Mintzberg’s “pentagon” and organization positioning

Abstract

Looks at Mintzberg’s pentagon model of ideal structures as a tool for describing organization structural designs. Surveys 91 US CEOs to test the validity of the model, in an attempt to provide greater insight into the model and its applicability to real life situations. Details research methodology. Fails to find a link between an organization with an ideal structure and performance, reporting that simple structured firms seemed to be the best performers, while hybrids and firms failing to score “high” on any ideal structure were also solid performers. Notes limitations of the study but suggests further research could expand knowledge of the structuring of organizations.

Citation

Drago, W.A. (1998), "Mintzberg’s “pentagon” and organization positioning", Management Research News, Vol. 21 No. 4/5, pp. 30-40. https://doi.org/10.1108/01409179810781491