An Entrepreneurial Theory of Formal Organizations Part I: Patterns of Formal Organizations

Abstract

It is argued that all formal organizations have resources and establish procedures for the use of those resources. A taxonomy is developed primarily based on how the procedures are established and how the organization stores its resources. Three simple bureaucratic forms are identified, the Complete, the Enucleated, and the Truncated Bureaucracies. In addition, four complex organizational types are described: Internally coupled organizations; externally coupled organizations; parallel decentralization; and functional decentralization. The conditions under which each of these organizational forms is optimal also are discussed. Selwyn W. Becker is associate professor of psychology, in the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.2 Gerald Gordon is associate professor in the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University.