Which classic organization principles guide the design of an organizational structure?

Principles like unity of command, span of control, scalar chain, division of labour, and the balance of authority and responsibility.

The most important ones:

• Consideration of objectives — structure follows goals
• Division of labour / specialization — split work so people build expertise
• Departmentation — group related activities into units
• Scalar chain — a clear, unbroken line of authority from top to bottom
• Span of control — one manager can effectively supervise only a limited number of people
• Unity of command — each employee has exactly one boss (violated deliberately by matrix organizations!)
• Authority and responsibility — whoever is responsible needs matching authority
• Decentralisation, balance, flexibility — push decisions down where sensible, keep the structure adaptable

Tip: "Authority and responsibility" is the principle security officers most often see violated in real life: a CISO held responsible for incidents but given no budget and no directive power. The German shorthand for the trio to demand is AKV — Aufgaben, Kompetenzen, Verantwortung (tasks, authority, responsibility) — which must always be granted together.

Go deeper:

• Span of control (Wikipedia) — why one manager can effectively supervise only a limited number of reports.
• Unity of command (Wikipedia) — the "one boss per person" principle and why matrix structures deliberately break it.