Strategy and Structure: Reconceiving the Relationship

What is it about?

Discussions have drawn attention to the relationship between strategy and structure for over 50 years. Yet, no firm basis has emerged to settle the issue of causal direction or to affirm the relationship's effects on organizational performance. By adding a new dimension to the strategy-structure framework, this article attempts to conceptually link long-term performance with (a) the presence of organizational subunits having distinctive competence in strategic planning, and (b) the coordination of these differentiated subunits into a discernible micro-structure embedded within the overall organization. This new dimension is explored and developed by use of a case of the Pacific Coast seaport industry.

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