Free Essay On Organizational Structure & Design

Question 1

Organizational design is a deliberate process. The idea behind organization design is that an organization can be created with a process. It is however, not like the design of a manufacturing process. For example, in creating an automobile, there are procedural steps that must be taken in order to arrive at the finished product: an automobile. In an organization, because the organization in itself is not the finished product but rather a means of creating a product, design in this case is different. Designing an organization requires a hypothesis, it relies on opportunities presented, and must be driven by whatever value the organizations seek to create. This is different because it is more organic than the creation and design of a car. Question 2
As organizations have both formal and informal structures, it can be difficult to sometimes discern the two. There are certain nuances in a business when there are two organization structures at work. However, the effects of calculated and deliberate organization change can be predicted by looking at the past. For example, an organization can look at how the reduction of manning impacted the organization and can make a reasonable assumption that if manning were to be cut in the future, the same effects would be present. We can mitigate against the unanticipated and unintended consequences of organization redesign by keeping organizations organic, flexible, and innovative. If an organization is used to change and adapting to the change, a sudden redesign of the organization will have a lesser impact than a very rigid organizational structure such as the military or other hierarchical organizations. This however is hard to accomplish.

Works Cited

"Taking Organizational Redesigns from Plan to Practice: McKinsey Global Survey Results." Taking Organizational Redesigns from Plan to Practice: McKinsey Global Survey Results. 1 Dec. 2010. Web. 19 Feb. 2015. <http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/taking_organizational_redesigns_from_plan_to_practice_mckinsey_global_survey_results>.