What are the four main attribute that must concern the manager when it comes to create his/her company model of organisation?

• Environment (The list of significant (external) factors is defined – Appreciate each horizon of certainty (1-5 years) and express the Central tendency? Put that tendency onto the scale: No exceptions, Few Exceptions, Periodical Exceptions, Regular Exceptions, Frequent Exceptions)
• Autonomy (Who defines the objectives or Allocate the resources? Who creates the Operations rules, manage the exceptions or evaluates the results?)
• Segmentation (How do you segment your organisation? By functions? By products? By regions? Etc.)
• Coordination (What coordination mechanisms to support the chosen organisation?)

This is a sample of the model’s graphic representation:

When the organisation model is coherent, the line is quite straight. So:

An organization whose units’ configuration is uniform allows the use of standardized management tools and greatly facilitates its control. This keeps its management quite easy and its coordination is simpler, and therefore, management costs are lower.

An organization whose units’ configuration is diverse limits the use of standardized management tools and therefore its control is more complicated and, of course its management is more complex and demanding. Complex coordination and management costs are higher.

The more the organisation’s market is predictable, consistent and simple, the more one should opt for an organization that:

• Leaves little autonomy to operational units (centralized)
• Segments on the basis of functions or expertise
• Coordinates through standardized policies and procedures
• In brief: an organization that combines mechanistic and professional bureaucracies
• Professional practices are formalized and individuals have little leeway
• The management spends much of his time coaching and monitoring

The more the organization’s market is unpredictable, heterogeneous, complex, the more one should opt for an organization that:

• Leaves a large autonomy to business units (decentralized)
• Segments on customer and / or territories or products
• Coordinates by many mechanisms involving mutual adjustment
• In Brief: an integrated or matrix type of organization
• Guided by protocols and quick references, the staff has a good flexibility to adapt its services to the different situations
• The work of management has a great deal of supervision practices and mediation between stakeholders

To get an organisational structure result that can be efficient, there will be a need of an integrator agent (To interconnect units, Coordination reference, Sometimes arbitration), to have integrated services (Diverse skills contribution are grouped, Coordination in real time of multidisciplinary experts, Harmonization of actions stakeholders, Simplify expert management), or require matrix support (Ensure the input of stakeholders dispersed internal and external, Provision of complementary expertise, Coordination, harmonization, Embedded Solutions) and finally project management capacity (Tailored service, Temporary intervention, Intensive work, ad-hoc mechanism).

But, the frustration in our study is that it may well happen that the organisational model is in place and that its analysis shows a great coherence. Nerveless, some dysfunctions can be witnessed. To have a great organisation on paper and even in place, does not mean that the “organisation is achieved” as would say Mintzberg (1). If the model is not enforced and lived, the whole exercise will not bring any added value to the company.

Try the model and draw your graph!

ref: (1) Mintzberg, “Organization Design: Fashion or Fit?” Hardward Business Review January-February 1981