Designing for Complexity: Using Divisions and Hierarchy to Manage Complex Tasks

What is it about?

This paper studies the impact of task complexity and decomposability on the degree of organizational divisionalization and hierarchy within firms. Drawing upon the team theory and modularity literature, it argues that the degree of divisionalization is predicated not only on the extent of interdependence (complexity) among tasks but also on the extent to which those interdependent relationships are decomposable. Using data on the business activities and organization structures of U.S. equipment manufacturers in 1993–2003, I find that divisionalization increases with task complexity, suggesting that complex task systems encourage more division of managerial responsibilities. However, divisionalization decreases as task systems become less decomposable. Meanwhile, organizational hierarchy increases with task complexity, and it increases as task systems become less decomposable.

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Why is it important?

The paper implies that the feasibility and benefits of modularization in organizational design may be overstated when the underlying tasks are not decomposable. In addition, this paper argues that organizational hierarchy serves to mitigate the tension between complexity and decomposability by facilitating a higher degree of divisionalization. The findings highlight the constraints firms face in designing modular organization structures and the role of hierarchy in coordinating complex task systems that are not fully decomposable.