How are organizational routines — routines in an organization that involve more than one individual — related to the effectiveness of an organizational design or redesign? Answering this question begins with understanding two important characteristics of organizational routines: purpose and business-unit specificity. Routines in an organization will have one of two purposes: an operational purpose, […]
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It is not easy to motivate subsidiaries of multinational companies to create competence that can be useful to other subsidiaries, and for good reason. Developing competence, including know-how and technological expertise for example, takes time and money. Subsidiaries are responsible for maintaining their own bottom lines, so why should they worry about other subsidiaries? Parent […]
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Hierarchies have been taking a bad rap. The mantra for a number of years has been to ‘flatten’ the organizations. Hierarchies were not only seen as inefficient, but worse: as a mechanism for the out-dated belief that leaders must ‘control from the top down’. In place of hierarchies, flat organization advocates argued for a more […]
Read More… from Hierarchical or Egalitarian Organizations? The Advantages of Hierarchy
In a white paper published by Kenan-Flagler Business School, Dan Bursch and Kip Kelly describe today’s workforce has decidedly multigenerational and comprised of five generations each with distinct general characteristics: Traditionalists (born pre-1946): traditionalists tend to have a strong work ethic that translates into stability and experience. Essentially they view of work as a privilege, […]
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Long-distance relocation of the whole of a company’s headquarters remains rare. Long-distance relocation of the offices of members of the top management team and of core functions such as finance and R&D, on the other hand, is becoming more common. The phenomenon is most clearly seen in small but highly internationalized economies such as Finland, […]
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Strong relationships and social ties between clients and individual executives can be something of a double-edged sword in business. There is always the danger of client defection when the ‘linchpin’ leaves. The risks tend to be greatest in ‘human capital intensive’ businesses such as advertising, law and consulting, where there is often a close connection […]
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Though formal hierarchies continue to be an integral part of organizational structures, in recent years individuals have been required to look beyond these towards the informal and invisible structures supporting an organization. This is referred to as ‘network perspective’ in a 2013 White Paper by the Center for Creative Leadership’s Kristin Cullen, Charles Palus and […]
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Discontinuous technologies refers to when new products are created that end up transforming existing markets, such as cloud computing, digital photography, 3D printing, online news, etc. Not surprisingly, they often pose a critical challenge for executives, and how they deal with such major paradigm shifts has formed the basis of a number of recent articles. […]
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In the quest to achieve global efficiency, often companies find themselves faced with a dilemma: how can they manage the various processes needed to run a global organization, yet keep a locally-flexible system at the same time? Unable to reach this equilibrium, many find themselves stuck in a rigid system and not as customer-orientated as […]
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Family businesses are large contributors to the Indian economy, forming an integral part of Indian culture and society. They account for approximately 85% of business in the country, but have traditionally been plagued by concerns about their susceptibility to emotional decision-making, non-professionalism, governance issues, etc. Now, however, it seems that family businesses are gradually shedding […]
Read More… from Family Business in India: Meeting 21st Century Challenges
