentiation versus Integration
Gap versus Overlap
Underused versus Overload
Lack of Clarity Versus Lack of Creativity
Excessive Autonomy versus Excessive
Interdependence
Too Loose versus Too tight
Goalless versus Goalbound
Irresponsible versus Unresponsive
Structural Configurations
Mintzberg’s Fives
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Base – operating core –
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Directly above the base -Administrative
Component – managers who supervise, control, and provide resources for the operators.
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At the top – Senior managers-
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Alongside the administrative component –
technostructure – houses specialist and analyst who standardized, measure,
the core is made up of workers who produce or provide
products or services to customers or clients.
in the strategic apex focus on the outside
environment, determine the mission, and shape the grand design.
and inspect outputs and processes.
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Alongside the administrative component –
Support staff – performs tasks that support or facilitate the work of others
Five Structural Configuration
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Simple structure –
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Machine Bureaucracy –
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Professional Bureaucracy –
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Divisionalized Form –
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Adhocracy –
two levels: the strategic apex and an operating
level.(Mom and Pop operations)
Important decisions are made by the
strategic apex; day-to-day operations are handled by managers and standardized
procedures. Large support staffs and a sizeable technostructure with many levels
between apex and operating levels.
operating core is large relative
to its other structural parts. Few managerial levels exist between apex and operating
level
the bulk of the work is done in quasi-
autonomous units
through lateral means.
loose, flexible, self, renewing organic form tied mostly
Helgesen’s Web of Inclusion
Architectural form more circular than
heirarchical.
 The web builds from the center out.
 Action in one place ripples across others.
 The web’s center and periphery are
interconnected
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Why Restructure?
The environment shifts
 Technology changes
 Organizations grow
 Leadership changes
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Miller and Friesen (1984)
Troubled firms typically fell because
The Impulsive Firm
 The Stagnant Bureaucracy
 The Headless Giant
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Examples of How Restructuring
works
Citibank’s Back Room
 Kodak’s Black and White Division
 Beth Israel Hospital
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Several Basic Principles of Successful
Structural Change
The change architects developed a new
conception of the organizations goals and
strategies.
 They carefully studied the existing structure and
process so they understood how things worked.
Many efforts at structural change fail because
they start from an incomplete picture of current
processes.
 They designed the new structure in light of
changes in goals, technology, and environment.
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Summary Chapter 5:
Organizing Groups and Teams
Wendell W. Brown, Sr.
Structural Configuration for a Five
Member Team
One Boss
 Dual Authority –
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creates a new level below the boss two
individuals are given authority over specific areas of the groups
work.
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Simple Hierarchy –
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Circle Network –
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All Channel Network –
Middle manager answers to “the
boss” then in turns supervises the workers or employees.
where information flows sequentially
from one group member to another. Each can add or modify
whatever comes around.
Creates multiple connections so
everyone can talk to one another. Information flows freely.
Determinants of Successful
Teamwork
What is the nature and degree of task-related
interactions among individuals?
 What is the geographic distribution of unit members?
 Given a group’s objectives and constraints, where does
autonomy reside?
 How is coordination achieved?
 Which word best describes the required structure;
conglomerate, mechanistic, or organic?
 What sports expression metaphorically captures the task
management: filling out the line-up card, preparing the
game plan, or influencing the game’s flow?
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Team Structure and Performance
Katzenbach and Smith (1993)
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Wrote a book called The Wisdom of
Teams
Interviewed hundreds of peopl on
different teams
 They drew a clear distinction between
undifferiented “groups” and sharply
focused “teams
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Katzenbach and Smith (1993)
Research Highlights
High-performing teams shape purpose in response to a
demand or an opportunity placed in their path, usually
by higher management.
 High-performing teams translate common purpose into
specific, measurable performance goals.
 High-performing teams are of manageable size
 High-performing teams develop the right mix of
expertise.
 High-performing teams develop a common commitment
to working relationships.
 Members of high performing teams hold themselves
collectively responsible.
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