Using enterprise architecture to analyse how organisational structure impact motivation and learning

Abstract

When technology, environment, or strategies change, organisations need to adjust their structures accordingly. These structural changes do not always enhance the organisational performance as intended partly because organisational developers do not understand the consequences of structural changes in performance. This article presents a model-based analysis framework for quantitative analysis of the effect of organisational structure on organisation performance in terms of employee motivation and learning. The model is based on Mintzberg’s work on organisational structure. The quantitative analysis is formalised using the Object Constraint Language (OCL) and the Unified Modelling Language (UML) and implemented in an enterprise architecture tool.

KEYWORDS:

• organisational structure
• enterprise architecture
• enterprise modelling
• architecture analysis
• contingency theory

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledgement Professor Henry Mintzberg, whose work on organisational structure has been essential for this article.

Conflict of interest disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).