Dimensions of Organization Structure

TLDR

Five primary dimensions of organization structure—specialization, standardization, formalization, centralization, and configuration—were defined and operationalized. Scales measuring 64 component variables were constructed from comparative data on the five dimensions across 52 organizations, and principal‑components analysis was applied to interpret intercorrelations among the scales. The analysis produced a profile of organizational structure that could be directly compared across firms, revealing four basic dimensions—structuring of activities, concentration of authority, line control of workflow, and size of supportive component—and indicating that the bureaucratic type concept is obsolete. The study was authored by D.

Abstract

Five primary dimensions of organization structure were defined and operationalized; (1) specialization, (2) standardization, (3) formalization, (4) centralization, (5) configuration. From comparative data on these dimensions, in fifty-two different work organizations in Enriland, scales were constructed to measure sixty-four component variables. This made it possible to construct a profile characteristic of the structure of an organization and to compare it directly with that of other organizations. Principal-components analysis was used to help in the interpretation of intercorrelations among the scales. The resulting factors suggested four basic dimensions of structure, conceptualized as structuring of activities, concentration of authority, line control of workflow, and size of supportive component. This multifactor result was considered to demonstrate that the concept of the bureaucratic type is no longer useful. D. S. Pugh and D. J. Hickson are members of the Industrial Administration Unit, at the University of Aston in Birmingham, England. C. R. Hinings is at the University of Birmingham, and C. Turner is at the University of East Anglia.