A Review of the Internet Article“Organizational Theory: Determinants of Structure”Sheldon Saltzman
A Review of the Internet Article
“Organizational Theory: Determinants of Structure”
Historically, most corporations have been formed with classical management theory in mind.
Most corporations have been formed with the idea proposed by Frederick Winslow Taylor that
there's only one best way to organize a company. The truth is that there is only one best way,
which is Jesus. However, even in the realm of Christianity, there are many traditions, most of
which are perfectly acceptable, and even edifying. The differences in Christian church traditions
have to do more with culture and environment than anything else. Finer theological points and
issues are actually quite irrelevant to the average church member. Most church members,
especially members who have been born into a certain Christian denomination, will care more
about acceptance from that body then they care about perfect theology or doctrine. This is just
reality. Most church bodies eventually adopt their traditions, to a large extent, around the
cultures of their participants. Race, color, nationality, family ties, amount of education, and even
income level have a lot more to do with the establishment of a church's traditions than most
people realize.
In the article, "Organizational Theory: Determinants of Structure", the author, Stephen
Borgatti, makes similar observations about current corporate structures. Mr. Borgatti, a professor
at Boston College, states, “In contrast to the classical scholars, most theorists today believe that
there is no one best way to organize. What is important is that there be a fit between the
organization's structure, its size, its technology, and the requirements of its environment
(Borgatti, Stephen P., 2001)." We therefore see, that culture and environment, and not just
perfect efficiency, has a great influence on businesses as well as churches and governments.
This is what Mr. Borgatti calls Contingency Theory.
Mr. Borgatti states that increasing the size of a corporation will lead to increased structuring
of organizations but also will bring a decrease in concentration of power. He also states that the
amount of technology utilized by a corporation can affect corporate structure. The more
technological the company is in nature, the higher the centralization of decision-making. As a
result, we see that one factor can pull the corporate structure in one direction, while another
factor can pull the corporate structure in an opposite direction.
The author states that the amount of production of a company affects corporate structure. The
smaller the amount of production, or the less uniformity of product output (custom-made
products), the flatter the structure. However the operation expenses are high, because the
production is hard to pre-program or automate. Large batch production of identical products, on
the other hand, lend to taller hierarchies with huge bottom levels. Because they are into mass-
production, they are relatively cheap to operate. If the task is well understood, these latter
organizations become bureaucracies; however, really complex systems are difficult to pre-plan. [next page]