Organizational Design Process Research Articles

Artifact concreteness as imprinter in the organization design process

The fundamental purpose of design is to construct artifacts which interface inner and outer systems. Recent work in entrepreneurship makes a compelling argument that opportunities represent an artifact which interfaces inner systems of the entrepreneurial firm with outer systems of customers, markets and supplier stakeholders. In this formulation, opportunities might emerge from one of two ideal forms of design, namely experimentation or transformation. We build on such work, exploring a different artifact - the entrepreneurial organization. Adopting a design perspective, we compare the trajectories of two ventures with relatively similar starting points, but imprinted by different artifacts which encouraged the use of design approaches of experimentation in one and transformation in the other. We expose critical areas of divergence in the organizations that emerge. Imprinted by a trove of available concrete artifacts, the organization employing experimentation features dense, strongly tied networks, a more loyalty and work oriented culture and a simpler, less flexible, more incremental strategy. By contrast, the organization imprinted by penurious resources employed transformation, and features less dense, weakly tied networks, a more political, status oriented and discursive culture, and a more flexible, growth-oriented strategy. The practical implication of our work lies in the insight that through starting endowment imprint and design approach, future entrepreneurs might build features into the ultimate artifact they create - the organization itself.

Designing the transition to operations in large inter‐organizational projects: Strategy, structure, process, and people

AbstractThe transition from projects to operations requires a spanning from more temporary, goal‐oriented, and evolving organizational forms to more permanent, routine, and ongoing organizational forms. A question of practical and theoretical significance is how to organize the transition to operations in large inter‐organizational projects. To answer this question, we conducted a longitudinal case study of Beijing Daxing International Airport, which is the largest transportation hub in China to date, and provides rich evidence for successfully managing the transition to operations. By analyzing the organizational design strategy, structures, processes, and management of people in the transition, we provide a synthetic framework for designing the transition to operations in large inter‐organizational projects. The framework provides a set of considerations to design organizational boundaries that build connections, emphasize coordination, and achieve continuity between projects and operations. This study contributes to the nexus of operations management and project management and the organizational design of large inter‐organizational projects.

Theory and practice of organizational and technological design in construction

To achieve the effectiveness of the integrated process of organizational and technological design in construction, it is necessary to use the latest achievements of science in this area, taking into account the experience of their implementation. The main function of organizational and technological design is to model the implementation of construction processes (taking into account the identification and analysis of previous work), determine the options for connections and their priority, and, ultimately, select the most rational organizational and technological solutions that ensure the readiness of facilities and the construction organization for implementation. works. This choice is carried out with the help of a multi-criteria, multi-level assessment of such decisions based on computational and information modeling of construction processes, the choice of organization methods and technology for the production of works, the creation of an information base to provide construction with all types of resources, using information and software and the development of organizational and technological documentation. In Russia, in recent years, project management in the construction industry has become increasingly widespread. This is due to the modern processes of globalization, development and the emergence of common properties of the organizational structures of Russian and foreign construction companies to achieve the effectiveness of the functioning of such organizations. The unification of the target functions of construction organizations makes it possible to obtain a comprehensive, global management structure for efficient construction enterprises, which leads to the development of project management uniformity and the necessary development of organizational and technological design as a necessary stage in the construction of residential, social, cultural or other facilities.

The Evolution of the Status of Women in Tunisia (On the 75th Anniversary of Tunisia’s Declaration of Independence)

In the article, in the context of the recognition of socio-cultural determinants of gender history and critical analysis of foreign studies by the author, an attempt was made to generalize the evolution of the position of women in Tunisia in the 20th and early 21st centuries. It is the Tunisian version of solving the problem of women’s emancipation that most modern researchers consider as the most successful example for the Islamic world. The views of well-known feminists and representatives of the Islamic world regarding actualization of the problem are presented. The influence of the French authorities on the manifestations of the ideas of Western feminism, as well as the influence of Islamic reformists on the problems of women’s education and women’s participation in social and political life, is shown.
 In the course of the research, the author substantiates the following conclusions, namely: during the century, the social evolution of Tunisian society was determined by the process of adaptation and change of traditional socio-cultural foundations to new historical conditions. The established secular regime, after the proclamation of the Republic, for a decade was under pressure from the Islamic opposition, which initially existed in a cultural and educational form, and in the last decade of the 20th century took shape as a political one. The history of the last decade of the Republic shows that socio-cultural traditions have become the most important mechanism for the formation of intellectual and political values that contribute to national unity. This process determined both the nature and the stages of the women’s movement, which was formed during the period of the national liberation struggle, being its component. After the declaration of independence, Tunisian women de jure received political and social rights. There was a process of organizational design of the women’s movement, but this movement experienced decades of paternalistic control during the rule of Habib Bourguiba.
 A qualitatively new stage is associated with the presidency of Ben Ali and his politics: from “managed democracy” to a totalitarian regime, which led to the formation of a female political opposition. As mentioned above, the events of the 2010s opened perspectives in the issues of overcoming gender asymmetry.

