|
|
Mechanistic
Organization Form / Management System
|
Organic
Organization Form / Management System
|
|
Appropriate
Conditions |
Stable |
Changing |
|
Distribution of
tasks |
Specialized
differentiation of functional tasks into which the problems and
tasks facing a concern as a whole are broken down |
Contributive nature
of special knowledge and experience to the common task of the
concern |
|
Nature of
Individual task |
The abstract nature
of each individual task, which is pursued with techniques and
purposes more or less distinct from those of the concern as a
whole: i.e., the functionaries tend to pursue the technical
improvements of means, rather than the accomplishment of the
ends of the concern |
The "realistic"
nature of the individual task, which is seen as set by the total
situation of the concern |
|
Who (re)defines
tasks |
The reconciliation,
for each level in the hierarchy, of these distinct performances
by the immediate superiors, who are also, in turn, responsible
for seeing that each is relevant in his own special part of the
main task |
The adjustment and
continual redefinition of individual tasks through interaction
with others |
|
Task scope |
The precise
definition of rights and obligations and technical methods
attached to each functional role |
The shedding of
"responsibility" as a limited field of rights, obligations and
methods (problems may not be posted upwards, downwards or
sideways as being someone else's responsibility) |
|
How is task
conformance ensured |
The translation of
rights and obligations and methods into the responsibilities of
a functional position |
The spread of
commitment to the concern beyond any technical definition |
|
Structure of
control, authority and communication |
Hierarchic,
Contractual |
Network, Presumed
Community of Interest |
|
Locating of
knowledge |
Reinforcement of the
hierarchic structure by the location of knowledge of actualities
exclusively at the top of the hierarchy, where the final
reconciliation of distinct tasks and assessment of relevance is
made |
Omniscience no longer
imputed to the head of the concern; knowledge about the
technical or commercial nature of the here and now may be
located anywhere in the network |
|
Communication
between members of concern |
Vertical; i.e.,
between superior and subordinate |
Lateral; i.e.,
between people of different rank, resembling consultation rather
than command |
|
Governance for
operations and working behavior |
Instructions and
decisions issued by superiors |
Information and
advice rather than instructions and decisions |
|
Values |
Insistence on loyalty to the concern and
obedience to superiors as a condition of membership |
Commitment to the concern's task and to
the "technological ethos" of material progress and expansion is
more highly valued than loyalty and obedience |
|
Prestige |
Greater importance
and prestige attaching to internal (local) than to general
(cosmopolitan) knowledge, experience, and skill |
Importance and
prestige attach to affiliations and expertise valid in the
industrial and technical and commercial milieux external to the
firm |
Book: Tom Burns, G.M. Stalker - The Management of Innovation
