Organizational Design and Structure

"Since its very inception, social work has been considered an organizationally based profession, with the majority of its workforce employed within formal organizations. Whether in nonprofit, for-profit, or governmental agencies, the practical realities of human service organizations are a central element of professional social work. This book explores the climate and culture of these agencies and provides essential information for surviving and thriving in this setting. It prepares students for their future careers so that they will feel empowered in their work and be able to fulfill their responsibilities toward organizational, community, and social change. Using real-life examples, the authors examine the internal structures of management, financing, and supervision and discuss common conflicts between agencies and professionals. The book’s straightforward tone and practical advice make it an asset to anyone entering human service organizations.

This new edition contains updated examples, case studies, and references. It also contains valuable information on the effects of the recent financial crisis on human service organizations. Agencies now face increased caseloads and more complex social problems with fewer resources and less money. Understanding how these events have changed the nature of human service organizations will allow students to be better prepared for the work ahead of them.

Features

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Expanded content on the practical aspects of organizational theory and suggestions for developing leadership skills
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Updated examples, case studies, and references throughout the book
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Key points and discussion questions following each chapter
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Updated instructor’s manual available online as a PDF or Word document"

Few firms can be said to be truly resilient by sustaining high performance for a long time. We draw on a case study of a large U.S.-based retailer to explore how an organization develops resilience -the ability to recover quickly from environmental jolts or misfortunes. The company's CEO, concerned about the company's ability to maintain its industry leadership and excellent performance, sought to engage the organization in a broad quest for developing resilience capabilities. Our analysis of this case suggests that generative doubt, organizational slack, and mindful engagement throughout the organization are key conditions for resilience. These three conditions need to co-exist to develop and sustain strategic resilience.

The Authors compare the organization structure and market-based capabilities of American and Brazilian Logistics Service Providers in their respective countries. Using the resource based view approach, the authors propose that an LSP's organization structure influences its service capabilities, which in turn will influence satisfaction and performance. The results indicate that the individual models hold true in their respective countries. Autonomy enhanced LSP's capabilities in the areas of information sharing, logistics service, and customer service in both models. Formalization improved logistics and customer services in the Brazilian case, but only logistics services in the U.S. case. Unlike the U.S. model, service capabilities did not affect satisfaction for the Brazilian case; satisfaction did not contribute to performance for Brazilians. Paths of the two models are compared as part of the descriptive approach for the study and managerial insights provided.

Formal and informal organization structure have been described as “opposing poles of a duality”—one which has yet to be fully resolved. The aim of this paper is to detail an approach to treating both structures in a comparable way, an approach that explicitly recognizes core and underlying commonalties. Two distinct  analytical strategies are employed to this end. The first involves a detailed comparison and contrast of selected and relevant structural dimensions drawn from the two research streams. The second strategy involves the application of these dimensions to the study of network graphs of both the formal and informal structures of the same organization at the same point in time.

Despite the growing literature that explains how organization structure develops or changes, there are very few studies that seek to investigate the influence that an organization's structure has on its decision to work across sectors in emergency management (EM). Using EM as a context, this study observes the influence that organizational autonomy has on an agency's choice to work with voluntary organizations in the development of EM plans. Through the analysis of a national survey of county EM agencies, this study finds that an organization's autonomy does not influence its choice to work with voluntary organizations in the development of EM plans; however, the type of organization an EM agency is situated in does. Finally, recommendations for future research are presented to better understand why autonomous organizations enter into cross-sector collaborations.

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the interaction between organizational structure dimensions and intellectual capital components. In order to achieve this aim, a comprehensive literature survey was conducted and then a set of hypotheses developed within which the conceptual model of the research was tested using data obtained from 126 exporters operating in Aydın. According to the results obtained from the study, it has been determined that organizational structure dimensions affect intellectual capital and components at different levels and significance. In the face of fierce competition, business managers should take into account the elements of centralization, hierarchical order and division of labor. Managers should also create a more agile and flexible structure and attach importance to specialization.

