Reframing Organizations , 3 rd ed.

1. Reframing Organizations, 3rd ed.

2. Chapter 3 Getting Organized

3. Getting Organized • Structural assumptions • Origins of the structural perspective • Structural forms and functions • Basic structural tensions • Vertical coordination • Authority • Rules and policies • Planning and control systems

4. Getting Organized (II) • Lateral coordination • Meetings • Task forces • Coordinating roles • Matrix structures • Networks • Strengths and weaknesses of lateral strategies

5. Origins of the Structural Perspective • Frederick Taylor—“scientific management” • Efficiency, time and motion studies, etc. • Max Weber— “monocratic bureaucracy” • Fixed division of labor • Hierarchy of offices • Performance rules • Separate personal and official property and rights • Personnel selected for technical qualifications • Employment as primary occupation

6. Structural Forms and Functions • Blueprint for expectations and exchanges among internal and external players • Internal – executives, managers, & employees • External – customers & clients • Design options are almost infinite • Design needs to fit circumstances • Structure can both enhance and constrain organizations

7. Structural Assumptions • Organizations exist to achieve established goals and objectives. • Specialization and division of labor increase efficiency and performance. • Appropriate forms of coordination and control are essential. • Organizations work best when rationality prevails over personal preferences. • Structure must align with circumstances. • Problems arise from structural deficiencies.

8. Basic Structural Tensions • Differentiation: dividing work, division of labor • Integration: coordinating efforts of different roles and units • Suboptimization:

9. Basic Structural Tensions • Differentiation: dividing work, division of labor • There are virtues of job specialization • Job descriptions, procedures, and rules guide behavior

10. Basic Structural Tensions • Integration: coordinating efforts of different roles and units • Functional Groups based on knowledge or skill (ex. University's academic department) • Units created on the basis of time (ex. Day shift, evening shift, etc…) • Groups organized by product (ex. Detergent vs. bar soap) • Groups established around customers (ex. Dell Computer: Home computers, Business computers) • Grouping around place or geography

11. Basic Structural Tensions • Suboptimization: • Units focus on local concerns, lose sight of big picture • Efforts can become fragmented and overall organizational performance suffers. • Successful organizations coordinate efforts to accomplish desired goals • Vertical Coordination • Lateral Coordinatoin

12. Vertical Coordination • Authority (the boss makes the decision) • The most ubiquitous method of linking efforts of individuals, units, or divisions • Formally charged with keeping activities aligned with goals • Rules and policies • Limits discretion and help ensue predictability and uniformity (ex. tax bill complaint) • Planning and control systems • Performance control (focus on results) • Imposes outcome objectives w/o specifying how the results are to be achieved • Action planning (focus on process) • Specifies actions to be carried out in a particular way within a specified time frame

13. Lateral Coordination • Lateral coordination – less formalized and more flexible than authority-bound systems and rules. • Examples • Meetings • Task forces – used when new problems require collaboration of a number of different specialists • Coordinating roles • Matrix structures (cross cutting coordination responsibilities) • Networks • Strengths and weaknesses of lateral strategies • Good for complex tasks performed in turbulent, fast-changing environment.

14. McDonald’s and Harvard: A Structural Odd Couple • McDonald’s: clearer goals, more centralized, tighter performance controls • Harvard: diffuse goals, highly decentralized, high autonomy for professors • Why have two successful organizations developed such different structures? • Answer: Customer expectations No one expects individual personalities to influence the quality of McDonald’s hamburgers, but everyone expects Harvard course to be unique creation of an individual professor.

15. Structural Imperatives • Size and age – growth must be matched with corresponding adjustments in roles and relationships (ex. McDonalds) • Core process – structure has to be built around an organizations core process • Environment – uncertainty press organizations to develop new roles to deal with emerging problems (ex. Public schools/budgets) • Strategy and goals – shape structure • Information technology- as uncertainty increases, more information is needed to make decision • People: nature of workforce – many lower-level jobs require high level of skill.

16. Conclusion • Structural frame—examine social context of work • Differentiation and integration • Structure depends on situation • Simpler, more stable environments  simpler, more hierarchical and centralized structures • Changing, turbulent environments  more complex, flexible structures