Chapter 4 of the textbook can be interpreted as a summative framework for organizational structure and restructuring. The main critique can be attributed to Mintzberg’s Framework of Fives, which includes simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, dimensionalized form, and adhocracy (Bolman & Deal, 2017). The chapter fails to include and illuminate two additional types of organizational structures, which are mission organizations and political organizations. The topic can be extended because while the simple structure is entrepreneurial, the machine is standardized, professional is bureaucratized, divisional is categorized and divided, and adhocracy is flexible and innovative; these two are driven by other forces. Political organizations are power-oriented, whereas mission organizations are united under a single purpose. In the case of the latter, “there is a hierarchy with top management (board), middle management and operational work floor, managed by technological support and staff departments” (“Mintzberg’s organizational configurations,” 2022, para. 18). Apple can be viewed from a mission organization’s perspective, where the mission was set by its founder.
However, a political organization lacks a clear structure, which resembles adhocracy, but it has a formal functional structure, which is not followed because the dynamics are driven by the sources of power. An example would be the House of Representatives, which is an organization that has a formal structure, but its real-world internal dynamics adhere to different sources of power and political influence. Thus, “the organizational structure isn’t always clear, and the organizations float on what’s important at the time in the political lobby” (“Mintzberg’s organizational configurations,” 2022, para. 21). Therefore, in a practical and research sense, many organizations should be recognized as political rather than industrial. These might include media networks, social platforms, and non-profits, which have a formal structure but operate depending on the power dynamics.
References
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. Jossey-Bass.
Mintzberg’s organizational configurations. (2022). Web.