Bitcoin represents the first real-world implementation of a "decentralized autonomous organization" (DAO) and offers a new paradigm for organization design. Imagine working for a global business organization whose routine tasks are powered by a software protocol instead of being governed by managers and employees. Task assignments and rewards are randomized by the algorithm. Information is not channeled through a hierarchy but recorded transparently and securely on an immutable public ledger called "blockchain." Further, the organization decides on design and strategy changes through a democratic voting process involving a previously unseen class of stakeholders called "miners." Agreements need to be reached at the organizational level for any proposed protocol changes to be approved and activated. How do DAOs solve the universal problem of organizing with such novel solutions? What are the implications? We use Bitcoin as an example to shed light on how a DAO works in the cryptocurrency industry, where it provides a peer-to-peer, decentralized, and disintermediated payment system that can compete against traditional financial institutions. We also invited commentaries from renowned organization scholars to share their views on this intriguing phenomenon.

The terms decentralized organization and distributed organization are often used interchangeably, despite describing two distinct phenomena. I propose distinguishing decentralization, as the dispersion of organizational communications, from distribution, as the dispersion of organizational decision-making. Organizations can be distributed without being decentralized (and vice versa), and having multiple management layers directly affects only distribution – not decentralization. This proposed distinction has implications for understanding the growth of digital platforms (e.g. amazon.com), which dominate the global economy in the 21st century. While prominent platforms typically use machine learning as their core technology to transform inputs (e.g. data) into outputs (e.g. matchmaking services), blockchain has emerged as an alternative technological blueprint. I argue that blockchain enables platforms that are both decentralized and distributed (e.g. Bitcoin), whereas machine learning fosters centralized communications and the concentration of decision-making (e.g. Facebook Inc.). This distinction has crucial implications for antitrust policy, which, I contend, should shift both its analysis and its target of action away from the corporate level and focus instead on the data level. Based on this essay’s framework, I make several predictions regarding the future of competition between centralized and decentralized platforms, the evolution of government regulation, and broader implications for managers in the digital economy and for the business schools charged with their education. I conclude with reflections on the opportunity to revive cybernetic thinking for preventing a dystopian future dominated by a handful of platform behemoths.

Il capitolo affronta il tema della traduzione organizzativa delle strategie mediante la progettazione delle strutture e dei meccanismi operativi, con particolare riferimento alle strategie di corporate, a complemento di quanto descritto nei capitoli precedenti. Il raggiungimento dei risultati strategici auspicati, infatti, passa attraverso la conduzione delle strutture di responsabilità e dei sistemi operativi che influenzano i comportamenti delle persone, orientando obiettivi e comportamenti individuali verso l’efficienza e l’efficacia.
Alla formulazione delle strategie si deve pertanto affiancare una fase di definizione delle forme e dei meccanismi organizzativi, in grado di favorire l’agevole assegnazione di sotto-obiettivi specifici (individuali e collettivi), il coordinamento tra persone e/o gruppi. Il capitolo presenta le soluzioni organizzative strumentali all'implementazione delle strategie, classificandole come verticali o orizzontali rispetto ai rapporti gerarchici che si vengono ad instaurare all'interno dell’impresa.

Even though developed to explain institutional dysfunction in Congress, the concept of institutional corruption has been applied to different types of organizations and industries. This application has generated insights about the problems affecting different sectors, but it has also raised questions about the accuracy of using the concept in other, non-Congress, contexts. This paper argues that the concept of institutional corruption has broad applicability, but it needs some conceptual adaptation when used in contexts different from the original one. By analyzing the institutional corruption features with this adaptation in mind, this paper proposes a more general framework for the theory that is broadly applicable to different settings while retaining its internal coherence. To do so, this paper approaches institutional corruption from the lens of organizational design. In this perspective, institutional corruption will be described as a type of failure in achieving the institutional purpose that happens because of the institutional design, rather than because of unsatisfactory performance. This paper explains the institutional mechanisms that cause this failure, and concludes with some theoretical implications of the framework proposed.

