Research Reports from the Department of Operations
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
5-29-1964
Abstract
The organization structure problem is defined as that of specifying the composition of organizational elements or subgroups, their measures of performance, and the corresponding control factors. This paper is concerned with the development of methods for decomposing a total organizational objective function into simpler subgroup performance functions that involve fewer control variables. Methods are developed for yielding this decomposition and for deriving values of the control variables that optimize the performances of the subgroups and the organization. Extensions of the initial structure problem are formulated which permit the application of quantitative methods to problems involving organization transition, adaptation, and adjustment. Specific examples of the use of the methods are presented in multi-product pricing and production-pricing problems.
Keywords
Operations research, Organizational behavior, Production management, Industrial management, Industrial organization (Economic theory), Lagrangian functions
Publication Title
Technical Memorandums from the Department of Operations, School of Management, Case Western Reserve University
Issue
Technical memorandum no. 21
Rights
This work is in the public domain and may be freely downloaded for personal or academic use
Recommended Citation
Dean, Burton V., "On the Structure Problem of Organization" (1964). Research Reports from the Department of Operations. 371.
https://commons.case.edu/wsom-ops-reports/371