Module 9: implementation

interrelated

a Systems Parts have to fit together

system

a set of interrelated and interdependent parts

What kind of technology is low in analyzability and low in variety?

- Craft Technology. - Example, "trades" (baker, hairstylist), fine art manufacturing, or performing arts. - work well with structures that are mixed, but more organic than mechanistic.

What kind of technology is high in analyzability and high in variety?

- Engineering Technology. - "professional" jobs fall under this category, such as accounting, law, and medicine. - often associated with structures that lean toward mechanistic, but are partially organic.

What two values make up the "Adhocracy" culture? What will the adhocracy culture become if it is taken to the extreme?

- Flexibility, and external focus. - Tumultuous Anarchy.

What two values make up the "Clan" culture? What will the clan culture become if it is taken to the extreme?

- Flexibility, and internal focus. - Country Club.

What kind of technology is low in analyzability and high in variety?

- Nonroutine Technology. - Example, basic or applied research and strategic management.

How does an organization's structure "fit" certain technological needs?

- Organizational structure tends to fit the technology that figures dominantly in the organization's strategy. - One that relies on product development for competitive advantage will likely have a structure that's organic-leaning. - One that relies on manufacturing efficiency/reliability will most likely have a mechanistic-leaning structure.

What kind of technology is high in analyzability and low in variety?

- Routine Technology. - Example, Fast food restaurants and assembly lines.

What two values make up the "Market" culture? What will the market culture become if it is taken to the extreme?

- Stability, and external focus. - Oppressive Sweatshop.

What two values make up the "Hierarchy" culture? What will the hierarchy culture become if it is taken to the extreme?

- Stability, and internal focus. - Frozen Bureaucracy.

Culture (at the organizational level)

- The values and patterns of belief and behavior that are shared by members of an organization. - Cultures can be strong or weak; positive or negative.

technology

- The way organizations go about doing things.

Can organizations have elements of more than one type of culture?

- Yes, organizations can contain elements of two different types of culture. - Example, a company like Southwest Airlines may have a pretty strong clan culture, but may also have some characteristics of an adhocracy.

Variety

- the complexity of the task at hand. - A complex technology (high on variety) is one in which a number of exceptions or possibilities must be considered. - A task low on variety is relatively simple, with few elements to deal with.

Analyzability

- the degree to which a task can be programmed. - A technology that is highly analyzable can be reduced to a written set of steps that can be easily followed. - One that is low requires the use of personal judgement and/or individual skills. It does not lend itself to a prescribed set of steps or procedures.

in an organization, which departments tend to be organic or mechanistic?

-R&D departments tend to be organic. -production departments tend to be mechanistic. -the overall structure of the organization often depends on where the distinctive competencies lie.

"The task" component of the transformation process according to the congruence model.

-technology employed by the organization. -an example is the routine assembly line type work or non-routine creative type of work.

what is the important underlying idea behind the congruence model?

-that the "fit" or congruence of an organization is extremely important. -two companies can follow very different strategies and be organized very differently but both can be successful as long as there is fit externally and internally. -Toyota and Lamborghini example.

congruence model

-the model that conceptualizes the organization as a system with inputs (environment, resources, and history), the transformation process, and outputs.

mechanistic structure

-the type of organizational structure that is focused on efficiency and tends to be centralized, formal (everything is in writing), and have a high degree of specialization. -communication tends to be top down and Authority lines are well-defined. -McDonald's example.

organic structure

-the type of organizational structure that is focused on responsiveness and flexibility. -decentralized, informal, and teamwork reliant. -Oticon example.

What are the 4 basic types of culture listed in the Competing Values Framework?

1. Clan. 2. Adhocracy. 3. Hierarchy. 4. Market.

What are the 2 "negative zones" found in the "bulls-eye" of the Competing Values Framework Model according to its creator, Quinn?

1. The center. This is a weak or negative culture. 2. On the periphery. Any culture can become negative when carried to the extreme.

