8/5/2015 Mintzberg'stheoryonorganisations|ACCAQualification|Students|ACCAGlobal

Theglobalbodyforprofessionalaccountants Aboutus Contactus Workforus Technicalactivities Help&support Global

Search MyACCA

Home > Students > Examresources > Fundamentalslevel > F1AccountantinBusiness > Technicalarticles

MINTZBERG'S THEORY ON ORGANISATIONS

RELATED LINKS

Organisations
StudentAccountanthub

PartBofthesyllabusforPaperF1/FAB,AccountantinBusinessisconcernedwiththestudyofbusiness
organisationstructure,functionsandgovernance.Inanotherarticleonthistopic(see'Relatedlinks'),
variousorganisationalmodelsweredescribed,includingentrepreneurial,functionalandmatrixstructures.
Theseconsiderhoworganisationsarestructuredprimarilyintermsofrelationships.

Bycontrast,Mintzbergsmodelbreaksdowntheorganisationintofivegenericcomponents,considering
theroleofeachinrelationtocoordinatingitsactivities.Theseare:
strategicapex
middleline
operatingcore
technostructure
supportstaff.

Figure1showstheseactivitiesindiagrammaticform.

STRATEGICAPEX
Thiselementoftheorganisationismadeupofdirectorsandseniorexecutives.Theirroleistointerpretor
definethemissionoftheorganisationandensurethatitsobjectivesareconsistentwiththismission.The
strategicapexisalsoresponsibleformanagingtheorganisationsrelationshipwiththemacro
environment.

OPERATINGCORE
Theoperatingcorecarriesouttheactivitiesnecessarytodeliveroutputs.

MIDDLELINE
Thiselementprovidesthelinkbetweenthestrategicapexandtheoperatingcore.Theroleispartiallyone
ofinterpretation,astheworkoftheoperatingcorehastobeconsistentwiththeexpectationsandplansof
thestrategicapex.Simple,smallerorganisationsmaynothaveamiddlelineatall.

TECHNOSTRUCTURE
Thetechnostructureismadeupofkeyindividualsandteamsworkinginfunctionssuchashuman
resources,training,financeandplanning.Mintzbergstatesthatthereareseveralroleshere.Analysers
decideonthebestwaystoperformjobsandseektostandardiseskills.Plannersdecideonoutputsand

http://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/examsupportresources/fundamentalsexamsstudyresources/f1/technicalarticles/mintzbergtheory.html 1/3
8/5/2015 Mintzberg'stheoryonorganisations|ACCAQualification|Students|ACCAGlobal
definequalityrequirements.

SUPPORTSTAFF
Supportstaffworkinfunctionssuchasresearchanddevelopment,publicrelationsandlegalservices.
Theiroutputsdonotcontributedirectlytothecorepurposesoftheorganisation,buttheiractivities
contributetotheefficiencyandeffectivenessofthestrategicapex,middlelineandoperatingcore.

Therelativeinfluenceoftheseelementstooneanotherhaveasignificantimpactonthenatureofthe
organisation.Mintzbergassertsthateachelementwillhaveapreferredmeansofcoordination.For
example,thestrategicapexwillattempttocoordinatethroughdirectsupervision,andwillbeespecially
importantinsmallerorganisationswithsimplerstructures.Themiddlelineseekstostandardiseoutputs,
whilethetechnostructureattemptstostandardiseworkprocesses.Theoperatingcorewilltryto
standardiseskills.

ORGANISATION STRUCTURES
Basedonhisorganisationalmodel,Mintzbergdescribedfivecategoriesoforganisationstructure,eachof
whichwouldrelyononespecificelementofthemodel.

SIMPLESTRUCTURE
Thesimplestructureiscentralisedandoftenautocratic,withpoweremanatingfromthestrategicapex.
Typically,controlisexertedbythechiefexecutiveorsmall,influentialexecutiveteam.Perhapsduetoits
simplicity,thestructurecanbeflexibleandsometimesinformal,withastronglydefinedsenseofmission.
However,Mintzbergwarnsthatthesimplestructureisvulnerable,statingoneheartattackcanwipeout
theorganisationsprimecoordinatingmechanism.

MACHINEBUREAUCRACY
Thisstructurereliesheavilyonarobusttechnostructure.Strategicplannersandfinancialcontrollersare
influential,leadingtothecreationofmultiplelayersofmanagement,formalproceduresandstandardised
productionprocesses.Duetothehighdegreeofstandardisation,thetasksperformedbytheoperating
corecanberigid,offeringlittlediscretionfortheindividual.Forthisreason,Mintzbergobservedthat
motivationcanbedifficultandtheorganisationcanbeunreceptivetotheneedforchange.Themachine
bureaucracyistypifiedbylargescalecarmanufacturingplants.

PROFESSIONALBUREAUCRACY
Likethemachinerybureaucracy,theprofessionalbureaucracyisbasedonclearlinesofauthorityand
standardadministrativepractices.However,thepracticesmaybebuiltonstandardssetbylaw,
regulationsorindependentexternalbodies,includingprofessionalbodies.Mintzbergcitesschools,
hospitalsandprofessionalpracticesasexamplesofthisstructure.Hesuggeststhattheprofessional
bureaucracyismoredemocraticthanthemachinebureaucracycounterpart,andthatitiseasierto
motivatepeople.Theoperatingcoreisthemajorcoordinatinginfluence.

DIVISIONALISED
Inadivisionalisedstructure,asmallcentralcoreprovidesguidelinesforbusinessunitsthatenjoyahigh
degreeofautonomy.Mintzbergstatesthatthisisanextensionofthemachinebureaucracy,ormayeven
compriseseveralmachinebureaucracieswithinasinglecorporation.Itisthemiddlelinethatformsa
strongcoordinatinginfluence,asitskeyroleistotranslatethedemandsofthesmallcentralcoreintothe
objectivesoftheoperatingcore.Thedivisionalisedstructureistypicalofmultinationalcompanies.

ADHOCRACY
Theadhocracyistaskorprojectbasedandhastorespondquicklyandflexiblytochangingdemands.
Thesedemandsmaybedrivenbyrapidlychangingmarketsorbyinnovation.Thereislittleformality,so
directsupervisionanddefinedprocessesarelessimportantthaninotherorganisationstructures.
Researchanddevelopmentcanbeaprimarydriverofadhocracies,astypifiedbynewtechnology
industries.

THE EVOLUTION OF ORGANISATION STRUCTURES

Mintzbergbelievesthatstructuresareoftenaproductoftheirtime.Hestatesthatsimplestructuresand
machinebureaucracieswereafeatureofthepast,whendevelopedeconomieswerehighlyrelianton
largescaleproductionandmanufacturing.Bycontrast,professionalbureaucraciesandthedivisionalised
formaremorecommontoday.Mintzbergpredictsthattheadhocracywillbecomemoreimportantinthe
future.

WrittenbyamemberofthePaperF1/FABexaminingteam

http://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/examsupportresources/fundamentalsexamsstudyresources/f1/technicalarticles/mintzbergtheory.html 2/3
8/5/2015 Mintzberg'stheoryonorganisations|ACCAQualification|Students|ACCAGlobal

Lastupdated:20Apr2015

http://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/examsupportresources/fundamentalsexamsstudyresources/f1/technicalarticles/mintzbergtheory.html 3/3