Network structures and co‐ordination mechanisms

Abstract

Notwithstanding the extensive body of literature, there is still confusion surrounding the concept of “network” since it encompasses a variety of inter‐organisational relationships. By adopting the Mintzberg’s approach on organisational structures and co‐ordination mechnisms, this work proposes a framework for the classification of the main network structures, analysing the interdependency forms and co‐ordination mechanism of each of them. The work provides some illustrative examples of the various network structures and the co‐ordination mechanisms operating on them.