Organizacije možemo „graditi“ na različite načine. Dva najčešća pristupa oblikovanju ili izgradnji organizacijske strukture su „odozgo prema dolje“ i „odozdo prema gore“, dok su nešto rjeđe zastupljene bipolarna strategija, strategija klina i strategija većeg broja nukleusa. Slijedom toga, u ovom poglavlju naglasak će biti stavljen na proces diferencijacije i integracije organizacije koji kreće od vrha prema dnu, odnosno, bit će objašnjeno na koje sve načine možemo neki složeni organizacijski zadatak raščlaniti na jednostavnije dijelove, a zatim iste grupirati tj. kvalitetno integrirati u uspješnu organizacijsku cjelinu. Poslovni rezultat organizacije u velikoj će mjeri ovisiti upravo o provedenoj podjeli rada i specijalizaciji zaposlenika, baš kao i o prisutnoj vertikalnoj i horizontalnoj koordinaciji između različitih organizacijskih jedinica i pripadajućih radnih mjesta.

From the introduction of commercialized cars till date, the technology used in the cars have given edge to the companies who can provide better solutions and efficient systems that can provide fuel efficiency and better performance. In modern world, it has become difficult to survive for those companies who still practicing traditional management tactics and not commencing technological advancements in their designs and manufacturing.  The change management concept consists of modification in the actions of the company as well as technologies and methods to obtain the desired goal of the company just as changing the business environment of the company from inside and outside in order to attain high profitability. These changes are associated with the adaptation change, control change and effecting change. In this report, we will examine the business model of Tesla Motors, the journey of the company in terms of introducing novel concept in traditional automotive industry and the change management concept.

Diversity and diversity management in multicultural workforce is increasingly becoming an important issue for the business in the era of globalization. It affects the productivity and efficiency of the workforce in general. The purpose of the study is to encompass the dimensions of diversity management in a practical company. Particularly, the study shed light on the diversity management issue of a multinational organization. We have analysed the diversity management journey of Hp from the beginning till now giving particular focus on diversity dimensions and strategies. The paper also highlights the theoretical aspect of 'paradigms of diversity management' and its application to Hp. We have analysed Hp's diversity inclusion model and its own way of managing diversity in multicultural workforce. The findings of the study will be beneficial for the Bangladeshi organisation as it provides some guidelines and recommendations of diversity management. We find strong multicultural workforce diversity in the Hp operation and a variety of workforce diversity within the company.

A brief study of learning organizations, its structures and what defines it. This presentation looks at Maxis, a telecommunications operator in Malaysia and presents the arguments that Maxis applies the learning organization structure.

This was a group effort by myself, Aishah Salamat, Syahrifendi Shukor and Azi Razak. It was done as part of our Organizational Management class (BMOM 5203)

Valve Corporation es una compañía de software de entretenimiento fundada en Septiembre de 1996 por un grupo de veteranos ex ejecutivos e ingenieros de Microsoft. La compañía ha producido una serie de comercialmente exitosos y aclamados por la crítica, juegos de video, el primero de ellos, Half Life, fue puesto a la venta al público en Noviembre de 1998. El caso que analizamos aquí se basa en la estructura organizacional de ésta corporación: La organización plana u horizontal.
La problemática percibida es, sin duda alguna, la falta de controles internos y supervisión puesto que, en la compañía no existen gerentes o administradores con gente a su cargo. Nadie es jefe de nadie. Sin embargo en el extenso de este documento veremos tanto las fortalezas como las debilidades de la empresa, así como las sugerencias y conclusiones a las que se llega con base a la información del caso.

