Question

Swedish professors Malin Bolin and Annika Härenstam wondered if companies today are more bureaucratic (hierarchical, centralized, and formal) or more postbureaucratic (flat, decentralized, and flexible). They studied 90 companies and found that many had characteristics of both models. For example, 53% of companies had low levels of centralization (a postbureaucratic characteristic); however, 63% of companies also had some degree of project organization (a bureaucratic characteristic). Bolin and Härenstam suggest that their findings are important because they contradict a famous existing theory. In 1961, sociologist Tom Burns and psychologist G. M. Stalker drew certain conclusions regarding successful organizations. First, successful organizations in stable environments were likely to have rigid, hierarchical structures (a bureaucratic characteristic). Second, successful organizations in turbulent environments were likely to have more flexible structures (a postbureaucratic characteristic). Today, companies operate in turbulent environments with stiff competition and constant change, so you might expect them to have postbureaucratic structures. However, Bolin and Härenstam showed that this is not necessarily true. Bolin and Härenstam propose that differences in organizational structure might vary by industry. They found significant differences in organizational design among companies in seven of eight industries. For example, the manufacturing industry had low specialization of work (a postbureaucratic characteristic) but high performance control (a bureaucratic characteristic). In contrast, the customer service industry had high specialization and centralization (bureaucratic characteristics) but also high individual responsibility and low soft control systems (postbureaucratic characteristics). Source: Bolin, M., & Härenstam, A. (2008). An empirical study of bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic characteristics in 90 workplaces. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 29(4), 541-564. In Burns and Stalker's research, the factor identified as affecting an organization's structure is the: Type of industry Environment Organizational design

Answer 1

Answer - (A) Type of industry

It is mentioned in the case study that differences occur in the organisational structure will be different for each type of industry. It is due to their plans, goals and services.

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