ABSTRACT
As we have noted already, one major set of decisions which confront management, particularly senior management, in any organization has to do with the design of the structure of the organizational system, or the administrative arrangements by which it is run. Of course, in many ongoing organizational situations, it may not always appear this way. Existing arrangements are often, perhaps all too often, seen as fixed, or at least non-problematic. None the less, whether consciously and systematically considered, or merely inherited and amended in the light of particular circumstances, organizational structures and administrative arrangements are largely the product of conscious decision-making, usually by senior management. Of course, such decision-making is constrained in a whole variety of ways, and subject to negotiation with other interested parties. In the present chapter, an attempt is made to examine the literature on organizational structure and design within the context of the ecological approach suggested. This will be done in an effort to understand both the nature of the issues that must be considered in making design decisions, and also to consider the likely implications of particular structural and administrative arrangements, which may ensue as a consequence of such decisions.
