Structuration

The term structuration represents the tension between enabling and constraint, that gives form to an organization . The text cites several examples of balancing these two forces, from the Burley Design Cooperative (p.25) to the Second Vatican Council (p.23) thereby, illustrating that similar tensions define all forms of social organization from systems of government to religion. The degree to which one force is percieved to predominate over the other influences public perception of corporate identity, in ways that have economic consequences. For example, Microsoft is often percieved as a brittle, hierarchical organization, that imposes its vision of personal computing through the use of monopolistic business practices. Although Apple is probably no less hierarchical, it has cultivated the image of an innovative company, responsive to the technological (and emotional?) needs of consumers. By creating an organizational culture that seems to favor enabling attributes such as responsiveness and flexibility, Apple continues to make inroads into formerly Microsoft territory.