Books and journals Case studies Expert Briefings Open Access
Advanced search

Search results

1 – 10 of over 182000
To view the access options for this content please click here
Article
Publication date: 6 March 2007

The connected enterprise: beyond division of labor

Timothy Galpin, Rod Hilpirt and Bruce Evans

The central messages of the article are threefold. First, a summary of research testing the perception that cross‐functional organization designs provide key advantages…

HTML
PDF (503 KB)

Abstract

Purpose

The central messages of the article are threefold. First, a summary of research testing the perception that cross‐functional organization designs provide key advantages and differentiators for firms in today's hypercompetitive business climate. Second, includes a multifaceted “body of evidence” (e.g. multiple data sources, a range of industries, and various levels of management). Third, pragmatic recommendations regarding how to advance elusive cross‐functional organization design constructs, which today's executives are increasingly seeking to implement.

Design/methodology/approach

The article addresses several key questions – are organizations today more like cross‐functional “symphonies” or do they still resemble the traditional, functional, manufacturing model? Are cross‐functional organizations really more effective than functional organizations? And, if cross‐functional organizations are more effective, why aren't they more prevalent? To answer these questions, information from three key sources was assembled to test a body of evidence: first, a Business Schools Programs Review: a comparison of “functional” versus “cross‐functional” business school programs, that included 61 schools offering Masters of Business Administration degrees, located across the USA; second, a scan of the business literature available from five key online sources; and third, a management survey that included 212 total respondents from 37 different industries.

Findings

The evidence presented supports five key conclusions: “Functionality” is still the prevailing organization design. Business schools are not functionally focused, but corporate training is. Functionality dominates the management literature. More managers manage functionally. Cross‐functional organizations appear to have several performance advantages over functional organizations.

Research limitations/implications

The key limitation of the current research, and implication for future research, is that cross‐functional and functional organizational financial performance comparisons were not conducted. Financial performance comparisons should be addressed by future research.

Practical implications

The article provides a set of 12 pragmatic recommendations regarding how to implement cross‐functional organization design structures.

Originality/value

The content of the article is useful to executives and managers for several reasons, including: pragmatic recommendations regarding how to implement cross‐functional organization design structures, which today's executives are increasingly seeking to employ. Multifaceted evidence highlighting the differences between functional and cross‐functional structures. Research confirming the assumption that cross‐functional organization designs provide a key differentiator for firms in today's hypercompetitive business climate. Broad application to companies across multiple industries. An overview of available organization design literature and case examples.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/02756660710732648
ISSN: 0275-6668

Keywords

  • Organizational structures
  • Corporate strategy
  • Cross‐functional integration
  • Organizational design

To view the access options for this content please click here
Book part
Publication date: 16 December 2016

A Comparison between New Ways of Working and Sociotechnical Systems☆

Merle Blok, Friso van der Meulen and Steven Dhondt

For various reasons many organisations are currently introducing the new ways of working (NWW). By now, this occurs on such a large scale, that it becomes relevant to…

HTML
PDF (215 KB)
EPUB (702 KB)

Abstract

For various reasons many organisations are currently introducing the new ways of working (NWW). By now, this occurs on such a large scale, that it becomes relevant to investigate whether the new way of working leads to the best way of working: are the measurements taken by NWW really resulting in pursued outcomes? NWW claims to make working more effective, efficient but also more enjoyable for the organisation as well as the employee (Bijl, 2007). In practice, it seems that more pragmatically reasons lead to changes in the way of working. In many cases this concerns the elimination of fixed workplaces, combined with the possibility to work from home or elsewhere, facilitation of working with new ICT, and establishing an organisational culture which aims at employee autonomy and goal attainment.

To answer the question whether the NWW approach offers sufficient tools to provide effective solutions for occurring objectives, we compare NWW with a scientifically established construct regarding work design: Sociotechnical systems (STS) (Kuipers et al., 2010). We chose STS not only because it is a comprehensive approach to work design (all aspects of managing and organising are addressed), but also because the ambition is similar to NWW. STS considers, next to the ‘quality of the organisation’ (which is central to most work design approaches), also the ‘quality of work’ and ‘quality of employment relationships’ as outcome criteria. With incorporating the latter two, STS distinguishes itself from many other work design approaches and fits to the philosophy of NWW as mentioned above. Important foundations for the NWW approach are the quality of work as well as the willingness to organise teamwork.

