Divisionalization: Structure or process? A longitudinal perspective

In this paper the author questions the idea of divisionalization as a clear-cut organizational configuration of structural elements ready to be adopted and smoothly implemented in almost any kind of business or public organization, given certain objective situational criteria. The research presented here shows: (1) that, rather than resulting from purely rational choices in the face of objective and unambiguous situational criteria, divisionalization may be introduced as the result of a political-institutional process in which reference to situational contingencies may be frequent; and (2) that the process of divisionalization may be very timeconsuming, sometimes spanning decades, because the initial shift in formal structure is not easily matched by a shift in managerial interpretive schemes.