This research sought to assess the impact of organization design on the development of learning organizations in
Zimbabwe with particular focus on the retail sector. The major objectives of the research were: to identify the major
variables of organization design that affect retail businesses, to evaluate the structure being adopted by the retailers,
and to establish the key characteristics of a learning organization. The researchers took a descriptive approach to a
case study to explore this area. Zimbabwe’s major retailers, that is OK Zimbabwe Limited, TM supermarkets, Spar
and Afro Foods were used as they were convenient to the researchers.The case was studied in the mining town of
Bindura because the retail set up fairly resembles the retail set up found anywhere in Zimbabwe. Questionnaires
were used to solicit information from 34 employees that included management, supervisors, shop floor employees.
Interviews were also used to complement the questionnaires and a total of 4 interviews were successfully conducted
with the representatives from the head offices in Harare, who were purposively selected. Findings from this research
confirm-that organization design has an impact on the development of learning organizations. It was established that
the environment, level of controls and incentives played a crucial role in making organization design decisions. The
study established that the retailers were far from the learning organization tag as they highly formalize their systems
and procedures, exercise strict performance controls and there was no integration of processes and structures. It was
established that organic design approach facilitated the development of the organization and its members through low
formalization of procedures, low centralization of authority and high integration of processes and structures. From
the study, it could be concluded that integration and combination of knowledge facilitated the development of both the
organization and individuals. Abandonment of formal structures and reaching coordination through social reward
and internal normative systems facilitated development of organizations and individuals. The recommendations made
included a dynamic approach to social change which allows for development of new ideas and diversification for a
better organization and individual and recognizing that employees are able to learn from past experience motivates
them to take risks and look for new ways of developing themselves and the organization.
Key words: Organization design, learning organization, organizational learning, retail and impact.

For our Final exam of ART 102, we got the opportunity to work at the BRAC Bank Limited, Tongi Branch where we were placed to Supreme and Excel Banking Division under Retail Banking of BRAC Bank Ltd. BRAC Bank has divided its retail banking division under four segments, supreme and excel banking is one of them. Retail banking is responsible for providing services to various types of individual clients. Hence, we thought it would be interesting to explore the satisfaction level of Local clients regarding restructuring retail banking business model. At first we focused on the background of BRAC Bank Ltd. Then we tried to give brief idea about BRAC Bank management and we also discussed about the retail banking division of BRAC Bank. A questionnaire was used to collect data from the Local clients, regarding services and solutions of restructuring retail banking business model (RRBBM). Data from surveys and interviews of the Bank’s staff have been used to examine the knowledge level of Local clients regarding RRBBM services; to investigate clients' views regarding the quality and standard of the services; to identify the gaps between the services that clients want and those which are actually being provided by RRBBM; and to suggest ways of improving the services offered by RRBBM. These data were analyzed using different statistical software like SPSS and MS-Excel and by forming certain hypotheses for the qualitative and quantitative variables. Various observations were found from the analysis and interpretation of the data. Most clients have rated RRBBM services as reliable, and believe RRBBM staffs to be responsive. Clients claimed that RRBBM staff and services are easily accessible.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the two core components of organizational structure, centralization and formalization, on management innovation. In order to do this, the data received from 198 managers working in a public organization in Turkey has been analyzed. The results of this analysis have demonstrated that centralization has a significant negative impact on management innovation. However, the impact of formalization on management innovation has not been determined.

Adaptive Space can be thought of the relational and emotional freedom for people to freely explore, exchange, and debate ideas. (Arena 2019) The values and design of W. L. Gore & Associates have created the conditions for personal freedom and fulfillment, as well as the free flow of ideas as evidenced by Gore’s repeated acknowledgement as a “Great Place to Work” and its record for prolific innovation.
This glimpse into the Gore practices that create adaptive space include a practical description of the practices, examples of how each practice led to successful innovation, and implications for human resources and organizational professionals. The focus is on practices that create the space to foster four types of connections most potent for innovation: discovery, development, diffusion, and disruption.  Gore fosters each of these with approaches that amplify rather than inhibit the freedom for people to work together to transform their ideas into innovative, customer-valued products.

