Mechanistic Organizations

Conceptual Overview

From Tom Burns and G. M. Stalker's seminal work, The Management of Innovation, published in 1961, the literature has emphasized the distinction between mechanistic and organic forms of organization. Through their theory of mechanistic and organic systems, Burns and Stalker defined the characteristics of mechanistic and organic organizations as opposing alternatives on a continuum, providing a way to understand which organization forms fit specific environments with distinct degrees of change or stability.

The mechanistic organization adopts a task design inspired by the principles of formalization and specialization. The rights, obligations, and technical methods attached to each functional role are precise, with task descriptions rigidly defined through many formal rules, procedures, and instructions. One feature of this organizational form is its deep-rooted division of labor, with a specialized differentiation of functional tasks where experts tend to pursue technical improvement and jobs are narrowly defined. Work coordination is based on the direct supervision of low-level employees by upperlevel employees. The system of control and authority is strongly hierarchic, with restricted, vertical communication (and one-way: top to bottom), narrow spans of control, and a rigidly departmentalized structure.

Such a mechanistic design has five significant consequences: (1) a limited information network, with little horizontal or outside-hierarchy vertical communication; [Page 892](2) centralization of knowledge at the top of the organization, where the reconciliation of distinct tasks arising from the division of labor is ensured and in which quality totally determines the organization's performance; (3) centralization of decision making and control by superiors, who make the decisions, issue the instructions, and assess the results; (4) a long chain of command that implies a tall organizational structure, and (5) little participation in organizational design and decision making by employees.

The choice of an organizational form depends on contingency variables. Among the contingency variables that influence organizational design, Burns and Stalker emphasized the environment. Organizations would tend to adopt a position on the mechanisticorganic continuum that corresponds to the degree of environmental uncertainty they face. A mechanistic organization would be most frequently found in stable environments. Following the original work on the relationship between strategy and structure by Alfred Chandler, another important contingency variable is organizational strategy. The usual prediction is that a cost minimization strategy needs the efficiency, stability, and control of the mechanistic organization. Organizational size also significantly affects its structure. The mechanistic model is more frequent in big firms.

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