{
  "title": "Matrix management: what research says about dual reporting",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/management-matriciel-double-appartenance-recherche-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-10-11",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Matrix organisations promise flexibility and cross-expertise. Studies show the dual reporting line has a real cost, manageable under conditions.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Complex Management",
  "place": {
    "name": "Geneva",
    "region": "Genève",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "Expected benefits, observed costs",
      "point": "Thomas Sy and Laura D'Annunzio (2005, Organizational Dynamics) review work on matrix structures: they improve expertise sharing but increase role ambiguity and priority conflicts, especially when the two lines do not coordinate their demands.."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Role ambiguity",
      "point": "Role research, since Robert Kahn and colleagues (1964, Organizational Stress), links ambiguity and role conflict to stress and lower satisfaction."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The limits",
      "point": "Studies rarely compare structures in a controlled way: they describe organisations that chose the matrix, which rules out strong causal conclusions."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What follows for management",
      "point": "The best-supported lever is not structural but behavioural: both managers must align priorities with each other before passing them on."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical implication, verifiable in Geneva",
      "point": "For an employee with dual reporting, have their two managers meet monthly to arbitrate priorities on their behalf."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "D'Annunzio",
      "year": "2005",
      "source": "Organizational Dynamics"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 218,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-Training-Complex-Management-Geneva-management-matriciel-double-appartenance-recherche-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/management-matriciel-double-appartenance-recherche",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/management-matriciel-double-appartenance-recherche-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/management-matriciel-double-appartenance-recherche-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/management-matriciel-double-appartenance-recherche-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation-management-complexe-geneve",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/geneve",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}