Medtronic's home page on the World Wide Web maintains a partial listing of current employment opportunities. On April 18, 1998 there were openings for sixty-three (63) distinct job titles divided into six categories: Engineering/Scientist (26), Finance (5), Human Resources (2), Information Systems (7), Regulatory/Quality/Clinical (15), Technician (2), and Other Professional (6). The large number of jobs described in the first category alone is sufficient to establish that Medtronic has a high degree of specialization.

Advanced degrees or specialized training

This concerns the level or degree of professionalism, i.e., the level of formal education and training of employees in an organization. Medtronic has a very large number of managerial, professional, and technical employees including several kinds of engineers and scientists, medical doctors, professional managers, legal and sales staff.

This large number is due, in large part, to the "high-tech" nature of Medtronic's products and the high levels of education required both to design  and to market such products. Decision-makers for the purchase of much of Medtronic's equipment include cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and electro-physiologists. It follows that products produced by, and sold to, such highly-educated users would require Medtronic to have both a very highly educated and trained workforce and a high proportion of such people in its organization. It is quite possible that the percentage is over 50% but it is not possible to tell, given the information examined. It is almost a certainty that the percentage is over 20%, however.

Number of vertical levels

Average number of vertical Levels

These two questions are measures of vertical differentiation. As a detailed organization chart was not available these questions remain unanswered. There are, however, a few clues to support the contention that Medtronic does not have a flat hierarchy. One indication is the number of grades or levels described in the listing of job openings for engineers and scientists. A careful examination of the openings for one grouping of positions, those for integrated circuit engineers, reveals that there are at least four grades of engineer: associate, principal, senior principal, and senior. The presence of so many grades within the same position suggests, but does necessarily demonstrate, that there may also be a tendency in the organization toward creating hierarchical distinctions between levels in the chain of command.

Geographically distinct locations

Average distance from headquarters

These two questions are used to measure the organization's spatial differentiation. Medtronic does business in over 120 countries with major R&D facilities in Europe and Japan, sales offices on several continents and subsidiaries in several states of the U.S., including Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, California, Texas, and New York. Given that many of the major subsidiaries are several thousands of miles away, it seems likely that the average distance of the outlying units is in excess of 500 miles.

Proportion working at outlying locations

This question is yet another measure of spatial differentiation. As of 4/30/97, the date of the filing of Medtronic's 1996 Annual Report, the company had 12,500 employees. No figure was given on exactly how many employees work outside of the Minnesota headquarters.

Medtronic has maintained a significant presence in Europe for over 30 years and it currently has four manufacturing sites in the Netherlands, France, and Germany. Its Bakken Research Center, where most of its R&D is conducted, is in the Netherlands and it also maintains several customer education centers throughout Europe. Its sales and technical service organization in Europe includes a network of over two dozen national and regional offices and several new facilities have been scheduled for development in Switzerland. Medtronic's total European employment in 1995 was estimated at 1500 employees. Employment levels in Japan are also said to exceed 1000 employees. This places the number of employees outside of the Minnesota headquarters at nearly 5000 employees, well within the 26-60 % range.