Formal vs Informal Structure

" A formal organizational structure is one in which the social positions and the relationships among them have been explicitly specified and are defined independently of the personal characteristics of the participants occupying these positions" Scott p. 18. The process of creating and maintaining a formal structure is formalization.

In an informal structure it's impossible to separate the role from the person, and as participants enter and leave the system their roles develop and change as a function of their personal characteristics Scott p. 18