Organizational structure 4.0: challenges and prospects

Abstract

Aim. This article deals with the evolution of the development of organizational structures depending on the technological paradigms (industrial revolutions), the characteristics of manufacturing and consumer preferences.Tasks. To analyze the relevant research papers in the context of the chosen topic; to systematize the used organizational structures, taking into account production features and consumer preferences; to systematize and offer a classification of organizational structures as applied to a technological paradigm (industrial revolution); to describe the requirements to the new organizational structure in the sixth technological paradigm (Industry 4.0).Methods. Theoretically, the study was based on a review of the scientific literature on the evolution of organizational structures, revealing the relationship between technological patterns (industrial revolutions) and the applied organizational structures.Results. The analysis of the literature showed that, depending on the historical stage, technological and economic conditions, companies used different types of organizational structures. New organizational structures emerged as a response to the needs of enterprises in certain historical conditions: the rigid bureaucratic structures used in the third and fourth technological stage (1880–1970), supplemented by flexible types of structures in the fifth technological stage (1970–2010). The new technological stage, which emerged after 2010, implies further changes in manufacturing technologies and consumer preferences, develops under resource and logistical constraints, and therefore requires new approaches to organizational design from companies.Conclusions. The development of organizational design implies an evolutionary enrichment of previously used types of structures with new properties. We believe that in the framework of the sixth technological paradigm, management will need to supplement its toolkit not only with flexible virtual structures (e.g., agile structures), but also with new types of organizational structures that have the necessary properties and characteristics. In addition to having an internal “framework”, agility and adaptability, organizational structures must provide dynamism (speed of change), elasticity (self-recovery) and maneuverability to companies.