M intzberg on organizations
an easy style and refreshing approach, he is included election as an O fficer of the O rder
one of the most accessible management writ
bec, and selection as D istinguished Scholar
than 140 monographs and articles, and 13 for the year 2000 by the A cademy of M anage
books, mostly in the management field. H is ment (10).
reputation is high among people who study
ational research for the C anadian N ational
R ailways between 1961 and 1963.A fter that,
Henry M intzberg:ashort biography he became professor at M cG ill in 1968 and
visiting professor with several universities
and business schools around the world. H e
nadian professor of management at M cG ill was elected as president of the Strategic M an
U niversity in M ontreal (C anada) and at IN agement Society between 1988 and 1991.D ue
to his multicultural teaching work,he has su
engineering graduate of M cG ill U niversity,
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Management 119
ness schools in Canada, United Kingdom, Ja 3) Planning is decision making.
4) Planning is integrated decision making.
5)
One of the leading management guru, produce an articulated result, in the form of
an integrated system of decision.
graphs and articles as well as 13 books (e.g., He argued that planning is mandatory
Strategy Bites Back, The Strategy Process,
Strategy Safari etc.). His influential work
comprises the following three main catego nate their activities.
ries (1):
that the future is taken into account.
time, and how their mental processes work; nal.
to satisfy their needs. Much of his work has focused on trying
Published in 1973, The Nature of Mana
gerial Work represented the result of a sys the perspective of structure and the perspec
tive of power.
nology firm, a hospital, a consumer goods Mintzberg and organizations
how chief executives officers of these orga
had to do with the structural configuration of
ed by interruptions. As managers are hostag
es to interruptions in a pressing managerial
environment they are not encouraged to de
velop a strategic thinking. In an environment
that managers develop a clear preference for of research findings made with some of his
live action. In this book, he exposed many of colleagues at McGill University, he identified
the myths surroundings top managers and
stated that they are rather creatures of the the operating core, comprising people
moment than farsighted strategist. In sum, who perform the basic work;
the strategic apex, occupied by at least
of the way managers spend their time and of
what they do. the middle line, as a hierarchy of au
thority between the strategic apex and
ning:Reconceiving Roles for Planning, Plans, the operating core;
the technostructure, comprising ana
lysts who perform administrative du
ning and strategy. In his opinion, there are ties;
several formal definitions of planning (7): the support staff, putting together
1) Planning is future thinking. staff units who provide various inter
2) Planning is controlling the future. nal services;
No. 7 ~ 2008
120 Management
skills
4. Diversified Middle line
outputs
5. Innovative Mutual adjustment Support staff
6. Missionary Ideology
norms
7. Political None None V aries
simple, informal, and flexible structure. The through formal training.
chief executive exercises the power person
ally and controls personally through direct
divisions are coupled together under central
flexible, allowing for rapid response. The en administrative headquarters. In the 1920s, A.
P. Sloan Jr. introduced this type of structure
to General Motors in order to successfully
bureaucracy and formal procedures. The op
erating tasks are simple and repetitive, and
require a minimum of skill and training. adhocracy in the business world. The adhoc
racy innovates and solves problems directly
on behalf of its customers.
of its operating professionals. This type of ly integrated structure. This type of organi
No. 7 ~ 2008
Management 121
norms. In other words, the sharing of values
and beliefs among its members is very strong.
The Japanese corporations (type J0 represent
a good example (Table 2).
mal power.
tion (9) .
Table 2
Conclusions: One of the top manage into several basic categories. Trying to clas
berg has written prolifically on the topics of structure and later from the perspective of
REFERENCES:
Kennedy C.,Guide to the Management Gurus. Shortcuts to the Ideas of Leading Management Thinkers, Cen
tury Business, London, 1998
Mintzberg H., The Nature of Managerial W ork, Harper & Row, New York, 1973
Mintzberg H.,
Hall, New York, 1979
Mintzberg H.,Power In and Around Organizations
Mintzberg H.,
York, 1989
Mintzberg H.,Quinn J. B.,
New York, 1991
Mintzberg H., , The
Moore J. I.,W riters on Strategy and Strategic Management. The Theory of Strategy and the Practice of Strategic
Management at Enterprise, Corporate, Business and Functional Levels, Second edition, Penguin Books, London,
2001
Ouchi W .,
1981
Henry Mintzberg, www.mintzberg.org (accessed May, 02, 2008)
No. 7 ~ 2008