Formal Organization

A Formal Organization is an organization with an explicit goal and structure.

Context:
- It can (often) have Employees.
- It can range from being a Non-Profit Organization to being a For-Profit Organization.
- It can have an Organizational Strategy.
- It can have a set of Key Performance Indicators.
- It was one of the first entities included in Named Entity Mention Detection Tasks, such as MUC and ACE.
- It can be in a Business Relationship with another Legal Entity.
- It can hire Workers (who can range from being a full-time employees to freelancers).
- It can (typically) have one or more Organizational Processes.
Example(s):
- an Business Entity.
- an NGO.
- …
Counter-Example(s):
- an Informal Organization.
See: Organizational Structure, Organizational Goal, Job (Role).

References

(Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/organization#Formal_organizations Retrieved:2015-5-14.
- An organization that is established as a means for achieving defined objectives has been referred to as a formal organization. Its design specifies how goals are subdivided and reflected in subdivisions of the organization. Divisions, departments, sections, positions, jobs, and tasks make up this work structure.^[1] Thus, the formal organization is expected to behave impersonally in regard to relationships with clients or with its members. According to Weber's definition, entry and subsequent advancement is by merit or seniority. Each employee receives a salary and enjoys a degree of tenure that safeguards him from the arbitrary influence of superiors or of powerful clients. The higher his position in the hierarchy, the greater his presumed expertise in adjudicating problems that may arise in the course of the work carried out at lower levels of the organization. It is this bureaucratic structure that forms the basis for the appointment of heads or chiefs of administrative subdivisions in the organization and endows them with the authority attached to their position.^[2]

↑ Chester I. Barnard, The Functions of the Executive, 1938, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, oclc: 555075
↑ Gibb, Cecil A. (1970). Leadership: Selected Readings. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140805176. OCLC 174777513

(Kogut & Zander, 1992) ⇒ Bruce Kogut, and Udo Zander. (1992). “Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology.” In: Organization science, 3(3). doi:10.1287/orsc.3.3.383
- QUOTE: How should we understand why firms exist? A prevailing view has been that they serve to keep in check the transaction costs arising from the self-interested motivations of individuals. We develop in this article the argument that what firms do better than markets is the sharing and transfer of the knowledge of individuals and groups within an organization.