There are many different '*nys of thinking about what makes up an organization. At this point in the development of a science of organizations, we probably do not know the one right or best way to describe the different components of an organization. The task is to find useful approaches for describing organizations, for simplifying complex phenomena, and for identifring patterns in what may at first blush seem to be random sets of ac• tivity. Our particular approach views organiza• tions as composed of four major components: (l)the task, (2) the individuals, (3) the formal organizational arrangements, and (4) the infor•
mal organization, We will discuss each of these individually (see Figure 2 for overviews of these components).
The first component is the organization's I task—that is, the basic or inherent work to be done by the organization and its subunits or the activity the organization is engaged in, particularly in light of its strategy. The emphasis is on the specific work activities or functions that need to be done and their inherent characteristics (as opposed to characteristics of the work created by how the work is organized or structured in this particular organization at this particular time), Analysis of the task would include a description of the basic work flows and functions with attention to the characteristics of those work flows— for example, the knowledge or skills demanded by the work, the kinds of rewards provided by the