COMMUNICATION AND ORGANIZATIONS
FROM TALLER AND WIDER TO SMALLER AND THINNER
ORGANIZATIONS
Lecture 10c
FUNDAMENTAL PARADOX OF ORGANIZING
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THRU VERTICAL COORDINATION
ORG.’S DIVIDE WORK (FIRST BY FUNCTION THEN BY
JOB SPECIALIZATION)
THEY TAKE WORK APART TO GET CONTROL OVER
IT AND OVER THE WORKERS
WHY?
For Increased Efficiency
FUNDAMENTAL PARADOX OF ORGANIZING
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THE MORE DIVIDED THE WORK BECOMES, THE
MORE CONTROLLABLE IT IS, BUT
THE HARDER IT BECOMES TO COORDINATE FLOW
(THROUGHPUT) BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND UNITS
• THE RESULT IS:
Increased Inefficiency
MANAGING THE PARADOX OF ORGANIZING
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SO PUT WORK BACK TOGETHER
CROSS FUNCTIONAL COORDINATION MUST HAPPEN
TO ACHIEVE ORG.’S OUTPUT GOALS
• HOW?
WAYS TO MANAGE THE PARADOX OF
ORGANIZING
LATERAL COORDINATION
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USE STRUCTURE TO ENCOURAGE MUTUAL ADJUSTMENT WITHIN AND BETWEEN
UNITS
TASK FORCES (ADHOCRACIES)
MATRIX STRUCTURES: EACH
INDIVIDUAL HAS TWO BOSSES
- ON-GOING PROJECT TEAM LEADER AND FUNCTIONAL MANAGER
LIAISON (INTEGRATIVE) ROLES
BRAND ACCOUNT MANAGERS
INTEGRATOR - MANAGERS
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3 HIGH PERFORMING ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR
ENVIRONMENTS
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CONTAINER ORGANIZATION:
- SIMPLE / STABLE ENVIRONMENT
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FOOD PROCESSING ORGANIZATION:
- MORE COMPLEX / DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT
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PLASTICS ORGANIZATION:
- COMPLEX / DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT
LAWRENCE AND LORSCH: COMPARISON OF INTEGRATIVE DEVICES
DIAGRAM