Ebook: Tinbergen Lectures on Organization Theory

In revising the Tinbergen Lectures I have expanded and restructured the material in an attempt to make the book more readable and more interesting. I have also tried to show more clearly its relevance to managerial and organizational practice. Some mathematical derivations have been moved to appendices. Certain sections that may be skipped in a first reading have been starred. Points that should be of interest to management include • the nature and necessity of rank (4. 1, 4. 2, 4. 4) rank assignment by counting up or down (4. 3) defining an organization's task (6. 2) calculating the required size of an organization (6. 3) • allocating supervisors in the short run (6. 7) when uniform spans of control are desirable (6. 8) • how to estimate an organization's implicit span of control (7) determining the minimal ranks in supervision (8. 3) • the advantage of flexible department lines (8. 4) measuring the leanness of an organization (8. 5) the relationship between average wage and unit labor cost (10. 2) job allocation in the short run (10. 4) • calculating the cost of supervision for particular jobs (10. 5) • recognizing economic choices in substituting managers for operatives or vice versa (11) • determining the optimal size of a research team (12) VI • setting targets (13. 1) • budgeting under full information (13. 2) • budgeting under imperfect information (13. 3) • sources of information loss (14.

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The main emphasis in this work is on answers to such questions as: Can organizations operate efficiently or is there inevitably a loss of control? What are the principles of efficient organizational design? Do organizations operate under constant, increasing or decreasing returns to scale? In his preface Prof. J. Tinbergen writes:"In this book Professor Beckmann, with considerable ingenuity, offers a mathematical analysis of productive organizations in the widest sense... Among the organizations studied hierarchies play a predominant role and are compared with such forms of cooperation as partnerships and "ladders". A number of well-known basic concepts such as span of control, rank, line vs. staff and others serve as starting points. His analysis leads to such refinements as balance, regular or degenerated organization patterns and interesting comparisons of the efficiency of various structures... Several of the results obtained take simpler forms for very large hierarchies. The renewed interest, shown in political discussions, in the bureaucratization of both large enterprises and government machinery makes Dr. Beckmann's work highly topical". "Beckmann's microeconomic organisation theory presents...without a doubt, a very fine, formally closed and surprisingly informative conception" (Zeitschrift f?r Betriebswirtschaft 9/1984, original in German).

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The main emphasis in this work is on answers to such questions as: Can organizations operate efficiently or is there inevitably a loss of control? What are the principles of efficient organizational design? Do organizations operate under constant, increasing or decreasing returns to scale? In his preface Prof. J. Tinbergen writes:"In this book Professor Beckmann, with considerable ingenuity, offers a mathematical analysis of productive organizations in the widest sense... Among the organizations studied hierarchies play a predominant role and are compared with such forms of cooperation as partnerships and "ladders". A number of well-known basic concepts such as span of control, rank, line vs. staff and others serve as starting points. His analysis leads to such refinements as balance, regular or degenerated organization patterns and interesting comparisons of the efficiency of various structures... Several of the results obtained take simpler forms for very large hierarchies. The renewed interest, shown in political discussions, in the bureaucratization of both large enterprises and government machinery makes Dr. Beckmann's work highly topical". "Beckmann's microeconomic organisation theory presents...without a doubt, a very fine, formally closed and surprisingly informative conception" (Zeitschrift f?r Betriebswirtschaft 9/1984, original in German).
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XVII
Introduction....Pages 1-7
Supervision....Pages 8-15
Control....Pages 16-20
Rank....Pages 21-32
Distance....Pages 33-40
Number of Positions....Pages 41-62
Estimation....Pages 63-70
Assignment....Pages 71-84
Regular Organization....Pages 85-89
Costs....Pages 90-106
Front Matter....Pages 107-108
Substitution of Management and Operative Inputs: Welfare Agency....Pages 109-121
Information Costs: Research Teams....Pages 122-129
Loss of Information in Simple Organizations....Pages 130-142
Loss of Information and Control in Multi-Level Organizations....Pages 143-147
Uses of Production Functions: Simple Organizations....Pages 148-154
Uses of Production Functions: Multi-Level Organizations....Pages 155-169
Organizations versus Individuals....Pages 170-181
Management Motivation: Principal and Agent....Pages 182-195
The Economics of Hierarchy....Pages 196-210
Alternatives to Hierarchy: Partnerships....Pages 211-225
Back Matter....Pages 232-252
Conclusion....Pages 226-231

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The main emphasis in this work is on answers to such questions as: Can organizations operate efficiently or is there inevitably a loss of control? What are the principles of efficient organizational design? Do organizations operate under constant, increasing or decreasing returns to scale? In his preface Prof. J. Tinbergen writes:"In this book Professor Beckmann, with considerable ingenuity, offers a mathematical analysis of productive organizations in the widest sense... Among the organizations studied hierarchies play a predominant role and are compared with such forms of cooperation as partnerships and "ladders". A number of well-known basic concepts such as span of control, rank, line vs. staff and others serve as starting points. His analysis leads to such refinements as balance, regular or degenerated organization patterns and interesting comparisons of the efficiency of various structures... Several of the results obtained take simpler forms for very large hierarchies. The renewed interest, shown in political discussions, in the bureaucratization of both large enterprises and government machinery makes Dr. Beckmann's work highly topical". "Beckmann's microeconomic organisation theory presents...without a doubt, a very fine, formally closed and surprisingly informative conception" (Zeitschrift f?r Betriebswirtschaft 9/1984, original in German).
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XVII
Introduction....Pages 1-7
Supervision....Pages 8-15
Control....Pages 16-20
Rank....Pages 21-32
Distance....Pages 33-40
Number of Positions....Pages 41-62
Estimation....Pages 63-70
Assignment....Pages 71-84
Regular Organization....Pages 85-89
Costs....Pages 90-106
Front Matter....Pages 107-108
Substitution of Management and Operative Inputs: Welfare Agency....Pages 109-121
Information Costs: Research Teams....Pages 122-129
Loss of Information in Simple Organizations....Pages 130-142
Loss of Information and Control in Multi-Level Organizations....Pages 143-147
Uses of Production Functions: Simple Organizations....Pages 148-154
Uses of Production Functions: Multi-Level Organizations....Pages 155-169
Organizations versus Individuals....Pages 170-181
Management Motivation: Principal and Agent....Pages 182-195
The Economics of Hierarchy....Pages 196-210
Alternatives to Hierarchy: Partnerships....Pages 211-225
Back Matter....Pages 232-252
Conclusion....Pages 226-231
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