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1998 | Buch | 2. Auflage

Introduction Kapitel lesen Erstes Kapitel lesen

Strategic Organizational Diagnosis and Design

Developing Theory for Application

verfasst von: Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel

Verlag: Springer US

Buchreihe : Information and Organization Design Series

Enthalten in: Professional Book Archive

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Über dieses Buch

We will not repeat our preface discussion from the first edition. Here we only add some new comments: • a note to the reader and user, • changes in the book and the Organizational Consultant (OrgCon), and, • our thanks to the many individuals who have contributed critically to this venture, read and reviewed the book, contributed chapters and cases, and similarly used and critiqued the OrgCon. For the reader, there are two very contrasting approaches to reading this book and learning about organizational design. The more traditional ap­ proach is to read the book, and then use the OrgCon on cases and applica­ tions. The second approach is to begin with the OrgCon software and only examine the book as you find it helpful. Which approach is better? It is your choice, not ours. In our experience, students in organizational design prefer to start with the OrgCon and a case, rather than with the book itself. Readers who have more background in organization theory and design usually examine the book first. We have tried to write the book so that it can serve both as a reference and an integrated presentation.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction
Abstract
On Saturday, January 30, 1993, the Herald Sun, the local newspaper in Durham, North Carolina, reported that IBM was facing problems. IBM had in the previous week announced a cut in dividends and planned to replace its chairman, John Akers. IBM’s profit went from a $6 billion profit in 1990 to $2.8 billion and $4.9 billion losses in 1991 and 1992 respectively. Peter Lieu, a computer analyst at Furman Selz, was quoted as saying that “John Akers inherited a mess and the mess is a highly centralized organization with virtually no delegation of responsibility.” The problems facing IBM were compared to the situation at AT&T, which, after losing $1.23 billion in 1988, turned profitable in 1990 with a reported 1992 fourth-quarter profit of $1 billion. The success of AT&T was attributed to a decentralized management style introduced by the late James Olson and continued under the new leadership by Robert Allen. Allen cut staff by 5 percent and wrote off $6.7 billion in old analog technology. He diversified and brought in a new management. Meanwhile; IBM was struggling with its old management style and was accused of “failing to ‘obsolete’ its own products quickly enough.” IBM’s problems had arisen because of a new competitive situation in all of its markets-a change away from the use of mainframe computers and toward workstations and networks. Additionally, competition in the personal computer market had changed with declining growth and confusion about which operating system would take the lead. Further, IBM also “had some bad luck in the form of the global recession, which cut into international profits.” Today, IBM has a new CEO, who continues to decentralize and downsize with an emphasis on workstations, PCs and network services.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 2. Describing the Organization for Design Purposes
Abstract
When you examine an organization that you do not know, you can look at it in a number of ways. You may gather information about what the organization actually does-the goods and services it provides. You may be told who the boss is and who makes the decisions. You may be shown an organizational chart. Many companies also have explicitly stated objectives that drive their strategy. This information tells you about the design of the organization, the way the organization is put together, who does what, and who talks with whom.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 3. Management and Leadership Style
Abstract
The Institute of Applied Computer Science, in Odense, Denmark, is a small research-oriented organization located at Science Park. Its main activities are related to high technology applications of computer science in various organizations and projects. It has been involved in technology-transfer projects for a number of European companies. The basic idea is that Applied Computer Science will transfer ideas from research laboratories that can be used in practice. It has particularly targeted companies with relatively low research and development budget that do not have staff that can make the transfer. For these companies, a technology transfer project is a rare event. The activities are typically done in the framework of national research programs and European Union (EU) R&D programs such as ESPRIT, BRITE/EURAM, SPRINT, and COMETT. The Institute of Applied Computer Science is a small organization currently employing seventeen highly skilled employees. It was established in 1986 at the request of local industry, which needed to better organize the transfer of knowledge from Odense University and a technical college. A group of local businesspeople and representatives from Odense University and the technical college formed the company, raised a small amount of capital, and hired a teacher, Benny Mortensen, at the technical college to run the company. Benny Mortensen had good contacts both at the University and in local businesses and quickly linked the company to EU grants.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 4. Organizational Climate
Abstract
“Navy retirees recruited by tech firms fit discipline, flexibility to new tasks.” This was one of the headlines in the San Jose Mercury News, Sunday, February 15,1998. The story tells how Silicon Valley corporations have started hiring retired and former military personnel. The story focuses on the similarities and differences in working in the military with its chainof-command hierarchy and being in a seemingly less structured environment. “Military personnel are veterans of the teamwork that is regarded as an essential part of valley life. But the military requires clarity at every level about the task at hand to be critical for effective performance. What these newcomers to high tech often see are missed opportunities for nurturing a common sense of mission.” “There’s more freedom, more latitude to make things happen in the high tech companies,” says Jack Gale a former Navy commander, but like in the Navy it is all about performance. The story also stresses the problems and transitions the former military personnel had to go through to fit to their new positions but also what new ways of looking at things they bring in.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 5. Size and Skill Capabilities
Abstract
