Una tassonomia empirica delle strutture organizzative

The literature on organizational structures presents a limited number of possible structural alternatives characterized by the use of specialization criteria and coordination mechanisms adopted with limited association rules. This analysis, taking as starting point recent discussions about organizational configurations, is based on the idea that the structural elements of the organization (specialization and coordination) can be combined in different ways to generate a greater number of organizational structures. The framework for the analysis considers on one side 2 types of specialization criteria of the units (technical and product/market), on the other side 3 coordination mechanisms (financial responsibility of the units, lateral integration mechanisms, hierarchy). An analysis of the structures trough the framework has been carried out on a sample of 87 Italian enterprises creating an empirical taxonomy of organizational forms. The performance associated to the configurations has been measured through an efficiency measure and a growth measure, giving an insight on the relationship between adoption of different structural elements and type of performance reached. The result is that the advantages of traditional models are confirmed but successful enterprises several times adopt organizational configurations that mix elements from different models generating original structures. Results are discussed in order to point pout theoretical implications for organizational design and practical implications for management.

Alessandro Gava, Una tassonomia empirica delle strutture organizzative in "STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI " 1/2008, pp 183-199, DOI: