Categorizing the Complexity: A Scoping Review of Structures Within Organizations

Abstract

Structures involve a patterned regularity of interactions and frameworks that guide what individuals work on, with whom, and who influences those decisions. A deeper understanding of structures that exist within organizations has begun to emerge and illuminate new forms of structures (over 100 of them) that drive behavior in organizations. In this scoping review, we organize the fragmented insights on structure within organizations into a unifying framework that provides a coherent foundation for the domain by identifying nine topic domains and offering a summary of each (i.e., authority structures, cognitive structures, communication structures, coordination structures, leadership structures, motivational structures, social structures, task structures, and temporal structures). Next, as multiple structures co-occur within organizations, we explore the connections across topic domains, including their combinations. Understanding the separate topic domains and their combinations enables researchers and practitioners to understand why employee behaviors are inconsistent with the behaviors endorsed by a particular structure and better navigate the inherent complexity of structures within organizations. Finally, we outline implications for future work featuring structure combinations as well as emergent areas from the topic domains, such as the potential for change. Given the ubiquity of structures in organizations and their links with a variety of theoretical domains, this article’s implications have the potential to benefit a wide range of scholars and managers.

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