THE ORIGINS OF MECHANISTIC ORGANIZATION
Organizations are rarely established as ends in themselves are instruments created to
achieve other ends. This is reflected in the origins of the word organization, which
derives from the Greek organon, meaning a tool or instrument. No wonder, therefore,
that ideas about tasks, goals, aims, and objectives have become such fundamental
organizational concepts, for tools and instruments are mechanical devices invented and
developed to aid in performing some kind of goal-oriented activity.
This instrumentality is evident in the practices of the earliest formal organizations of
which we know, such as those that built the great pyramids, empires, churches, and
armies. However, it is with the invention and proliferation of machines, particularly along
with the industrial revolution in Europe and North America, that concepts of organization
really became mechanized. The use of machines, especially in industry, required that
organizations be adapted to the needs of machines.
If we examine the changes in organization accompanying the industrial revolution,
we find an increasing trend toward the bureaucratization and routinization of life
generally. Many self-employed family groups and skilled artisans gave up the autonomy
of working in their homes and workshops to work on relatively unskilled jobs in factory
settings. At the same time, factory owners and their engineers realized that the efficient
operation of their new machines ultimately required major changes in the design and
control of work. Division of labor at work, which was praised by the Scottish economist
Adam Smith in his book The Wealth of Nations (1776), became intensified and
increasingly specialized as manufacturers sought to increase efficiency by reducing the
discretion of workers in favor of control by their machines and their supervisors. New
procedures and techniques were also introduced to discipline workers to accept the new
and rigorous routine of factory production.
Much was learned from the military, which since at least the time of Frederick the
Great of Prussia had emerged as a prototype of mechanistic organization. Frederick, who
ruled from 1740 to 1786, inherited an army composed for the most part of criminals,
paupers, foreign mercenaries, and unwilling conscripts—an unruly mob. He was
determined to change this and quickly set about making reforms. He borrowed much
from the practice of Roman legions and the reformed European armies of the sixteenth
century but also introduced numerous innovations of his own. Many of these were
inspired by the mechanical inventions of his day.
In particular, Frederick was fascinated by the workings of automated toys such as
mechanical men, and in his quest to shape the army into a reliable and efficient
instrument he introduced many reforms that actually served to reduce his soldiers to
automatons. Among these reforms were the introduction of ranks and uniforms, the
extension and standardization of regulations increased specialization of tasks, the use of
standardized equipment, the creation of a command language, and systematic training
that involved army drills. Frederick's aim was to shape the army into an efficient
mechanism operating through means of standardized parts. Training procedures allowed