What Is Matrix Management?

Matrix management refers to one of the common organizational structure forms. Compared with linear management, it is accepted by most organizations for its flexible and effective characteristics. If there are several such specialized groups, a horizontal system will emerge to accomplish specialized tasks.

Matrix Management

This horizontal system and the original vertical leadership system formed a

The earliest practice on matrix structure is ABB's predecessor ASEA, a family

From the above example, we can see that the matrix structure is being favored by more and more enterprises, which is mainly determined by its many advantages.

In traditional management theory

Although the matrix structure is favored by more and more enterprises, the transformation of the organizational structure is a painful and dangerous process. As the saying goes, "There is a benefit, there must be a disadvantage." Not only are there some shortcomings of the matrix structure itself, but this complex organizational structure is also very challenging in management.

The problem of the structure itself is mainly reflected in: On the one hand, the problem of matrix supervisors is how to control their subordinates. Since the subordinate accepts the leadership of two supervisors at the same time, unconscious employees will take advantage of this opportunity to drill down, causing the supervisor to vacuum his management. Therefore, functions and product leaders must work together to solve problems. The functional supervisor mainly solves the technical level problems of the subordinates, while the project supervisor specifically manages the subordinates' work results and

Compared with the matrix organization of matrix management, it is suitable for some large global companies. For example, a multinational company has three core projects-server business for corporate users, computer products for home users, and software development for financial systems. If you follow the traditional organizational structure, the corporate organizational structure will be very large. For example, R & D, production, finance, and sales departments are arranged in the three business sectors. As a result, the functions of the departments overlap with each other, but they are isolated from each other. In the long run, it will inevitably weaken the assistance between employees and cause a great waste of resources. Therefore, how to maximize the efficiency of people, finances and things in large enterprises, matrix organization is a good way.

So, what kind of enterprise should implement matrix management? It is mainly judged based on the following three conditions:

Condition 1: There is pressure to share scarce resources between product lines. Under normal circumstances, the matrix organization is generally medium-sized and has a medium number of product lines. And organizations have a lot of pressure to flexibly use people and equipment with different products. For example, an organization cannot be large enough to arrange enough engineers for each product line, so engineers can only be assigned to undertake product services in the form of part-time project services.

Condition two: The environment has requirements for two or more important products. For example, the requirement for technical quality and rapid product update, this dual pressure means that a balance of power is needed between the functions of the organization and the product. To maintain this balance requires a structure of dual authority.

Condition 3: The environmental conditions of the organization are complex and uncertain. Frequent external changes and the high dependence between departments require a lot of coordination and information processing, both vertically and horizontally.