Barriers in the organization design process

Barriers in the organization design process

Improving the efficiency of organizational design in the oil and gas business

The article discusses a number of topical issues of modern organizational design. Through the analysis of the approaches of Russian and foreign scientists, the factors that need to be taken into account in organizational design are identified. Out of a multitude of factors, we have selected those that have the greatest impact in various options for the market and technological environment for an oil and gas company. Organizational schemes which can be recommended for organizing management in different market conditions are shown. A method to reconcile the influence of the basic and other factors in the organizational design process is proposed. A mechanism for constructing an organizational structure in modern conditions in oil and gas companies is proposed. In the conclusion, recommendations on the directions for further research on the problems of building organizational structures are given. Keywords: organizational structure; building organizational structures; competitiveness factors; organizational design.

FORMATION OF THE REFORMED CHURCH DISTRICT WITHIN SUBCARPATHIAN RUS

The article expresses the author’s attempt to outline the process of organizational and institutional design of the Reformed Church District within Subcarpathian Rus. It is noted that the Hungarian Reformed communities of the region found themselves isolated from the Reformed Church leaders after the First World War. That uncertainty negatively affected the overall tone of the Hungarian population, despite its religious affiliation. Two camps originated among the Reformed Church activists who remained on the territory of the newly formed Czechoslovakia concerning the future of the Reformed dioceses of Subcarpathian Rus. Some, including the newly elected Bishop Zinke, considered the possible alignment of the Transcarpathian dioceses to the Slovak Prytysyn Church District. Others argued for the separation and formation of an independent church district within Subcarpathian Rus. The Government circles “encouraged” that suggestion. The process of arranging the Reformed Church District within Subcarpathian Rus began almost after Saint-Germain and Trianon and ended only in 1923. As noted by the author, the relationship between the Reformed Church and the state remained complex and tense. The state did not openly restrict the autonomous rights of the church. However, several problems remained unsolved and caused conflicts: the issues of church officials’ and teachers’ citizenship, payment of congrues and promised state subventions, church school status, the language of instruction in church schools, national and religious affiliation of church school students, etc. The government was also dissatisfied with the candidacy of B. Bertok, the elected bishop of the Reformed Church of Subcarpathian Rus. For almost a decade (1932), the authorities de jure recognized the status of the Reformed Church District of Subcarpathian Rus but failed to admit Bertok’s status as the elected church head.

Development of process control and technical documentation for the construction of residential buildings and structures from monolithic reinforced concrete

One of the main tasks of the foreman at the construction site is the proper execution of technical and as-built documentation. As-built technical documentation is an integral part of construction production, which is necessary to confirm the quality and scope of work performed. In the event of accidents both during the construction of the facility and during its operation, as-built documentation is considered first to identify the reasons. It is also presented in the process of putting the object into operation. A foreman at a construction site needs to solve many problems: from ordering materials and controlling the production of construction and installation works to preparingas-built and reporting documentation for each completed stage of work. At the same time, as practice shows, a shortage of staffing to solve all the necessary tasks has been identified. In this regard, some companies resort to additional human resources for engineering and technical personnel from third parties. The task of the formation and functioning of the process of staffing mainly consists of creating a system for management regulation and providing this system with highly qualified professional personnel. This task is especially acute in the case of organizational coordination of construction management regulation. Based on this, there is a steady trend towards the growth of engineering corporations specializing in the complex provision of services for organizational coordination and management regulation. The selection of a professional construction organizer as an object of construction and investment activity imposes special requirements on the formation of an effective system of construction management regulation. The staffing level is expressed in accordance with the data on the composition of administrators, employees or the auxiliary personnel of a systematized configuration of management regulation with the number provided by the staffing table established in the process of organizational design or strategic planning process. The provisions considered in the paper make it possible to identify the actual availability of workers at all stages of management regulation, including the possibility of eliminating the shortage of engineering and technical personnel by rearranging company’s own personnel, namely, to form a reserve for promotion, provide for retraining or additional training of the relevant groups of workers. In this case, the basis for the interaction of construction organizers and owners of labor resources is the process control and technical documentation.

