Designing_Effective_Organizations

Designing Effective Organizations What determines the success of one organization and the failure of another' This question has served as the root of theory and debate among experts and is still explored today. To understand the design of effective organizations, there are some important theories that may help improve the quality of organization structure and promote effective performance. One concept that may assist involves the four generic organizational effectiveness criteria, which includes major components of effectiveness that apply equally to various organization sizes and types. The four generics of effectiveness include goal accomplishment, or achievements in comparison to outlined objectives; resource acquisition, involving having necessary materials or resources; internal process which involves cohesive, fluid information transfer; and strategic constituencies satisfaction, or the satisfaction of key interested parties (Kinicki, and Kreitner, 2009). To determine effectiveness achievements managers may utilize the four criteria in combination using guidelines approaches such as goal accomplishment approach, relating to goal clarity and measurability; resource acquisition approach, most valuable when inputs have traceable effect on results; internal process approach, appropriate when performance is strongly influenced by specific process; and the strategic constituencies approach, applicable when powerful stakeholders can benefit or harm the organization significantly. Another concept of design effectiveness is the contingency approach to organization design, relating to the situational concerns and an organizations ability to be flexible per scenario. In essence, this approach involves creating an effective organization-environment fit to respond to specific situational demands. The two next concepts of design effectiveness we should discuss include mechanistic organizations and organic organizations. These organization types were explored and defined by behavioral scientists Tom Burns and G.M. Stalker. Mechanistic organizations involve rigid bureaucracy styles, stringent guidelines, and a primarily top-down approach. This organization design contrasts organic or more flexible structures with task variety. Considering the dynamic work environments and virtual setup associated with many modern organizations, it would logically suit that an organic approach would be the most nurturing. Burns and Stalker’s explorations, however, indicate that in order to promote flawless task execution and the highly-secure nature of such virtual environments a mechanistic approach is most beneficial. Accordingly, the duality of organic creativity and mechanistic guidelines may lead to potential misunderstandings and design flaws as employees struggle to conform ideas into preset templates. Such organization structure suggests that style components should be further explored. Formerly, an old-style hierarchal approach was common in organization structure. This design involved how organizations arranged hierarchy from top to bottom. Recently this view of organization dynamic has been revamped and now relates to horizontal hierarchies and utilizing team structures to complete tasks. This difference of old and new-styles affects everything from corporate culture and communication flow to how consumers perceive an organization in the market. In Designing Organizations That Are Built to Change the dilemma that while many modern organizations recognize a need to update antiquated ideals and design; the very structures that have provided stability to date exist as a direct barrier to such change (Lawler & Worley, 2006). Another item to consider in today’s workplace is the concerns of geographically dispersed employees in virtual organizations. Some of these concerns include how to effectively share knowledge and develop new ideas, reach a common goal through audio and web-interfacing utilities, and cope with client concerns in a virtual environment. Such aspects of design effectiveness include client meetings, resolution calls, and educational workshops conducted through virtual means. For example, a combination of audio and videoconferencing to interact with clients and provide in-depth analysis of concerns may be employed. These tools offer enormous time and monetary savings. References Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (2009). Organizational behavior: Key concepts, skills and best practices (custom 4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Lawler, Edward E. & Worley, Christopher G.. (2006). Designing Organizations That Are Built to Change. MIT Sloan Management Review, 48(1), 19-23.