Toward a theory of organizational elements

Abstract

Businesses are complex organizations with seemingly limitless interconnectedness and functionality. Organizational Charts are the limit to which many organizations consider their internal structure, while others build workflow models to identify and codify every keystroke and communique. In order to provide a middle ground between superficial Organizational Charts and elaborate workflow models, this thesis develops a simple and broadly applicable method of modeling organizations. In particular, ideas from computer program structuring are transplanted into organizational design. Initially, a theory of Organizational Elements is defined. Then characteristics common to the elements of the framework are explored and a small set of example elements is identified and developed. Finally, the framework is applied to two example organizations and recommendations for further work are presented.