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ЗМІСТУ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЙНОГО ПРОЄКТУВАННЯ, ПІДХОДІВ ТА МЕТОДІВ ЙОГО РЕАЛІЗАЦІЇ НА ПІДПРИЄМСТВІ

Organizational design is currently, to a certain extent, a new direction of research, the goal of combining modern achievements in the field of production organization, design analysis, project management, planning, control and management of organizational behavior to create new competitive organizations or improve (increase the efficiency) of those that are already carrying out business activities. The study of the content of "organizational design" gave grounds to generalize the opinion of scientists and determine that organizational design is an extremely complex process of creating an organization design in which all elements of the system should be optimally combined so that it allows to implement the strategy and achieve the goals of the business entity. This process has its own tasks, subject, object and principles of implementation. It was found that scientists distinguish two groups of approaches to determining the content of the organizational design process: object (information, target, system-target) and subjective (game). Attention is focused on the fact that now in the scientific literature it is most often recommended to use three approaches to organizational design, namely: normative-functional (experimental-statistical, function-oriented), functional-technological (process-technological), object-target (object-synergetic approach), the advantages and disadvantages of each of them are considered. It was found that the methods of organizational design are classified from the standpoint of production (method of analogies, typical design, program-target method, simulation modeling) and from the standpoint of management (method of analogies, expert-analytical, method of structuring goals, organizational design), the advantages of each method are determined. It is noted that domestic scientists agree with the expediency of using the considered methods of organizational design and give a similar description of their content, but divide them into two groups: methods of a qualitative nature (analogy method, method of standard structures, expert-analytical method, method of goal structuring); formalized methods (regression, models, optimization models, organizational modeling).

The Role of Interdependence in the Micro-Foundations of Organization Design: Task, Goal, and Knowledge Interdependence

Interdependence is a core concept in organization design, yet one that has remained consistently understudied. Current notions of interdependence remain rooted in seminal works, produced at a time when managers’ near-perfect understanding of the task at hand drove the organization design process. In this context, task interdependence was rightly assumed to be exogenously determined by characteristics of the work and the technology. We no longer live in that world, yet our view of interdependence has remained exceedingly task centric and our treatment of interdependence overly deterministic. As organizations face increasingly unpredictable work streams and workers codesign the organization alongside managers, our field requires a more comprehensive toolbox that incorporates aspects of agent-based interdependence. In this article, we synthesize research in organization design, organizational behavior, and other related literatures to examine three types of interdependence that characterize organizations’ workflows: task, goal, and knowledge interdependence. We offer clear definitions for each construct, analyze how each arises endogenously in the design process, explore their interrelations, and pose questions to guide future research.

Business model innovation as a window into adaptive tensions: Five paths on the B Corp journey

The B Corporation (B Corp) audit and certification acts as a third-party signal of social purpose business model innovation. It is argued that B Corp certification helps organizations to capture value above economic gains, from activities with ethical, sustainable or moral objectives. However, the varying journeys and certification motivations of B Corps are poorly understood. In this paper we use theory related to the process of organizational design (Zott & Amit, 2010) to unpack these variations. Starting from a longitudinal data set, we employ a deductive case analysis approach of 47 B Corps to identify five certification paths: brand wagoners, reprioritizers, evangelists, inertial benchmarkers and reconfigurers. Our findings help to identify and describe distinct B Corp journeys over time. We conclude with a discussion of how these findings contribute to current theory on social purpose business model innovation, firm value characteristics and how B Corps manage competing tensions among identity and action.

Exploring the alignment between organization designs and value processes over the program lifecycle

This paper addresses the interplay between organization designs and value processes in the context of programs. Building upon the findings from a longitudinal case study of a complex multi-partner program within Sweden's transportation sector, we argue that different value processes over the program lifecycle require different program management arrangements. Specifically, the paper explores how three distinct value processes, namely value definition, value creation and value capture, were related to specific program organization design dimensions, including overall organizational form, program boundaries, organizational control modes, program protagonist and sources of funding. The paper explicates the dynamics of alignment between organization design and value processes and shows how the external context shaped the process of alignment. Thus, the study contributes to the literature by reporting a rich, longitudinal empirical case, identifying organizational preconditions for different value processes in programs and highlighting the dynamics of these processes.

Business Model Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Supporting Role of Organizational Design

Based on interviews in LEO Pharma, UCB Pharma and Novo Nordisk, we document how deep-seated changes in the pharmaceutical industry related to increasing demands from payers, the strengthening of the role of patients, changing legal demands, and declining technological opportunity, drive a process of experimenting with business model. We distinguish between three ideal types, namely a traditionalist model (exemplified by Novo Nordisk), the full-blown service-oriented model (UCB Pharma) and the in-between model (LEO Pharma). We describe the changes to the organizational design and management processes that accompany the ongoing process of changing business models in these firms.