The comparison of NWW and STS reveals as most important finding that the NWW approach misses a coherent theoretical foundation for the design of organisations. NWW focuses on loose aspects of organisations, like workspace, work design, management, organisational culture and competences. This is also evident in the scientific research focused on NWW: many studies examine the impact of a specific measure (e.g. introduction of flexible workspaces) on specific aspects of the organisation (e.g. social cohesion). Due to the lack of a work design approach no framework exists to test whether the introduction of NWW fits to the organisation and how work is organised and divided. It is our statement that NWW can only be effective once a good theoretical foundation is provided for NWW and once a clear work design approach is deducted.

Simultaneously, the NWW practices provide so many relevant practical experiences on skills and information underlining the potential of STS. Currently, STS mostly is focused on work in industrial organisations. STS and NWW have the potential to mutually extend each other, while tools may be developed with which new ways of working lead to the best way of working for organisations.

Details

New Ways of Working Practices
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1877-636120160000016007
ISBN: 978-1-78560-303-7

Keywords

  • New ways of working
  • sociotechnical systems theory
  • conceptual comparison

To view the access options for this content please click here
Book part
Publication date: 10 August 2018

Working Toward Sustainable Development: Consulting to the Eco-system

Susan Albers Mohrman and Stu Winby

We argue that in order to address the contemporary challenges that organizations and societies are facing, the field of organization development (OD) requires frameworks…

HTML
PDF (400 KB)
EPUB (493 KB)

Abstract

We argue that in order to address the contemporary challenges that organizations and societies are facing, the field of organization development (OD) requires frameworks and skills to focus on the eco-system as the level of analysis. In a world that has become economically, socially, and technologically highly connected, approaches that foster the optimization of specific actors in the eco-system, such as individual corporations, result in sub-optimization of the sustainability of the natural and social system because there is insufficient offset to the ego-centric purposes of the focal organization. We discuss the need for OD to broaden focus to deal with technological advances that enable new ways of organizing at the eco-system level, and to deal with the challenges to sustainable development. Case examples from healthcare and the agri-foods industry illustrate the kinds of development approaches that are required for the development of healthy eco-systems. We do not suggest fundamental changes in the identity of the field of organizational development. In fact, we demonstrate the need to dig deeply into the open systems and socio-technical roots of the field, and to translate the traditional values and approaches of OD to continue to be relevant in today’s dynamic interdependent world.

Details

Research in Organizational Change and Development
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0897-301620180000026001
ISBN: 978-1-78756-351-3

Keywords

  • Eco-system design
  • socio-technical design
  • sustainable development
  • cross-discipline intervention
  • digitally enabled organization
  • health care design
  • supply chain design

To view the access options for this content please click here
Book part
Publication date: 17 September 2012

Architecting Organizations: A Dynamic Strategic Contingency Perspective

Ron Sanchez

In this paper we extend established concepts of product and process architectures to propose a concept of organization architecture that defines the essential features of…

HTML
PDF (824 KB)
EPUB (466 KB)

Abstract

In this paper we extend established concepts of product and process architectures to propose a concept of organization architecture that defines the essential features of the system design of an organization needed to achieve an effective strategic alignment of an organization with its competitive and/or cooperative environment. Adopting a work process view of organization, we draw on concepts of product and process architectures to elaborate fundamental elements in the design of an organization architecture. We suggest that organization architectures may be designed to support four basic types of change in organization resources, capabilities, and coordination, which we characterize as convergence, reconfiguration, absorptive integration, and architectural transformation. We also suggest the kinds of strategic flexibilities that an organization must have to create and implement each type of organization architecture. We identify four basic types of strategic environments and consider the kinds of changes in resources, capabilities, and coordination that need to be designed into an organization's architecture to maintain effective strategic alignment with its type of environment. We then propose a typology that identifies four basic ways in which organizational architectures may be effectively aligned with strategic environments. Extending the reasoning underlying the proposed alignments of organization architectures with strategic environments, we propose a strategic principle of architectural isomorphism, which holds that maintaining effective strategic alignment of an organization with its environment requires achieving isomorphism across a firm's product, process, and organization architectures. We conclude by considering some implications of the analyses undertaken here for competence theory, general and mid-range strategy theory, and organization theory.

