Page 197 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

2 Size Structure
• Considerable evidence that size (number of employees)

affects structure 21 ORGANIC

• Magic number seems to be 2,000 employees
fewer than 2,000
• lARGe organizations (> 2,000 employees)—mechanistic employees can be organic

• When an organization reaches this number, size is less
influential; adding more employees has little impact as

structure is already fairly mechanistic

A smaller organization with
a more organic structure MECHANISTIC

becomes more mechanistic more than 2,000 employees forces
if a significant number of new organizations to become more
mechanicstic
employees are added to it.

3 Technology Structure

• Technology is used—by every organization—to convert inputs into outputs

(See Exhibit 6–8 in the From Past to Present box on p. 197.)

TAlex/Fotolia

Fet/Fotolia Rvlsoft/Fotolia

Your smartphone or tablet Your résumé Your bottle of ibuprofen
standardized assembly line custom design and print continuous-flow production process

4 environment Structure

• Environment is a constraint on managerial discretion

• Environment also has a major effect on an organization’s structure
— Stable environment: Mechanistic structure

— Dynamic/uncertain environment: Organic structure
• Helps explain why so many managers today have restructured their
organizations to be lean, fast, and flexible. 22

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