Social psychologists are fascinated with human existence. Developing a personal theory about the social-theoretical influences affecting employee engagement, performance, and thus well-being at work could aid global understanding and further explain why disengagement in the 21st Century workplace was measured among nine factors as alarmingly high in the Gallup Poll’s (2013) global workplace survey. Social Learning Theory (SLT) has proved that observational learning is a powerful public and private individual and group behavior modifier. Social Exchange Theory (SET) has proved that people do not persistently monitor their perceived or real costs to obtain desired reward. Evolutionary Psychology (EP) maintains that nature and nurture combine to form who people are. Therefore, combining some theoretical fragments of SLT, SET, and EP form the basic constructs from which to form a personal theory of social workplace psychology termed: Social Workplace Disengagement Theory.

Keywords: Social Learning Theory, Social Exchange Theory, Evolutionary Psychology, Workplace Disengagement

Government reinvention advocates assert that less bureaucratic work environments will spark higher creativity, more risk taking, and greater productivity in public employees. Although government reinvention remains a topic of interest to scholars and practitioners alike, these particular arguments lack empirical support. In response, this article tests the relationship between different forms of bureaucratic control (formalization, red tape, and centralization) and reported employee perceptions and behavior in local governments. Analyzing mail survey data from a study of the employees of four cities in a Midwestern state, this article finds that employee responses to bureaucratic control are not as straightforward as reinventionists expect. Different types of bureaucratic control are related to distinct employee responses, and sometimes these responses are the very behaviors that reinventionists seek to trigger by reducing bureaucracy.

A case study is presented in Organizational Design and Change Management. Within the global Information Services Company Wolters Kluwer, a significant organization change was planned and conducted to centralize distributed IT operations teams within one of its main Divisions. This project followed standard change models such as the Kotter Change Model and the guidance of the ITIL Organizational Change Management (OCM) process. An introduction to organizational change is provided prior to a detailed description of the change project and its results. This includes the objectives, approach, and scope of the change, composition of the project team, organizational design steps, organizational design, change management approach, change implementation, and results. This study may be of assistance to researchers hoping to understand industry practice in OCM and to industry practitioners needing to plan and execute a change in their own company.

Research and Development (R&D) employees considered to be innovative and creative. They are regarded as the core of human resources as well as the prime mover of new values in an enterprise. Research and Development (R&D) teams in organizations are commonly used to solve problems and accomplish creative tasks. However, very few studies have identified the variables that affect team-level creativity, the optimal conditions that promote it, and how to design team for optimal creativeness and high quality performance. This study carried out a survey of R&D employees working in teams, the flow of R&D employees and the contentment degree to R&D employees' present job. This study explored and validated five major factors that affect R&D team creativity by team shared mental models in Indian context, including task characteristics, team formation, team leadership, member characteristics, and organizational environment. Results showed that we should pay attention to the team interaction with member, task and process to improve team creativity. Further from conclusions of the study, this paper put forward some management suggestions to R&D team creativity.

Ali Gohar & Company was founded 62 years ago. It is Pakistan's premier one-stop distribution company within the pharmaceutical industry. It distributes FMCG (Fast moving consumer goods), surgical instruments, pharmaceuticals and health care products for multi-national companies. It has the impressive development of refrigeration in the movement of all temperature-sensitive products. Moreover, it is constantly moving forward and adapting its business models in response to an acceleration of changing business conditions. Ali Gohar provides the complete line of storage handling and delivery services. It has 18 branches in 15 cities of Pakistan. Its major competitors include Abu-Dawood, Muller and Phipps, UDL Distribution PVT Limited, Burque Corporation, and Premier Agency. Key businesss partners of Ali Gohar & Company include Cheisi Pharma, ELI-Lilly Pharma, AGP Pharma, Roche Pharma, Alcon Pharma, Alcon Surgical, 3M Pharma, Smith Medical and Master Pharma.

