The Dynamic Organizational Structure: A Compendium of Leading Authors

A characteristic of the human condition is its sense of social interrelationship, as there is historical evidence that prehistoric humans grouped and organized themselves to achieve various activities such as hunting, protection, war, and even selecting partners to consolidate their clans or tribes. Once sedentary, they required more sophisticated forms of organization to practice agriculture, engage in livestock activities, and build their homes, cities, and diverse infrastructure.

However, despite humanity's evident understanding of the utility of organization, it was not until the 20th century that various thinkers, particularly from the field of psychology, began to delve into the design, implementation, and causes and effects of various organizational structures, especially in the business realm.

Thus, this work is directed at both those familiar and unfamiliar with organizational innovation who need to understand the various structures that have been adopted throughout history and gain a notion of how both external and internal environments have influenced their definition.

Presented in various chapters, this work offers a chronological overview of each organizational thought movement, introducing the main authors and their contributing works, and discussing their scope and limitations. As organization is an activity resulting from the habits and customs prevailing in different historical periods, it is anticipated that the organizational models presented here will continue to evolve. Indeed, it is emphasized that there is no single organizational innovation structure, but rather, it responds to a series of factors that, as discussed in the book, appear in various forms according to the analyzing human group and their interests, allowing them the freedom to adopt it in all its capacities. This way, eleven chapters are presented, describing:

Chapter 1. TERMS, SCOPE, AND DIMENSIONS addresses the basic concepts of organizational innovation, as well as the essential elements to consider for a proposal of organizational architecture design.

Chapter 2. EVOLUTION OF ORGANIZATIONS. Travels through time, referring to the main authors from biblical times to the present. It mentions the thinkers who shaped various organizational models and structures, their main works, and events to inform the reader about the historical contexts in which they developed, to better understand their characteristics and future projections.

Chapter 3. CLASSICAL ORGANIZATION THEORY. Follows a similar timeline to the well-known management theory, introducing the main promoters of organizational architecture from this period, such as Frederick Winslow Taylor with his concepts of specialization, Henri Fayol with his contribution to organizational departmentalization, and Max Weber, the father of bureaucracy. The various basic organizational structures used today are explained.

Chapter 4. NEOCLASSICAL ORGANIZATION THEORY. This stage lays the groundwork for criticism of classical theory, presenting authors of great significance today for their contributions, such as Chester Barnard, Herbert A. Simon, Philip Selznick, Ernest Dale, and Peter Drucker with their works focused on management characteristics.

Chapter 5. HUMAN RESOURCES THEORY. The human stage where organizational theory offers insights on working conditions, showcasing the achievements of Elton Mayo and his Hawthorne experiment, Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Y workers, Irving Janis's groupthink, and organizational development represented by Kurt Lewin, Richard Beckhard, and Rensis Likert.

Chapter 6. MOTIVATION THEORIES FOR ORGANIZATION. This section is one of the broadest, providing a historical account of how motivations are perceived as the main element for organizational performance. It discusses how even self-motivation can be incentivized to improve working conditions. The works of Victor Vroom's expectancy theory, Edwin Locke's goal-setting theory, Albert Bandura's self-efficacy theory, Robert Yerkes and John Dodson's optimal arousal theory, John Stacy Adams's equity theory, Solomon Asch's conformity theory, and Peter Drucker's management by objectives are considered.

It also includes irrational factors of motivation based on the theory of needs: Clayton Alderfer's ERG theory, David McClelland and John Atkinson, and Edwin Locke's goal-setting theory or Clark Hull's homeostatic theory.

External factors of motivation are also considered, explaining job design theories with references to Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory, Richard Hackman's job characteristics model, B.F. Skinner's reinforcement theory, and the path-goal theory.

Finally, it concludes with considerations of financial and social factors such as money, illness, and age for both employees and managers.

Chapter 7. STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION THEORY. Different structural approaches are addressed, such as Tom Burns and George Stalker's mechanistic/organic theory, Joan Woodward's technological complexity theory, Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch's contingency theory, Henry Mintzberg's strategic planning theory, Ludwig von Bertalanffy's systems theory, Norbert Wiener's cybernetic theory, Daniel Katz and Robert Kahn's reinforcement, Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard's situational theory, Fred Fiedler's contingency or leadership effectiveness theory, Ronald Coase's organizational economics theory, Michel Jensen and William Meckling's agency theory, W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran's quality theory, concluding with Eric Trist and Ken Bamforth's sociotechnical systems theory.

Chapter 8. POWER AND POLITICS THEORY IN ORGANIZATIONS. Approaches public organizations and how the effect of politics and power also reflects in private enterprises. The works of Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Jeffery Pfeffer, Karl Weick, and Edgar Schein are presented and discussed.

Chapter 9. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE REFORM MOVEMENTS. Presents the works of William Ouchi with his theory of seeking excellence, James March and Johan Olsen, as well as Peter Senge and Chris Argyris contributing to the theory of learning organizations, and finally Hammer and Champy's reengineering theory.

Chapter 10. MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATION. Leadership is considered a key success factor driving organizations, thus presenting and discussing the works of John Kotter and his book "Leadership and Change," James Kouzes and Barry Zaner Posner's management and leadership theory, Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt's management behavior continuum, Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard's situational leadership theory, Gilbert Wayne Fairholm's values-based leadership theory, Verner Petersen's bureaucratic values-based leadership, and David Cooperrider's appreciative inquiry theory.

Chapter 11. POSTMODERNISM AND THE INFORMATION AGE IN ORGANIZATION. Information technologies in the 21st century are considered determinants in organizational development, thus taking into account the works of Shoshana Zuboff, Janet Fulk, Richard M. Burton, and Borge Obel, as well as Stewart Clegg.

Finally, four of the most innovative 21st-century organizational theories are described: Zygmunt Bauman's liquid organization theory, Benoit Mandelbrot and Hans-Jürgen Warnecke's fractal organization theory, Edward Lorenz's chaos theory, and Salim Ismail's exponential organization theory.

Ultimately, it is confirmed that the objective is not to delve deeply into each of the mentioned authors' organizational innovation theories and their impact but rather to present what they are and how they have contributed to motivate the reader to delve deeper into those that are most useful in their professional development.