ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Business organisational structure
A large car manufacturer has highly standardised assembly procedures, a big technostructure that designs the work and a rigid hierarchy. Which of the following is the most likely weakness of this Mintzberg configuration?
The likely weakness is inflexibility and slow response to change. A machine bureaucracy depends on standardised processes and rigid rules designed by the technostructure, which works in stable conditions but adapts poorly when the environment changes.
- ADependence on the personal ability of one owner-manager
- BInflexibility and slow response to a changing environmentCorrect
- CConflict between professionals and administrators over control
Explanation
This is a machine bureaucracy, which suits stable, simple environments and mass production. Its reliance on rules and standardised processes makes it inflexible and slow to adapt when conditions change. Dependence on one owner suits the simple structure, and professional-administrator conflict is a feature of the professional bureaucracy.
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