-Written and compiled by: Hassaan Elahi, Muhammad Zeeshan, Sabir Khan, Stafford Dcosta, and Syed Nehal Hussain

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This article examines the practice of performance appraisal as a critical element of administrative culture in the Ghana Civil Service (CS). It relies on three focus group discussions with senior civil servants to analyze the practice and its implications for performance of civil servants in Ghana. The article argues that: leadership seldom gives the needed attention to this administrative practice; the process lacks objectivity; it is fraught with superstition, spirituality, and fear; appraisers are rarely trained; and civil servants only become more interested in performance appraisals (PAs) during promotion-related interviews. The article therefore concludes that this process has become rhetoric rather than an important practice and that performance only gets praised rather than being appraised. The article recommends an overhaul of the PA system by integrating it into a holistic performance management program; integrating PA training into civil service mandatory training programs; and the revision and computerization of the PA system.

There is no doubt that talented employees are the backbone of every organizational success. An organization can have an advantage over its competitors by using better technology, lower costs, more innovative products, etc. However, these advantages do not just happen by themselves; it takes talents within the organization to create, implement and sustain competitive advantages. Thus, the long-term success of any organization ultimately depends on maximizing the effectiveness of employees in accomplishing organizational goals. The key to the desired results is creating a favorable context within which employees must operate. Hence, organizational structure and culture are key to employees' effectiveness. Therefore, using literature review method, this conceptual paper examined the roles of organizational culture and organizational structure in maximizing human capital performance. Further, this article recommends research propositions based on a framework for empirical examination of the relationships and impact of organizational culture and structure on human capital performance and sustainable competitive advantage. INTRODUCTION There is no doubt that talented employees are the backbone of every organizational success. An organization can have an advantage over its competitors by using better technology, lower costs, more innovative products, etc. However, these advantages do not just happen by themselves; it takes talents within the organization to create, implement and sustain competitive advantages. Thus, the long-term success of any organization ultimately depends on maximizing the effectiveness of employees in accomplishing organizational goals. The key to the desired results is creating a favorable context within which employees must operate. Hence, organizational structure and culture are key to employees' effectiveness. These have significant impact on how employees communicate and cooperate with each other, as well as how they view their work environment. As indicated by Jeston and Neils (2014), organizational efficiency and effectiveness depend on employees who are the functionaries of culture and structure. Culture is created by people and structure is created for people which makes organization people-centered (Newman, 2012). In the view of Hakim (2015), an organization is a container of activities and processes where people interact. Getting the right fit of employees will cause the needed outcome for organizations who have a winning culture and structure.

This research, conducted by the author when a Senior Researcher at Newcastle University, UK, was funded by a UK governance organisation to help them assess, integrate and improve their understanding of the governed population.

ABSTRACT: Governance organisations have been urged to develop more holistic evidence-based approaches with partners to better deal with issues affecting the governed population. This presupposes an understanding of the population, yet there has been little research work addressing how governance organisations come to understand their governed population, nor how this understanding can be improved upon within such organisations.

This case study examined in-depth how understanding of a governed population was developed within one UK local governance organisation and it explored how such understanding might be developed and improved through more holistic and evidence-based organisational learning within the organisation and its governance partnerships.

The research methodology involved placement within the governance organisation, participant observations on several projects and innovative initiatives, observations within, across, and outside the organisation, and also interviews with varied key stakeholders.

The study examined:

- stakeholder engagement and networks
- current and varied understandings of the population
- mechanisms actually used for developing understandings
- the influence of context on organisational learning

and analysed these to arrive at a recommendations to improve organisational understanding of the governed population.

In the case studied, significant strengths were found: including innovative past learning trials for development, extensive ongoing networking activities, and many varied and accumulating quantitative datasets available across partnerships.