What are the 2 dimensions of technological classification according to Charles Perrow?

1. analyzability. 2. variety.

what are the six characteristics of mechanistic structures?

1. centralized. 2. many rules and procedures. 3. narrow span of control. 4. specialized tasks. 5. little teamwork / few task forces. 6. vertical coordination is formal and impersonal.

what are the six characteristics of an organic structure?

1. decentralized. 2. few rules and procedures. 3. wide span of control. 4. shared tasks. 5. much teamwork and many task forces. 6. vertical coordination informal and personal.

what are the three important points of structure type?

1. mechanistic and organic structures are on ends of a continuum. 2. examples of organic and mechanistic structures can be found within the same organization. 3. there's no such thing as a "bad" structure in and of itself.

the two archetypical forms of an organizational structure

1. organic. 2. mechanistic.

what are the four components of the transformation process according to the congruence model?

1. the task. 2. the informal organization (culture). 3. the formal organization (structure). 4. the individual.

two aspects of organizational structure integration

1. vertical differentiation. 2. horizontal differentiation.

When an organization attempts to implement a merger or acquisition, how might this cause problems for the company's culture?

If the partnering company has a very different culture.

Is there such thing as a "bad" structure in and of itself?

No, a structure is only bad if it doesn't fit the strategy and/or other elements of the organization.

If the only "bad" culture is one that doesn't fit with the organization's strategy and structure, are any of the 4 basic culture types bad?

No, any of the four basic types of culture are viable

How might technology differ between generic departments in an organization?

R&D departments are non-routine and manufacturing will often be routine.

What types of changes are usually strongly resisted and, when forced, tend to harm morale?

When an organization needs to change its strategy in a manner that is inconsistent with existing values and beliefs, culture can become problematic. (IBM Ex.)

interdependent

all the parts of a system have to work for it to function well

"the informal organization" of the transformation process according to the congruence model.

also known as an organization's culture, this consists of an organization's Norms, values, beliefs, Etc.

example of social system

an organization

"the formal organization" component of the transformation process according to the congruence model.

an organization's structure

what is an example of a mechanical system?

car

what is an example of a biological system?

human

a strong negative culture can be a significant

liability.

implementation perspective of systems thinking

managers must have a clear idea of how changes to strategy are likely to impact other parts of the organization.

are the parts of an organization tightly coupled?

no one made tweet parts of an organization by making minor changes to strategy or structure, and see no impact on the rest of the system.

strong culture

one in which the members of the organization share many values, beliefs, and behaviors.

positive culture

one in which the shared values, beliefs and behaviors support the organization's goals and strategies.

tightly coupled (system characteristic)

small changes in one part of a system have an immediate and obvious impact

with respect to social, mechanical, and biological systems, which is the most complex and frustrating to deal with?

social systems

what kind of strategies work best in an organic structure?

strategies that require a high level of product development or marketing creativity.

what kind of strategies work best in a mechanistic structure?

strategies that require efficiency and consistency in the final product.

A strong positive culture can be an important source of what?

sustainable competitive advantage.

integrating mechanisms of an organizational structure

the aspect of integration that is about how to coordinate the parts that have been split up.

organizational structure (formal organization)

the component of the congruence model that is largely about how to split things up in organizations, and how to integrate those things.

impact of major changes to an organization

the impact may be delayed, and the cause and effect may not be very obvious.

"the individual" component of the transformation process according to the congruence model.

the needs, expectations, Knowledge, and Skills of an organization's Workforce.

what is the downside to an organic structure?

they tend to result in less coordination, duplication of effort, wasted resources, and in general are not very efficient.

how does the congruence model see strategy?

this model sees strategy as the link between inputs and the transformation process.

vertical differentiation of an organizational structure

this organizational structure integration aspect is about how to split the decision-making in an organization (centralized or decentralized).

horizontal differentiation of an organizational structure.

this organizational structure integration aspect is about how to split the work up in an organization (function, product, Etc).