A fundamental organization design principle is to group interdependent roles into the same sub-units to minimize coordination costs. However, observations in organizations, as well as theorizing in other sub-fields, such as corporate governance, indicate that interdependent roles sometimes perform conflicting functions, suggesting that they should be separated rather than integrated. Building on work in systems theory and axiomatic design theory, we discuss how to reconcile these two perspectives. Our key proposal is to distinguish between ends and means, or functions (e.g., goals or mandates) and structures (e.g., roles). This conceptualization makes it possible for two roles to be simultaneously interdependent in work processes yet conflicted in goals. Our framework leads to a modification of the traditional organization design principle of grouping based on interdependencies. It also suggests an alternative explanation for the division of labor within organizations: Organizations divide labor not only to capture gains from specialization, but also to avoid functional conflict.

中文翻译：

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连接但冲突：分离组织中不兼容的角色

一个基本的组织设计原则是将相互依赖的角色分组到相同的子单元中，以最小化协调成本。然而，在组织中的观察以及在其他子领域（如公司治理）的理论化表明，相互依赖的角色有时会执行相互冲突的功能，这表明它们应该分开而不是整合。基于系统理论和公理设计理论的工作，我们讨论了如何协调这两个观点。我们的主要建议是区分目的和手段，或功能（例如，目标或任务）和结构（例如，角色）。这种概念化使得两个角色在工作过程中同时相互依赖但在目标上相互冲突成为可能。我们的框架导致了对基于相互依赖的分组的传统组织设计原则的修改。它还为组织内的分工提出了另一种解释：组织分工不仅是为了从专业化中获得收益，而且也是为了避免职能冲突。