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Five coordinating mechanisms seem to explain the fundamental ways in which organizations coordinate their work: mutual adjustment, direct supervision, standardization of work processes, standardization of work outputs, and standardization of worker skills.

— Henry Mintzberg The structuring of organizations (1979)

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More quotes by Henry Mintzberg

Data don't generate theory – only researchers do that.

The structuring of organizations (1979)

Effective managing therefore happens where art, craft, and science meet. But in a classroom of students without managerial experience, these have no place to meet — there is nothing to do.

Managers Not MBAs (2005)

Anecdotal data is not incidental to theory development at all, but an essential part of it

Managers Not MBAs (2005)

Learning is not doing; it is reflecting on doing. T. S. Eliot writes in one of his poems, “We had the experience but missed the meaning.” Reflection is about getting the meaning.

Managers Not MBAs (2005)

Theory is a dirty word in some managerial quarters. That is rather curious, because all of us, managers especially, can no more get along without theories than libraries can get along without catalogs — and for the same reason: theories help us make sense of incoming information.

Managers Not MBAs (2005)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Henry Mintzberg (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.