A New Quantitative Empirical Methodology for the Analysis of Organizational Design and Dynamics

Abstract

The organization of firms is a complex structure made up of a large number of parts that interact in a non-straightforward way. As was mentioned in the Introduction the business history literature and management and organization studies have developed a well-known classification of organizational structures: U-form, M-form, and lean organization (or J-form) are now standard concepts in the theory of business organizations. Organizational forms defined by these studies are characterized by key elements such as configuration (in particular, depth — i.e. number of levels — and shape — i.e. span of control) of the corporate hierarchy, allocation of authority (centralization), and use of procedures and practices. Every organizational form is associated with a different bundle of these aspects.KeywordsHierarchical LevelPlant SizeStrategic DecisionOrganizational DesignLarge PlantThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.