Stovepipe organisation
A stovepipe organisation has a structure that largely or entirely restricts the flow of information within the organisation to up-down through lines of control, inhibiting or preventing cross-organisational communication. Many traditional, large organisations have a stovepipe pattern. Intelligence organisations may deliberately adopt a stovepipe pattern so that a breach or compromise in one area cannot easily spread to others. A famous example of this is Bletchley Park where people working in one hut would not know what the people in any other hut did.
A stovepipe pattern is most likely to develop in organisations that have some or all of the following characteristics:
- Very hierarchical with sharply defined roles or areas of influence
- Long reporting lines and narrow spans of control
- Departmental organisation of information technology, human resources and similar functions, especially where applications and services are procured departmentally rather than via a central procurement section
- Culture of suspicion or a dictatorial management style
- Multiple sites where staff have little chance to interact on a regular basis with staff from another site
- Formed by the merger of two organisations or the acquisition of one organisation by another
Strategies to avoid this can include:
- Centralisation of information technology, human resources, procurement and similar functions
- Short reporting lines
- Decentralised cross functional teams for executing one-time projects and ongoing operations
- Fewer sites or movement of staff between sites
- Increased mobility of staff between teams to promote individual and organisational breadth
- Culture of openness and supportive management style driven from the senior management
- Rapid integration of staff after a merger or acquisition