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MATRIX ORGANIZATION: A REVIEW

MATRIX ORGANIZATION: A REVIEW Introduction A NEW type of organization structure is spreading through industry and parts of the public sector, which has so far been very inadequately documented. The common label used to describe it is ‘Matrix’ though there is at present no agreed definition of the term. Usually the name is applied to structures which involve some form of dual or multiple authority, a ‘two boss’ situation, but the range of interpretation of the term is fairly wide, and will be explored below. Matrix structures have spread most rapidly in organizations where people work on projects,l such as research and development units,z advertising agencies3 and management con~ultancies~ they have also begun to appear but in non-project settings. An American report published some years ago6 gave a list of prestigious companies like American Cyanamid, AVCO, Carborundum, Caterpillar Tractor, General Telephone and Electronics, Hughes Aircraft, ITT, jM’s, Monsanto Chemical, National Cash Register, Prudential Insurance, TRM and Texas Instruments as users of matrix organization. In some of these only parts of the company, such as R and D, marketing, or construction activities may be structured on matrix lines, in others matrix organization extends to major divisions or the whole company. Examples of the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Management Studies Wiley

MATRIX ORGANIZATION: A REVIEW

Knight, Kenneth
Journal of Management Studies , Volume 13 (2) – May 1, 1976
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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1976 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0022-2380
eISSN
1467-6486
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-6486.1976.tb00528.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Introduction A NEW type of organization structure is spreading through industry and parts of the public sector, which has so far been very inadequately documented. The common label used to describe it is ‘Matrix’ though there is at present no agreed definition of the term. Usually the name is applied to structures which involve some form of dual or multiple authority, a ‘two boss’ situation, but the range of interpretation of the term is fairly wide, and will be explored below. Matrix structures have spread most rapidly in organizations where people work on projects,l such as research and development units,z advertising agencies3 and management con~ultancies~ they have also begun to appear but in non-project settings. An American report published some years ago6 gave a list of prestigious companies like American Cyanamid, AVCO, Carborundum, Caterpillar Tractor, General Telephone and Electronics, Hughes Aircraft, ITT, jM’s, Monsanto Chemical, National Cash Register, Prudential Insurance, TRM and Texas Instruments as users of matrix organization. In some of these only parts of the company, such as R and D, marketing, or construction activities may be structured on matrix lines, in others matrix organization extends to major divisions or the whole company. Examples of the

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Journal of Management Studies – Wiley

Published: May 1, 1976

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