Enabling success: organising: formula sheet

Key formulas

Five building blocks

Strategic apex + Middle line + Operating core + Technostructure + Support staff

Use these to describe where power and work sit in the scenario organisation.

Simple structure

Dominant part: strategic apex | Coordination: direct supervision

Small, young, entrepreneurial firms in a simple, dynamic setting.

Machine bureaucracy

Dominant part: technostructure | Coordination: standardised work processes

Large, stable, routine operations. Efficient but inflexible.

Professional bureaucracy

Dominant part: operating core | Coordination: standardised skills

Skilled professionals with autonomy, as in hospitals, universities and professional firms.

Divisional form

Dominant part: middle line | Coordination: standardised outputs

Diversified groups with semi-autonomous divisions judged on results.

Adhocracy

Dominant part: support staff and operating core | Coordination: mutual adjustment

Innovative, project-based organisations in complex, changing environments.

Span of control

Span of control = number of subordinates reporting directly to one manager

Count direct reports only, not everyone below the manager.

Span and layers (rule of thumb)

For a given workforce size, wider spans → fewer layers (flat); narrower spans → more layers (tall)

A trade-off, not a law. No ideal number of reports fits every organisation.

Delegation and accountability

Authority and tasks can be delegated; ultimate accountability stays with the delegator

Use this to explain why control systems must accompany decentralisation.

Factors favouring wide spans

Skilled staff + routine work + clear procedures + capable manager + little need for close supervision

Reverse these factors to justify a narrow span.

Schein's three levels

Artefacts → Espoused values → Basic underlying assumptions

Moves from visible to hidden. Deeper levels are harder to change.

Handy's four cultures

Power | Role | Task | Person

Match the type to evidence such as decision making, rules, teams or individual autonomy.

Hofstede's dimensions

Power distance | Individualism-collectivism | Masculinity-femininity | Uncertainty avoidance | Long-term orientation | Indulgence-restraint

Describes national culture. Use it as a guide to likely tendencies, not as a fixed label for every person.

Cultural web

Paradigm at the centre, surrounded by: Stories, Symbols, Power structures, Organisational structures, Control systems, Rituals and routines

Six outer elements plus the paradigm. Always link them back to the paradigm.

Greiner phase 1: creativity

Growth through creativity → crisis of leadership

Informal, founder-led, entrepreneurial. Crisis: founders need professional management and formal systems.

Greiner phase 2: direction

Growth through direction → crisis of autonomy

Functional structure, formal budgets and standards, top-down control. Crisis: lower managers want more freedom.

Greiner phase 3: delegation

Growth through delegation → crisis of control

Decentralised units with profit centres and bonuses. Crisis: top managers feel they are losing control.

Greiner phase 4: coordination

Growth through coordination → crisis of red tape

Formal planning, central services, review of units. Crisis: bureaucracy slows decisions.

Greiner phase 5: collaboration

Growth through collaboration → crisis (not clearly defined; later linked to alliances)

Teams, informality, less bureaucracy. Stress on staff can build up. Say this carefully and do not invent a named crisis.

Core rule of the model

Evolution (stable growth) → Revolution (crisis) → new evolution

The solution to one crisis becomes the seed of the next. Organisations can also stay in a phase if no crisis arises.

Typical life cycle stages

Start-up → Growth → Maturity → Decline or renewal

A general guide only. Organisations vary and can renew themselves.

Outsource or keep in-house test

Outsource if: non-core activity AND standardised AND capable supplier AND risks manageable

A judgement rule, not a calculation. Core competences and activities with sensitive data or strategic value usually stay in-house.

Basic cost comparison

Annual saving = in-house annual cost − (annual contract fee + retained management cost + one-off costs spread over the period)

Include transition, redundancy and contract monitoring costs. Do not compare the fee alone with in-house cost.

Main sourcing options

In-house | SSC | Outsource | Offshore (captive or via supplier)

Outsource/in-house is about ownership. Onshore/offshore is about location. State both.

Evaluation of any option

Suitability, Acceptability, Feasibility

A useful structure to judge whether the sourcing choice fits strategy, stakeholders and resources.

