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Organisational structure 
2.1 Components of the organisation (Mintzberg) 
Mintzberg believes that 
all
organisations can be analysed into five components, according to how they 
relate to the work of the organisation, and how they prefer to co-ordinate.
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CHAPTER 5
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BUSINESS ORGANISATION, STRUCTURE AND STRATEGY 
 
127 
Operating Core
Middle
Line
Support
Staff
Technostructure
Middle
Line
Mintzberg’s five components (Mintzberg, 1979)
Component 
Job 
Preferred means of co-
ordination 
Strategic apex
Ensures the organisation follows its mission 
Manages the organisation's relationship with 
the environment 
Direct supervision (especially in 
small businesses) 
Operating core
People directly involved in the process of 
obtaining inputs, and converting them into 
outputs 
Mutual adjustment; 
standardisation of skills 
Middle line
Converts the desires of the strategic apex into 
the work done by the operating core 
Standardisation of outputs 
(results) 
Technostructure

Analysers determine the best way of doing a 
job 

Planners determine outputs (eg goods must 
achieve a specified level of quality) 

Personnel analysts standardise skills (eg 
training programmes) 
Standardisation of work 
processes or outputs 
Support staff
Ancillary services such as public relations, legal 
counsel, the cafeteria. Support staff do not plan 
or standardise production. They function 
independently of the operating core. 
Mutual adjustment 
2.2 Categories of organisation (Mintzberg, 1979) 
Based on the organisational model above, Mintzberg described five categories of organisation structure. 
2.2.1 Simple structure 
The simple structure is centralised and often autocratic, with power concentrated at the strategic apex. 
Typically, control is exerted by the chief executive or a small executive team. This structure can be very 
flexible and informal, but it is also very vulnerable, with so much power and control concentrated in the 
hands of a few people.
2.2.2 Machine bureaucracy 
This structure relies heavily on a good technostructure. Strategic planners and financial controllers are 
influential, with multiple layers of management, formal (often rigid) procedures and standardised 
production processes. Motivation can be difficult, and organisations of this type tend to be inflexible. 
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