However, entrenched organisational approaches and practices constrained the development of holistic evidence-based understanding, for instance: the absence of systematic maintained collective learning processes; weak recording and forgetting of understandings; methodological exclusion of stakeholders from the development of understanding; the relative neglect of qualitative data, explanations, investigations, interpretations, and reflexivity; and also implicit organisational acceptance of such limitations and low aspirations.

Nonetheless, untapped opportunities existed to enable change including: latent practitioner knowledge and innovative management champions, the desire for improvement and raised aspirations within learning networks, and the development potential of alterative learning approaches.

It was concluded that more holistic evidence-based understanding was possible, but required new learning approaches beyond those then in use in both local government or academia.   

Recommendations are made to utilise and develop improved organisational learning approaches trialed and reported in the case study.

It is argued that the case study findings, conclusions, and recommendations may be applicable to other similar local governance organisations and partnerships that seek to better understand local populations, services and interventions.

The work was also submitted for, and awarded, an MPhil (at Newcastle University, supervised by Prof. Patsy Healy)

"The research looks into the relationship between corporate governance and organizational performance., through the processes of research, multiple variables are  examined; the complex set of relationships between a Corporation and its board of directors, management, shareholders, stakeholders, customers, creditors and how effective Corporate Governance can improve the productivity of a firm.
Due to the nature of the research, the methodology used was focused on extensive interview, textbooks, journals and articles. Interview questions were focused on the variables that could affect the performance of a firm; textbooks, journals and articles were used as secondary data to have a past insight on how organizational performance affects a firm.
The research demonstrates that high governance risk correlates with lower performance, and robust governance is associated with more sustained performance. Companies with higher standards of governance were discovered to have higher performance). Further findings indicated that one of the more difficult things in assessing the influence of corporate governance upon firm performance is to take into account the impact of changes in the market: at times of rapid expansion many companies will perform well, in times of recession most companies will find it more difficult to perform.
Recommendations made focuses on improving the relationship between an organization, as a wholes and shareholders, stakeholders, management, creditors, and customers, through proper Corporate Governance. Once this is achieved to a certain degree, it will positively affect the level of performance of a firm, directly or indirectly.
"

This study links evolution in organizational structure to ambiguity in the definition of performance in the context of organizations formed to develop long-lived infrastructure: so-called ‘mega-projects’. Based on a longitudinal, inductive analysis of three mega-projects in London, we argue that a mega-project is a meta-organization with two symbiotically-related constituent structures. The core, led by a coalition, is a mutable collective that shares control over the goal of the project and corresponding high-level design choices. The periphery is a supply chain selected to design and build the infrastructure, but lacks the authority to change the high-level choices. As the mega-project structure evolves over time, we show that the founders and new comers renegotiate the high-level choices and slippages in performance targets ensue. The conflation of committals to different baselines, differing preferences for efficiency and effectiveness, and rivalry in high-level choices gives rise to competing performance narratives which cannot be reconciled. Thus, we argue, the disappointing and controversial (under) performance of mega-projects may be a result of how their organizational structure develops, rather than due to any agency or competence related failure per se.

Media technology—from mass media to social media and from video gaming to computer-mediated communication—plays an increasingly central role in people’s lives. Due to exponential increases in computing power, people now carry incredibly powerful computers—their smartphones—everywhere they go. This ever-greater access to media technology is generating an ever-greater conflict between media activities and the unmediated activities critical for psychological well-being—from our face-to-face conversations and family time to our down time and work lives. What are the costs and benefits of people’s modern media technology use for psychological well-being? Using a complementarity-interference (CI) framework, I review research to illuminate key psychological processes (i.e., mediators) and conditions (i.e., moderators) of the relationship between media technology and psychological well-being. Based on the existing evidence, I propose an initial theoretical CI model of the effects of media technology on psychological well-being. I use this CI model to outline important directions for future research, providing guidelines for an integrated, theoretically informed research on media technology.

