Henry Mintzberg's 4 plus 2 Organizational Types

In his 1979 book, The Structuring of Organizations, Henry Mintzberg classified organizational structures into four organizational types, depending on the complexity of the organization’s operations, and the pace of change it needs to accommodate. He later added two more.

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The Nature of Organizations: A Management Courses Introduction

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The Nature of Organizations
This video is part of course module number 6.1.2
Program 6: Managing within Organizations
Course 1: The Nature of Organizations
Section 2: Organizational Models

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LESSON NOTES
Machine Bureaucracy
The most ‘traditional-looking’ structure is the machine bureaucracy.
- Rigid hierarchical structure
- Rules to follow
- Communication follows a structure and adheres to reporting lines
- Decision-making at the top of the organization
- Professional managers rule the organization

Examples are big manufacturing businesses.
This structure can work in many configurations:
• Functional
• Brand or product
• Federal organization of operating companies

Professional Bureaucracy
Services rather than products
- Processes and procedures need more flexibility
- Leadership still controls quality and process
Examples: professional services firms and Government departments.

Entrepreneurial Startup
- Need to adapt and change quickly, so a rigid structure just won’t work
- Owners and investors want to stay in charge and make all the decisions
- Centralized but able to restructure quickly and nimbly
- Structures often flat, with one or two layers between the CEO and the individual producers
- Small, informal, loose allocation of roles
- Strong leadership from a single person

Adhocracy
- Projects come together, adopt whatever structure they need, and morph as the project evolves
- High degree of self-direction among highly competent team members
- Co-ordination comes not through the structure, but by effective communication between people

Diversified Organizations
- Create a central administrative function to serve a range of operating units that are more or less autonomous. The degree of autonomy seems to vary in cycles with the current cycle creating a high degree of centralisation.

Missionary Organizations
- Driven by a single, clear mission that provides
• the basis for every strategic choice and
• the motivation for employees
Charities and NGOs often fit this description

RECOMMENDED EXERCISE
1. Consider your current organization. Which of Mintzberg's 6 organizational types best describes it? (2 MC CPD Points)
2. Repeat your assessment for each organization you have worked for. (2 MC CPD Points each)

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[ManagementCourses]

Mintzberg is one of those thinkers who names ideas into being. His work is fundamental in our understanding of organizations and his original four organization types are still very much relevant. But wait, there's more... later added two more to the mix.

[christophersmith]

Please do a video on Bolman and Deal's "Reframing Organizations"

[kultidak]

Thank you so much. I’m studying about four frames and my prof doesn’t make sense. This helps me a lot

[florencelafortune]

Hello sir please which of the organizations helps in remote work?