Organic organisation

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A term created by Tom Burns and G.M. Stalker in the late 1950s, organic organizations, unlike mechanistic organizations (also coined by Burns and Stalker), are flexible and value outside knowledge.

Also called organismic organization, this form of organizational structure was widely sought and proposed, but never proved to really exist since it is, adversely to the mechanistic organization, it has the least hierarchy and specialisation of functions. For an organization to be organic, people in it should be equally levelled, with no job descriptions or classifications, and communication to have a hub-network-like form. It is said to be the most adaptive form of organization.

An organic organization is a fluid and flexible network of multi-talented individuals who perform a variety of tasks, as per the definition of D. A. Morand.