Information technologies that link information systems have made intra-organizational communication almost seamless.  Resultingly, this capability has inescapably influenced organizational formation structures.  In this paper, the author synthesizes case study research regarding information systems and organizational structures.  Based on an assigned and selected literature review; the author summarizes referenced content, compares and contrasts issues, and extrapolates results and conclusions garnered from scholarly study of a records management initiative.

Empirical research has identified the various factors which affect the employees regarding their job satisfaction from the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects but limited work is done on the knowledge workers in this regard in the developing countries like Pakistan. A university teacher imparts training at the highest level in knowledge category however, factors influencing his/her satisfaction levels are not little known. An attempt has been made to relate the impact of job satisfaction with regard to benefits and salary of a university faculty member of Pakistan based on higher education universities. The result shows that there is a positive relationship exists between job satisfaction and pay of knowledge workers. This research is an attempt to undertake and analyze all those important aspects that improve the satisfaction level of teachers in the universities and promote learning culture. Pay is one of the most important and basic determinant of the job satisfaction of university teachers in Pakistan.

What are the best practices for leading a workforce in which human employees have merged cognitively and physically with electronic information systems and work alongside social robots, artificial life-forms, and self-aware networks that are ‘colleagues’ rather than simply ‘tools’? How does one manage organizational structures and activities that span both actual and virtual worlds? How are the forces of technological posthumanization transforming the theory and practice of management?

This volume explores the reality that an organization’s workers, managers, customers, and other stakeholders increasingly comprise a complex network of human agents, artificial agents, and hybrid human-synthetic entities. The first part of the book develops the theoretical foundations of an emerging ‘organizational posthumanism’ and presents conceptual frameworks for understanding and managing the evolving workplace relationship between human and synthetic beings.

Subsequent chapters investigate concrete management topics such as the likelihood that social robots might utilize charismatic authority to inspire and lead human workers; potential roles of AIs as managers of cross-cultural virtual teams; the ethics and legality of entrusting organizational decision-making to spatially diffuse robots that have no discernible identity or physical form; quantitative approaches to comparing the managerial capabilities of human and artificial agents; the creation of artificial life-forms that function as autonomous enterprises which evolve by competing against human businesses; neural implants as gateways that allow their human users to participate in new forms of organizational life; and the implications of advanced neuroprosthetics for information security and business model design.

As the first comprehensive application of posthumanist methodologies to the field of management, this volume will be of use to scholars and students of contemporary management and to management practitioners who must increasingly understand and guide the forces of technologization that are rapidly reshaping organizations’ form, dynamics, and societal roles.

Este trabajo es el resultado de múltiples experiencias y aprendizajes compartidos, de una maravillosa red de iniciativas, intercambios, desafíos y gozosos encuentros con quienes forman mi experiencia de vida…, profesional y académica, pero, fundamentalmente de vida compartida! A todos ellos quiero agradecer profundamente:

One of the most important tasks that business managers and owners face is the formation of an organizational structure as it determines the future of a company. This task is challenging to managers, but its benefits to the company are long-term. Organizational structure is best understood when illustrated in an organizational chart that details the flow of project tasks to be completed by team members.

Retail industry is one of the dominant players in U.S economy, generating almost $966 billion a year, which contribute for approximately 5.7% of the U.S GDP annually, with employment to 5 million people. Moreover, since retailing provides a way for products to get to consumers, it also supports the $1.08 trillion wholesaling industry of the U.S. as per Euro monitor, 2017. Wal-Mart Inc. and Costco Wholesaler Corporation are both retail merchandising multinational companies operating domestically and internationally. Through descriptive research this paper is an effort towards analysis of both the companies in terms of their organizational design and structure. The study discusses how the companies managing their organizational structure-culture and business strategy to achieve competitive advantage by focusing on 1) Transaction Cost 2) Differentiation and Integration 3) Centralization and Decentralization 4) Standardization and Mutual Adjustments 5) Organic and Mechanistic Structure