The machine bureaucracy ranks among the 5 organization concepts (configurations) of Henry Mintzberg, which emphasizes two substantial aspects of the organization organization.

To first the connection of the organization of working processes and the organization of place relations (forms of the process organization) and to second the inclusion of so-called situativer factors (age and size of the institution, the respective fundamental technology, the stability of the environment and the distribution of power and autonomy).

Apart from the co-ordination mechanisms (forms of the process organization) and the situativen factors (basic conditions) it considers still so-called organization parameters (for example formalizing the behavior by job descriptions) and the relative meaning of certain parts of the enterprise organization. These parts are the management (Strategic Apex), the middle level (Middle LINE), the implementing level (operating core), steering units (Technostructure) and supporting units (support Staff).

With consideration of these 4 design elements Mintzberg developed its 5 ideal types of the organization.

Characteristics

The dominanteste organizational element in this model the Technostruktur. There the planning and standardisation of the operational core, it take place procedural specifications, horizontal and vertical authority distributions in the form of family trees, job descriptions, financial plans and decision routines are provided.

The machine bureaucracy is by a fully developed administrative organisational structure and through - in the comparison to the single structure - relatively centralized powers of decision characterized. It has strongly according to functions and in hierarchical levels abgegrenze units.

The strategic point is the only organ, strategic decisions too meet-has. It represents the management, which represents the interests of the organization outward.

Due to the strong tendency for self-manufacturing there is a well removed Hilfsstab.

Machine-bureaucratic work is a Einzelarbeit and by easily structurable setting of tasks is mostly marked. The further training is operated in the house and used for stamping the complicated rules and the regulated structure. The motivation of the coworkers is in this organization form the task of the management.

With the "make or buy" - own production is the center of attention to decisions always, i.e. this organization creates itself all emergency services themselves, which needs it to the life, so that these can be better controlled. That can be a Werkskantine, in addition, for example a law office. The "make" - decision is the strategy of this organization.

See also: Line organization, functional organization

Pro and cons

Advantages

• Reliability and stability (however only under stable environmental condition)
• Transparent overall system of the organization and clear regulation of the competencies by standardisation
• By delegation of the decision authority and definition of clear proceedings hardly chaos and struggles for power
• Efficient and cheap mass production possible

Disadvantages

• and slow reaction to environmental changes by the hierarchical communication ways the information are only slowly passed on there and distorted
• Strategy development problems due to overloading of the strategic point
• Small motivation of the coworkers group work, team and innovative thinking due to the routine task not to be promoted there
• Emergence of a strong bureaucracy due to formalizing, standardisation, programming and structuring
• If the machine bureaucracy appears as Hilfsstab of the professional organization can it between these two organization types to conflicts come, since the efficiency and striving for adherence to the complicated rules of procedure of the machine bureaucracy and striving for flexible task fulfilment with opposite beginnings are.

Areas of application

The machine bureaucracy prefers stable basic conditions with simple technologies, suitably is around standardisation of the operational processes to be operated, as well as large sizes of company. Old organizations are usually organized as machine bureaucracies. It is favorable an environment, which demands security and reliability from the organization.

This structure develops preferentially in the public sector, in the measure-producing large-scale industry, as for example in the automobile industry and, where reliability and security are the center of attention, that is banks, hotel and restaurant chains, airlines, fire-brigades. A classical example is the company McDonald"´s.

The machine bureaucracy can appear also as supporting - administrative culture of the professional organization.

Machine bureaucracies develop frequently also from maturing single structures.

See also: Organization (economics)

Literature

• Henry Mintzberg: The Mintzberg structure. Organizations arrange more effective. Publishing house modern trend industry, Landsberg at the Lech 1992 ISBN 3-478-31470-4
• Henry Mintzberg: Organization Design: Fashion or fit in: Harvard Business Review, January. /Feb.1981
• Oskar green: Organisation.In Fritz Scheuch (Hrsg.): General management economics. Service specialized publishing house, Vienna 1990 ISBN 3-85428-170-6
• Henry Mintzberg: The Structuring OF organizations. Englewood Cliffs, new jersey 1979
• Henry Mintzberg:

Articles in category "Machine bureaucracy"

We found here 14 articles.

Related Websites

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• Machine Bureaucracy
  Machine bureaucracy in theory. - Overall concepts from Mintzberg. - Standardization of work processes ... Military is a good example of machine bureaucracy ...


• Mintzberg's Taxonomy of Organizational Forms
  Because the machine bureaucracy depends primarily on the standardization of its operating work processes for coordination, the technostructure - which ...


• Professional Bureaucracy vs. Machine Bureaucracy
  Mintzberg contrasts a professional bureaucracy and a machine bureaucracy in the ... The Machine bureaucracy has a simple environment and work process, ...