Nonaka's SECI model

Socialisation (tacit → tacit) | Externalisation (tacit → explicit) | Combination (explicit → explicit) | Internalisation (explicit → tacit)

Knowledge is created in a spiral as it moves between these modes. Name the mode and match it to a case example.

Senge's five disciplines

Personal mastery + Mental models + Shared vision + Team learning + Systems thinking

Systems thinking is the fifth discipline that integrates the other four.

Single-loop vs double-loop learning (Argyris and Schön)

Single loop: detect error → correct action. Double loop: detect error → question assumptions and policies → change action

Use double-loop when the environment has changed and the old rules no longer fit.

Handy's shamrock

Core + Contractual fringe + Flexible labour force

Three leaves. Each has different costs, control and commitment.

Quick revision

• Structure should fit strategy, size, environment and technology; there is no single best form.
• Mintzberg's configurations include simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalised form and adhocracy.
• Functional forms give specialist efficiency but can create silos and slow cross-team decisions.
• Divisional forms suit diversity and give accountability, but can duplicate costs and cause conflict over resources.
• Matrix forms combine two lines of reporting, which adds flexibility but risks confusion and conflict.
• Network forms rely on partners and flexibility, but reduce direct control.
• Centralisation aids consistency and control; decentralisation aids speed and local response but risks inconsistency.
• A wide span of control needs capable, well-trained staff; a narrow span gives tighter supervision but more layers.
• The cultural web shows culture in stories, symbols, power structures, organisational structures, control systems, rituals and routines, and the paradigm.
• Growth stages demand changes in structure, control and leadership; a founder-led style often strains as size rises.
• Outsourcing can cut cost and access skills, but risks loss of control, quality, knowledge and dependence on the supplier.
• Learning organisations share knowledge and adapt; tacit knowledge is hard to capture and easily lost when people leave.

Common mistakes

• Listing all five configurations with textbook definitions. Fix: Only discuss the configuration or configurations that fit the scenario. Spend the words on application.
• Confusing machine bureaucracy with professional bureaucracy. Fix: Machine bureaucracy standardises work processes and is controlled by the technostructure. Professional bureaucracy standardises skills and the professionals in the operating core hold the power.
• Listing textbook pros and cons with no link to the scenario. Fix: Attach every point to a fact from the case, such as the firm's three regions or its fast-changing product range.
• Confusing divisional structure with decentralisation. Fix: Treat structure as how work is grouped, and centralisation as where decisions are made. A divisional firm can still be tightly controlled from head office.
• Writing a textbook list of pros and cons with no link to the scenario. Fix: Tie every point to a named fact from the case, and say what it means for the company.
• Treating centralisation or decentralisation as simply good or bad. Fix: State that the right level depends on context, and recommend a balance where justified.
• Listing the elements of the web or Handy's types without using the case. Fix: Give a fact from the scenario for every point, then say what it means.
• Treating Hofstede's results as true of every person in a country. Fix: Say the dimensions show general tendencies in national culture, and check the case for evidence about the actual people.
• Listing the five phases from memory with no link to the scenario. Fix: Spend at least half the answer on scenario facts. Quote them and say what they show about the phase.
• Mixing up the crises, for example saying phase 2 ends in red tape. Fix: Learn the pairs: creativity-leadership, direction-autonomy, delegation-control, coordination-red tape.

Exam tips

• Always use scenario evidence. A correct model name with no application earns little.
• Link structure to strategy, size, environment and culture. Examiners reward the fit judgement, not the definition.
• Make a clear recommendation when asked to advise, and mention the main drawback of your proposal.
• Be ready to combine this topic with change, culture or governance. Structure often appears as part of a wider case.
• Use the required format, such as a report or briefing note, and write concisely to earn professional skills marks.
• Always start from the scenario. Identify the strategy, scale and environment before you name any structure.
• Give balanced answers. Examiners reward both strengths and weaknesses linked to facts, not one-sided advocacy.
• Use professional skills: make a clear recommendation, mention commercial and people impacts, and write in the format asked, such as a report or briefing note.