22) The Five Basic Parts of the Organization by Henry Mintzberg

In the smallest operation the operators are selfsufficient.

As the operation grows and becomes more complex division of labour the need arises for managers.
As it contiues to grow the need for managers of the managers arises and so forth. The hierachy is built.
As it grows the organisation turn to standardization in order to coordinate between the work of the
operators. The responsibilities for most of this standardization falls to analyst so:

Managers Standardization
Supervision Analyst
Operators Standardization

The analyst adds to the adminstrations of the organisation. We can picture the organisations as the
following:

The administrative components are the strategic apex, middle line and techno structure.
The five parts:

Operating core
Made up by operators, has four prime functions:
1. Secure inputs (buys raw materials, take them in when they arrive)
2. Transform the inputs into outputs
3. Distribute the outputs (selling and physical distribution)
4. Provide direct support (Maintenance, inventorying the raw materials.)

Often here standardization is carried futhest. The heart of any operation.

Strategic Apex
Overall responsibility for organisation. Top of hierachy. And their personal staff.
Makes sure the organization serves its mission in an effective way, and that it serves the needs of those
people who control or otherwise has power over the organisation. 3 duties:

1.Direct Supervision (ensuring thath the whole organization functions smoothly as a single integrated
unit)
2. Managment of the organizations realtionsship with its enviroment ( Be spokeman, the front man for
the organisation)
3. Development of the organizations strategy (Strategy formulation involves the interpretation of the
enviroment and making strategy to deal with this)

Minimum of repetition and standardization. Mutual adjustment is the favored mechanism for
coordination among the managers of the strategic apex itself.

Middle Line
Linking the two former by a linie of midlle-line mangagers with formal authority. Runs from senior
managers to the first-line supervisors. The reason for so many, is the limited span of control, how many
a manager can supervise and coordinate.
The middle-line manager does mostly the same as strategic apex manager, just in his own groups
contex. He also recivies feedback from his subordinates which he summarize and sends futher up the
chain. Some decisions that the manager cant take him self is also send up the chain. He supervises the
subordinates and allocate resources among them.

Superiors
Analyst resources summarized feedback/decisions Support staff
Relations Middle line manager Relations
Ousiders resources Feedback/decisions Other middle line managers
Subcordinates

The mangerial jobs shift in orientation as they descend in the chain of authority. The lowerlevel decision
making is more structured (already decide sometimes).

Techno Structure
The analysts (and supporting clerical staff). There are analyst concerned with adapting the organization
to meet enviromental changes and those that are concerned with control, with stabilizing and
standardizing patterns of activity. Here the focus in on control analysits.
The more standardization an organization uses the more it relies on its techno structure. In a fully
developed organization the technostructuremay perform at all levels of the hierachy
Three types of control analysts:
1. Work study analyst (work often with the lowest levels of the manufacturing firm, standridize the
operating work flow)
2. Personnel analysts (ofen at middle level where they seek to standardize the intellectual work of the
organization and carry out operations research studies of informational tasks)
3. Planning and control analysts (often on behalf of the top levels, they design strategic planning
systems and develope financial systems to control the goals of major units)

The coordinatet themself trough mutual adjustment (however since they typically are highly trained
specialists there is still standardization) Spend a good deal of their time in informal communication.

Support staff
Provide support outside the operation work flow. Can be found on various levels of the hierachy. F.eks.
is legal counsel and public realtions places high, Research and development and pricing in the middle,
and mailroom and cafeteria low. Because of this variety we can not draw a single definitive conclusion
about the favored coordination mechanism for all of them. However standization of skill may be the
single most important coordinating mechanism.

Middle level here means Middle line + Support staff + Techno structure

Staff managers here refers to the technostructure and the support staff managers.

Line managers here refers to the managers in the flow of formal authority in the center part.
Staf managers pay more attentions to information processing role(monitor, dissemniator, spokesman)
than do line managers

James D. Thompson conceptual ideas:

Says "the uncertainty appears as the fundamental problem for complex organisations, and coping with
uncertainity as the essence of the adminstrative process"
Divides the organisation intoe "technical core" (Operating core) and "Boundary spanning units". He says
that the other units of the organisation (the boundary spanning units) isolate the techical core, reducing
uncertanity.

He also present a conceptual scheme to explan the interdependcies of member of an organisation:

Pooled coupling, all have the same resources but work independetly. least ammount of
interdependicies, one can esaily by removed.
Sequential coupling, work in series (as relay race). One is removed, the process forward form that point
will be affected.
Reciprocal coupling, the members feed their work back and forth among themselves. One removed the
whole process will be affected