Details

A Focused Issue on Competence Perspectives on New Industry Dynamics
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1744-2117(2012)0000006004
ISBN: 978-1-78052-882-3

Keywords

  • Organization architecture
  • organization design
  • architectural isomorphism
  • system design
  • human interfaces
  • strategic alignment
  • strategic flexibility

To view the access options for this content please click here
Book part
Publication date: 10 December 2018

Organization Design and Firm Heterogeneity: Towards an Integrated Research Agenda for Strategy

Florian Englmaier, Nicolai J. Foss, Thorbjørn Knudsen and Tobias Kretschmer

The authors argue that organization design needs to play a more active role in the explanation of differential performance and outline a set of ideas for achieving this…

HTML
PDF (244 KB)
EPUB (63 KB)

Abstract

The authors argue that organization design needs to play a more active role in the explanation of differential performance and outline a set of ideas for achieving this both in theoretical and empirical research. Firms are heterogeneous in terms of (1) how well they do things, capturing persistent productivity differences, and (2) how they do things – and both reflect firms’ organization design choices. Both types of heterogeneity can be persistent, and are interdependent, although they have typically been studied separately. The authors propose a simple formal framework – the “aggregation function framework” – that aligns organization design thinking with the emphasis on performance heterogeneity among firms that is characteristic of the strategy field. This framework allows for a more precise identification of how exactly organization design may contribute to persistent performance differences, and therefore what exactly are the assumptions that strategy and organization design scholars need to be attentive to.

Details

Organization Design
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-332220180000040008
ISBN: 978-1-78756-329-2

Keywords

  • Strategic organization design
  • competitive heterogeneity
  • aggregation function
  • persistent performance differences
  • design inertia
  • design heterogeneity

To view the access options for this content please click here
Book part
Publication date: 10 December 2018

Reviewing, Revisiting, and Renewing the Foundations of Organization Design

John Joseph, Oliver Baumann, Richard Burton and Kannan Srikanth

HTML
PDF (466 KB)
EPUB (111 KB)

Abstract

Details

Organization Design
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-332220180000040012
ISBN: 978-1-78756-329-2

Content available
Article
Publication date: 21 July 2020

Proactively and reactively managing risks through sales & operations planning

Hendryk Dittfeld, Kirstin Scholten and Dirk Pieter Van Donk

Risks can easily disrupt the demand–supply match targeted by sales and operations planning (S&OP). As surprisingly little is known of how organizations identify, assess…

Open Access
HTML
PDF (456 KB)

Abstract

Purpose

Risks can easily disrupt the demand–supply match targeted by sales and operations planning (S&OP). As surprisingly little is known of how organizations identify, assess, treat and monitor risks through tactical planning processes, this paper zooms in on the S&OP set-up and process parameters to explore how risks are managed through S&OP.

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple case study analyzes the S&OP processes of seven organizations in the process industry, drawing on 17 in-depth interviews with high-ranking representatives, internal and external documents, and a group meeting with participating organizations.

Findings

The study finds that organizations proactively design their S&OP based on their main risk focus stemming from the planning environment. In turn, such designs proactively support organizations' risk identification, assessment, treatment and monitoring through their S&OP execution. Reactively, a crisis S&OP meeting – making use of the structure of S&OP – can be used as a risk-treatment tool, and S&OP design can be temporarily adapted to deal with emerging risks.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to empirically elucidate risk management through S&OP. S&OP design, execution and adaption are identified as three interconnected strategies that allow organizations to manage risks. The design enables risk management activities in the monthly execution of S&OP. The reactive role of S&OP in risk management is particularly novel.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-07-2019-0215
ISSN: 0960-0035

Keywords

  • Sales and operations planning
  • Risk management
  • Process industry
  • Case study

To view the access options for this content please click here
Book part
Publication date: 4 October 2019

Crowd-Open and Crowd-Based Collaborations: Facilitating the Emergence of Organization Design

Luca Giustiniano, Terri L. Griffith and Ann Majchrzak

For at least three decades, inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) has attracted scholarly attention and many studies have unveiled its inner dynamics. More recently…

HTML
PDF (1 MB)
EPUB (68 KB)

Abstract

For at least three decades, inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) has attracted scholarly attention and many studies have unveiled its inner dynamics. More recently, new phenomena have appeared in the changing landscape of IOC, affecting the way in which organizations are open to interact with, and rely upon, other actors that may be standalone entities as well as representatives of other organizations. These actors operate “betwixt and between” the organizational core and its external environment(s), populating a liminal space located at the organization’s boundary in which activities take place according to non-proprietary and non-employment logics. The authors focus on the forms of collaboration, which blur the lines between organizations, calling into question the fundamental label of crowd-focused IOCs. The authors consider two forms: crowd-open and crowd-based organizations. The authors show the organizational design impact of openness spans from the mere scalability associated with organizational growth to the phenomena of reshaping formalization and standardization of roles and processes, and self-organizing over time.

