Descriptive vs. Normative Dimensions of Organizations

Organizations can be analyzed through two complementary lenses:

The descriptive dimension accounts for structure: units, subunits, reporting relationships, physical locations, resource allocations. This is what org charts typically show (who reports to whom, which teams exist, how the hierarchy is arranged.

The normative dimension accounts for obligations: duties, responsibilities, authorities, permissions. This is the web of commitments that makes the organization function (what people must do, what they may do, what they’re accountable for.

The descriptive dimension tells you the shape of the organization. The normative dimension tells you what animates it.

Both dimensions are needed. A perfectly described org structure without normative content is inert, it doesn’t explain why anything happens. Normative content without structural context floats free (duties need bearers, authorities need scope.

The distinction explains why org charts are insufficient for knowledge management. They capture descriptive structure but miss the normative layer that actually drives organizational behavior.

Related: 06-atom—document-acts-create-social-reality, 02-molecule—two-dimensional-organizational-analysis