The Institute of Applied Computer Science (introduced in Chapter 3) was negotiating a contract with a European Union research agency. This contract would be the largest single contract in the history of the company. The contract will require Applied Computer Science to employ about forty people and to be the coordinating unit for a number of research teams located in other European countries. Benny Mortensen was not worried about the scientific and technological aspects of the new project but expressed concerns about running a company that would be twice its current size. He realized that he no longer would be as heavily involved in every project and that more traveling and time spent on recruiting would leave him less time to have detailed knowledge of how projects are doing. To a large extent, the success of the company depended on his ability to utilize resources efficiently, thus cutting cost and time, by using knowledge from one project to improve on another project.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 6. The Environment
Abstract
On Monday, January 13, 1992, the Danish business newspaper Børsen published a story about Samsonite’s new distribution system for its European market. Samsonite produces luggage in Belgium for the European market. In each European country it has sold its products through a national company that had exclusive rights to import Samsonite’s products. The national company then sold Samsonite products to stores. In Denmark, the firm Bon Goût had held the contract with Samsonite for twenty-three years, but Samsonite canceled the contract to sell directly to stores from its headquarters in Belgium. It developed an online order system that enables it to sell to all countries in the European Union from Belgium, and allow it to take advantage of changes within the new EU single market.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 7. Technology
Abstract
Med Electronic, Inc. is a medium-size company that specializes in electronic apparatus that is used in the treatment of pain and in other electronic devices used by hospitals. The machines have been custom made to the particular needs of the user department or physician. Some basic components are used in all its devices, but no two machines are similar. This has caused problems when machines come in for repair because documentation and specifications for a particular machine may be difficult to find. Med Electronic’s performance has been stable for some time, and the owners have been pleased with its performance. The employees are either engineers or highly trained technicians. Med Electronic has had a stable share of the world market for its particular product.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 8. Strategy
Abstract
When Bon Goût faced its problem with Samsonite, described in Chapter 6, it had a number of ways to deal with the situation. It could fight the decision made by Samsonite, or it could decide to stay in its normal business and find a new supplier to replace Samsonite. One of its major competitive strengths-its ability to deal with manufacturers and retailers-could help it find new products to import and market. Since its problems arose when the single European market was established, Bon Goût could decide to play the European game and import products from East Asia to be sold in the European market. It needed a strategy. Strategy is both means and ends; it includes the definition of the overall end goals, and the means of action needed to obtain these stated goals. Bon Goût must decide what business it wants to be in, and then it has to develop a process to realize what it wants. Environment is important for this choice. The process to obtain certain goals may require a particular organizational structure. For example, if Bon Goût decides that it wants to play the European game in the high-end fashion game, it will need an organization that can operate in more countries. This will relate to both distribution and service to stores as well as to the ability to read fashion trends in various countries. Additionally, it needs an organizational structure that can deal with suppliers.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 9. Organizational Design: A Synthesis
Abstract
“Design is concerned with how things ought to be, with devising artifacts to attain goals” (Simon, 1981, p. 133). A number of concepts are important here. “Ought to be” is a normative; it is a statement of the ideal and what we would like to see. It does not necessarily exist anywhere in reality, but it could be and it is desired; it is a creation of the mind and imagination, and perhaps the heart. As we noted in Chapter 1, positive science is a description of the world as we find it and some statement of what it could be without any statement of desirability, or “ought to be.” An “artifact” is of man’s making and not natural. The Golden Gate bridge is an artifact and we find no such bridges in nature. Artifacts were part of the beginning: an ax or a folded leaf to drink water from. We made the ax and built the Golden Gate bridge. We devised them, ie, created the idea in the form of a blueprint and then took steel and concrete and the efforts of men, women and machines to realize the bridge. Our “goal” for this bridge is to convey individuals and motor vehicles across the Golden Gate. Design of a bridge is readily accepted. In this book, we create a statement of what we mean by design for an organization.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 10. Using the Organizational Consultant
Abstract
In a recent report the Danish Ministry of Industrial Affairs stressed that the introduction of new technology may even be harmful to the corporation, if it is not accompanied by the appropriate organizational alignment. This is a practical statement that “fit” is necessary for organizational success-the main theme of this book.
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Chapter 11. Using Publicly-Available Information for Strategic Organizational Diagnosis and Design
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to assess the feasibility of using publicly-available information, rather than inside or first-hand knowledge, for strategic organizational diagnosis and design. The chapter provides a detailed example of how business and popular press accounts on the leading U.S. biomedical firm, Medtronic, were identified, collected, analyzed, and transformed into inputs for the Organizational Consultant (OrgCon).
Starling D. Hunter III
Chapter 12. Oticon
Abstract
The Oticon story consists of four cases each describing a period in the evolution of the company. Oticon has attracted much attention in the media both because its management style, its technological development, and its development of a new organizational form-the spaghetti organization.
Mikael Søndergaard, Dorthe Døjbak
Chapter 13. Sample Cases and Exercises
Abstract
This chapter provides sample cases written by executive MBA students of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and by Civil Engineering students at Stanford University. These cases illustrate how to use the Organizational Consultant program to analyze organizations as well as how to use the Organizational Consultant’s output to create written reports. Most of the reports were written for a course professor, however, a few of the results were later presented for the student’s corporate sponsors. (Some of the corporations actually made the recommended changes.)
Richard M. Burton, Børge Obel
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Strategic Organizational Diagnosis and Design
verfasst von
Richard M. Burton
Børge Obel
Copyright-Jahr
1998
Verlag
Springer US
Electronic ISBN
978-1-4684-0021-2
Print ISBN
978-0-7923-8247-8
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0021-2