8. Mintzberg's structures in 5 (plus2)

According to Henry Mintberg there are 7 basic organisational structures and all organsiations are configured from the same basic parts. This is an extension of the ideas in his book Structures in Five (1983).

Mintberg and Quinn (2006) categorised organisations according to 6 attributes:

1. Direct Supervision
2. Standardisation of Work
3. Standardisation of Skill
4. Standardisation of Output
5. Mutual Adjustment
6. Standardisation of Norms

Additionally they have 5 components they are built from;

1. Strategic apex - people that control the organisation and are accountable for its performance
2. Operating core - those who deliver the basic mission or task of the organisation
3. Middle line - managers and supervisors in direct line authority from the strategic apex to the Operating Core
4. Technostructure - staff analysts that assist co-ordination through standardising processes etc.
5. Support Staff - activities supporting the main work of the organisation
6. The Ideology - the culture that distinguishes it from other organisations

These attributes & components determine which structure an organisation is (or is most suited to). The models they offer are;

1. The Entreprenuerial organisation
2. The Machine Structure organisation
3. The Professional organisation
4. The Diversified organisation
5. The Innovative organisation
6. The Missionary organisation
7. The Political organisation

There is a lot to this concept and I need to come back to it.