"By differentiation we mean the differences in cognitive and emotional orientation among managers in different units and the differences in formal structure among units."
Paul Reynold Lawrence is an American government official, businessman, author and former U.S. Army officer who has served as the 11th United States deputy secretary of veterans affairs since 2025 under President Donald Trump. He previously served as the 7th under secretary of veterans affairs for benefits from 2018 to 2021.
"The state of segmentation of the organizational system into subsystems, each of which tends to develop particular attributes in relation to the requirements posed by its relevant external environment. Differentiation, as used here, includes the behavioral attributes of members of organizational subsystems."
"The act of segmenting the organization into departments would influence the behavior of organizational members in several ways. The members of each unit would become specialists in dealing with the particular tasks. Both because of their prior education and experience and because of the nature of their task, they would develop specialized working styles and mental processes."
"Other things being equal, differentiation and integration are essentially antagonistic, and that one can be obtained only at the expense of the other."
"By integration we mean the process of achieving unity of effort among the various subsystems in the accomplishment of the organizations tasks."
"The quality of the state of collaboration that exist among organizations that is required to achieve unity of effort by the demands of the environment."
"We humans are truly marvelous, adaptable creatures, products of an exciting and inspiring — even though often dangerous — evolutionary story, a story to be celebrated with conviction and enthusiasm even as we move on to new challenges."