Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 11
CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
CHAPTER 11
CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
Matrix is a structure that assigns Fluid and flexible design Complexity of assigning
specialists from different functional that can respond to people to projects
areas to work on projects who then environmental changes Task and personality
return to their areas when the Faster decision making conflicts
Matrix Project project is completed. Project is a
Structure structure in which employees
continuously work on projects. As
one project is completed,
employees move on to the next
project.
Team Stuctures
A team structure is one in which the entire organization is made up of work teams that do the
organization’s work
Employee teams design and do work in the way they think is best, but they also responsible
for all work performance results in their respective areas
Learning Organizations
A learning organizations is an organization that has developed the capacity to continuously
learn, adapt, and change
In a learning organization, employees continually acquire and share new knowledge and apply
that knowledge in making decisions or doing their work
Internal Collaboration
Cross-functional teams
o Cross functional teams is a work teams composed of individuals from various
functional specialties
o Team members are brought together to collaborate on resolving mutual problems that
affect the respective functional areas
Task forces / Ad Hoc committee a temporary committee or team formed to tackle a
specific short-term problem affecting several departments
Communities of practice groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a
passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in that area by
interacting on an ongoing basis
Strategic Partnerships
Collaborative relationships between two or more organizations in which they combine their
resources and capabilities for some business purpose
Some reasons why such partnerships make sense:
o Flexibility and informality of arrangements promote efficiencies
o Provide access to new markets and technologies
o Entail less paperwork when creating and disbanding projects
o Risks and expenses are shared by multiple parties
o Independent brand identification is kept and can be exploited
o Working with partners possessing multiple skills can create major synergies
o Rivals can often work together harmoniously
o Partnerships can take on varied forms from simple to complex
o Dozens of participants can be accommodated in partnership arrangements
o Antitrust laws can protect R&D activities
Telecommuting
Work arrangement in which employees work at home and are linked to the workplace by
computer
Compressed workweek
A workweek where employees work longer hours per day but fewer days per week
Flextime or flexible work hours
A scheduling system in which employees are required to work a specific number of hours a
week but are free to vary those hours within certain limits
Job sharing
The practice of having two or more people split a full-time job
CONTINGENT WORKFORCE
Contingent workforce are temporary, freelance, or contract workers whose employment is
contingent upon demand for their services
Main issues business face with their contingent workers:
o Classifying who actually qualifies as one, because companies don’t have to pay Social
Security, Medicare, or unemployment insurance taxes on workers classified as
independent
o The process for recruiting, screening, and placing these contingent workers where
their work skills and efforts are needed, so the right people are in the right places at
the right times in order to get work done efficiently and effectively
o The importance of a contingent employee’s performance. It is important that
mechanisms be in place to monitor work performance and goal achievement,
especially if the contingent employee is working off-site.