Campbell and Bailyn’s Boston Office Case Study

Study questions:

1. What are the major assumptions and concepts of the structural frame?

The structural frame upholds the notion that organizations are judged primarily on and by the proper functioning of those elements which constitute good organization. For the greater part of the 20th century, the assumptions and concepts of scientific management have informed most theories of practice.

One of the earliest precursors of scientific management is Max Weber, hired by Frederick the Great to reorganize the Prussian Army, who conceived the “monocratic bureaucracy” as an ideal form that maximized norms of rationality. His model outlined several major features which include:

* A fixed division of labor

* A hierarchy of offices

* A set of rules governing performance

* A separation of personal from official property and rights

* The use of technical qualifications (not family ties or friendship) for selecting personnel

* Employment as primary occupation and long-term career

But, if Max Weber “rationalized” the bureaucracy, Frederick Winslow Taylor “hyper-rationalized’ the bureaucracy. Known as the “father” of scientific management”, he sought an objective, scientific mechanism to improve organizational functioning. Based on these two principal intellectual roots, there are six assumptions of the structural frame:

* Organizations exist to achieve established goals and objectives

* Organizations increase efficiency and enhance performance through specialization and appropriate division of labor

* Suitable forms of coordination and control ensure that diverse efforts of individuals and units mesh

* Organizations works best when rationality prevails over personal agendas and extraneous pressures

* Effective structures fit an organization’s current circumstances ( including its goals, technology, workforce, and environment)

* Troubles arise and performance suffers from structural deficits,...