formal structure

Formal structure refers to the official, documented organization of something—typically an institution, text, or system.

In organizations, formal structure includes the hierarchy, job titles, reporting relationships, and written policies that define how things are supposed to work, as distinct from the informal networks and unwritten practices that actually govern daily operations.

In literary or artistic analysis, formal structure means the deliberate arrangement of elements: The sonnet's formal structure of fourteen lines.

The term emphasizes what's explicit and codified rather than emergent or improvised.