Convenience

technology
Conversion process
used to transform
inputs into outputs
174
Part 3:
Organizing
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2.
Large-batch or mass-production technology
. The product is manufactured in assembly-
line fashion by combining component parts into another part or finished product.
Examples include automobile manufacturers like Subaru, appliance makers like
Whirlpool Corporation, and electronics firms like Philips.
3.
Continuous-process technology
. Raw materials are transformed to a finished product
by a series of machine or process transformations. The composition of the materials
themselves is changed. Examples include petroleum refineries like ExxonMobil and
Shell, and chemical refineries like Dow Chemical and Hoechst AG.
These forms of technology are listed in order of their assumed levels of complexity. In
other words, unit or small-batch technology is presumed to be the least complex and
continuous-process technology the most complex. Woodward found that different
configurations of organization design were associated with each technology.
Specifically, Woodward found that the two extremes (unit or small-batch and
continuous-process) tended to have very little bureaucracy, whereas the middle-range
organizations (large-batch or mass-production) were much more bureaucratic. The
large-batch and mass-production organizations also had a higher level of specialization.
31
Finally, she found that organizational success was related to the extent to which
organizations followed the typical pattern. For example, successful continuous-
process organizations tended to have less bureaucracy, whereas less successful firms
with the same technology tended to be more bureaucratic.
Environment
Environmental elements and organization design are specifically linked in a number of
ways.
32
The first widely recognized analysis of environment–organization design linkages
was provided by Tom Burns and G. M. Stalker.
33
Like Woodward, Burns and Stalker
worked in England. Their first step was identifying two extreme forms of organizational
environment: stable (one that remains relatively constant over time) and unstable (sub-
ject to uncertainty and rapid change). Next, they studied the designs of organizations in
each type of environment. It was no surprise that they found that organizations in stable
environments tended to have a different kind of design than organizations in unstable
environments. The two kinds of design that emerged were called mechanistic and
organic organization.
A