How does the Matrix-Organisation work, and when is it suitable?

A two-dimensional structure crossing functional departments with projects/products/regions — each employee answers to both a functional head and a project manager.

* Matrix-Organisation — functional departments crossed with projects; each cell is an employee with two bosses. *

Mechanics:

• Organized simultaneously by Verrichtung (function — the vertical dimension, led by Fachstellen-Leiter) and by objects (projects, products, regions — the horizontal dimension)
• A project manager coordinates project activities; personnel are drawn from the functional departments
• Each person has two bosses: administrative/functional head + project manager — a deliberate violation of unity of command

Merits: operational freedom and flexibility, focus on end results, professional identity maintained, clear resource accountability. Demerits: high coordination effort, conflicting authority, hard-to-define responsibility, possible employee demotivation (two masters).

Suitability: dual focus + high information processing + shared scarce resources — aerospace, chemicals, banking, advertising… and security programs: a security engineer often serves a functional security team and multiple project teams simultaneously.

Go deeper:

• Matrixorganisation (Wikipedia DE) — Die zweidimensionale Struktur, die zwei Vorgesetzten und die Kompetenzkonflikte.
• Matrix management (Wikipedia) — dual-reporting management in English, with its trade-offs.