Four Forms That Fit Most Organizations

Abstract

Organizations dominate our lives, yet how well do we really understand them, and their differences? To get past the one-size-fits-all notion of organization design, this article presents four forms of organizations—the personal enterprise, the programmed machine, the professional assembly, and the project pioneer—each with its own way of managing and crafting strategy. Many organizations come remarkably close to one of these forms, while others can be understood as hybrids of them. Nevertheless, since organizations are made up of people, every one of us different, every single organization structure must be customized through a process of design doing.