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Understanding Matrix Structures and their Alternatives pp 13–42Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Historical and Conceptual Contexts for Understanding Matrix Structures

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Abstract

This chapter provides a brief history of organization design in general and matrix structures in particular. It also introduces and describes the conceptual framework that will be used throughout the book to evaluate the coordinating potential of different types of structure and organization design. It is called an “information-processing approach” to organization design (Galbraith, Designing complex organizations, 1973; Tushman and Nadler, Academy of Management Review 3(3):613–624, 1978; Egelhoff, Administrative Science Quarterly 27(3):435–458, 1982; Egelhoff, Journal of International Business Studies 22(3):341–358, 1991). It facilitates evaluating the fit between specific types of organization design (including specific types of matrix structure) and specific elements of strategy. The alternative to a matrix structure is an elementary structure plus various types of non-hierarchical network design.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Much of the selection and enactment of a firm’s environment occurs indirectly when a firm establishes its goals. Overly ambitious goals can lead to an unrealistic definition of a firm’s environment and a badly focused interface between the firm and its environment. In addition to rationally selecting their environments, which implies knowledge about an environment, firms also enact parts of their environment when they lack the information to be rational (Weick 1979). For example, a firm may assume that its new product will not face any real competition for the next five years, even though there is little information supporting this assumption about the competitive environment. This assumption allows strategic planning and strategy implementation to proceed when the required information is lacking. Naturally, firms should attempt to be conscious of such assumptions or enacted parts of their environment and monitor them to ensure they subsequently conform to reality.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, New York, USA

    William G. Egelhoff

  2. Institute of Business Admin., Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Joachim Wolf

Authors
  1. William G. Egelhoff
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  2. Joachim Wolf
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Egelhoff, W.G., Wolf, J. (2017). The Historical and Conceptual Contexts for Understanding Matrix Structures. In: Understanding Matrix Structures and their Alternatives. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57975-1_2

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