Details

Managing Inter-organizational Collaborations: Process Views
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20190000064017
ISBN: 978-1-78756-592-0

Keywords

  • Crowd sourcing
  • liminality
  • organizational boundary
  • organizational design
  • platform
  • formalization
  • standardization

To view the access options for this content please click here
Book part
Publication date: 27 June 2015

Operational Practices and Archetypes of Design Thinking

Shannon E. Finn Connell and Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi

Organizations facing issues related to growth, innovation, and strategy are embracing design thinking, a problem-solving process. This study explores 40 design thinking…

HTML
PDF (485 KB)
EPUB (2.2 MB)

Abstract

Organizations facing issues related to growth, innovation, and strategy are embracing design thinking, a problem-solving process. This study explores 40 design thinking initiatives and identifies operational practices emerge and empirical categories across various contexts. Quantitative analyses of the initiatives and qualitative interview data are used to distinguish four configurations of action analogous to races: training, emphasizing learning-by-doing; marathons, capturing personal reflection over a long project; relays, highlighting team collaboration; and sprints, reflecting fast-paced product innovation. The initiatives are differentiated as designer-led versus team-driven and, low-urgency versus high-urgency. Implications of practicing design thinking in Organization Development and Change are discussed.

Details

Research in Organizational Change and Development
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0897-301620150000023005
ISBN: 978-1-78560-018-0

Keywords

  • Design thinking
  • design science
  • operational practices
  • metaphorical constructs
  • archetypes
  • ODC interventions

To view the access options for this content please click here
Book part
Publication date: 27 March 2007

Built to Change: High-Performance Work Systems and Self-Directed Work Teams – A Longitudinal Quasi-Experimental Field Study

Barry A. Macy, Gerard F. Farias, Jean-Francois Rosa and Curt Moore

This chapter reports on a longitudinal quasi-experimental field study within an organizational design of a global consumer products manufacturer moving toward…

HTML
PDF (543 KB)

Abstract

This chapter reports on a longitudinal quasi-experimental field study within an organizational design of a global consumer products manufacturer moving toward high-performance work systems (HPWSs) in North America by integrating business centers and self-directed work teams (SDWTs) coupled with 13 other action-levers within an integrated and bundled high-performance organizations (HPOs) re-design. The results of this organizational design effort are assessed using different types and levels of organizational outcomes (hard record data, behavioral, and attitudinal measures) along a 5-year temporal dimension punctuated by multiple time periods (baseline, during, and after). The organization, which was “built to change” (Lawler & Worley, 2006), in this research had already highly superior or “exemplar” (Collins, 2001) levels of organizational performance. Consequently, the real research question becomes: “What effect does state of the art organizational design and development have on an exemplar organization?” The study also calls into question the field's ability to truly assess exemplar organizations with existing measures of organizational change and development.

Details

Research in Organizational Change and Development
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0897-3016(06)16010-3
ISBN: 978-1-84950-425-6

Access
Only content I have access to
Only Open Access
Year
  • Last week (372)
  • Last month (1337)
  • Last 3 months (4372)
  • Last 6 months (8215)
  • Last 12 months (15621)
  • All dates (182409)
Content type
  • Article (157089)
  • Book part (17340)
  • Earlycite article (6129)
  • Case study (1385)
  • Expert briefing (432)
  • Executive summary (29)
  • Graphic analysis (3)
  • Accepted article (2)
1 – 10 of over 182000
Emerald Publishing
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
© 2021 Emerald Publishing Limited

Services

  • Authors Opens in new window
  • Editors Opens in new window
  • Librarians Opens in new window
  • Researchers Opens in new window
  • Reviewers Opens in new window

About

  • About Emerald Opens in new window
  • Working for Emerald Opens in new window
  • Contact us Opens in new window
  • Publication sitemap

Policies and information

  • Privacy notice
  • Site policies
  • Modern Slavery Act Opens in new window
  • Chair of Trustees governance statement Opens in new window
  • COVID-19 policy Opens in new window
Manage cookies

We’re listening — tell us what you think

  • Something didn’t work…

    Report bugs here

  • All feedback is valuable

    Please share your general feedback

  • Member of Emerald Engage?

    You can join in the discussion by joining the community or logging in here.
    You can also find out more about Emerald Engage.

Join us on our journey

  • Platform update page

    Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates

  • Questions & More Information

    Answers to the most commonly asked questions here