INTERNAL AND ExTERNAL FACTORS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Organizational structure is a system of internal relations and links in the organization. Since adequately designed organizational structure is the key to the success of enterprises, efficient operations and achievement of the objectives of each organization, the basic issue of this paper is the process of organizational design, with particular focus on the differentfactors that affect this process.For this reason, the purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of certain internal and external factors on the organizational structure, as well as to point out their importance in the design process.Based on the conducted analysis and research, author has come to many conclusions on the basis of which has been proven that there are many internal and external factors that directly affect the organizational structure. In order to successfully operate in today's turbulent conditions, it is necessary for companies to constantly adjust to a number of factors. A successful response to new changes often requires a process of restructuring through which organizational structure adapts to new needs.

Gestão do trabalho: desenho organizacional, processo estratégico e tipos de trabalho

Resumo O objetivo deste estudo é verificar, dentro da gestão do trabalho, como os componentes do desenho e processo estratégico organizacionais se relacionam com os tipos de trabalho desempenhados pela organização. Foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa com estudo de caso. As técnicas de coleta de dados foram entrevistas semiestruturadas, análise de documentos e observação direta. A análise de dados baseou-se em pattern-matching e narrativa. Os resultados apontam que, mesmo que as características de cada tipo de trabalho estejam presentes nos casos analisados, há indícios de que novas variáveis precisam ser pesquisadas para explicar a variação dos níveis de racionalidade e a participação no processo estratégico para configurar as diferentes formas de gestão do trabalho.

Structure, Strategy and Organizational Design in Albanian Context

This research paper will try to understand and explain how much and how is understood the nature, the importance and factors that affect the business organizational structure and design in Albanian Organizations, compared with theoretical factors researched from the literature. How a business does structure in our country, knowing how important are the theoretical factors in business organization performance and therefore how much and how the principles of organizational design are applied in Albanian Organizations. Why structure, strategy and organizational design? Organizational design and organizational restructuring remains one of the most important issues that management of organizations, in the global era and information technology, must deal with, for the fact that businesses today face some unprecedented challenges: increased competition, globalization, growing of social responsibility, technological changes, changes in taste and consumer’s exigency, new strategic thinking, etc. Referring the literature and contemporary researchers, a constant topic during these recent years has been the one of how globalization and economic crisis have obliged the organizations to review their strategies and to change the way they operate, trying often therefore to structure for surviving and achieving success. These challenges should be carefully managed in order to build and hold a high performance organization, to deal with tough competition and endless problem that this era we live does bear. It is also important to understand correctly that organizational structure and design, by dictating roles connection in an organization and consequently how people function, may often be the main cause of the problems, but also one more reason of success. The way that organizations structure or the specific model of business, may constitute their competitive advantage, or special strategic skills, so it can make a business organization unique and competitive in the market. For many researchers the prevailing conclusion is that the organizations either neglect the importance of organizational design, or they just do not know what to do about it and therefore they evolve in an indirectly, spontaneous or intuitive way. From what the paper identifies, most of organizational structuring in Albania are made in a hasty way, without seeing or paying attention to full frame or circumstances. This may result in some partial and fragmentary initiatives instead of aiming in organizational designing and general structuring. This is not surprising as the subject is complex, often poorly explained and not rightly understood even though the academics and the consulters have made a great work to address the organizational design topic. However the paper shows that entrepreneurs and managers still lack a practical and systematic framework in order to guide their choices of organizational structure. To find a practical approach for the organizational design, can be difficult, even though some business schools have tried to simplify the things. The study will try to achieve this task, through careful research, in order to diagnose the organizational design process and restructuring situation in Albania, highlighting the effect of the current challenges which have an impact on this difficult process, mainly based on a survey of 200 organizational businesses in Albania.

Complex and Dynamical Social Network Analysis as a Tool to Support a Sustainable Organizational Design and Management Process

In the Viable System Approach, the firm and its environment form a complex system, modelled as a network of networks. This paper explores how some tools coming from the research on Complex Networks are applicable to the firm and its environment in the context of Business Development Plan. A brief survey of the main concepts underlying the Viable System Approach (VSA) and of the very last results attained in the Complex Network Theory (CNT) is presented, focusing on the results regarding the dynamical processes on Complex Networks. Some correspondence between the main entities in the two frameworks will be derived, to highlight the possible contribution of CNT to the government and the management of the firm as a Viable System. This paper doesn't expect to be exhaustive because of the topic complexity and the still ongoing research's work. In the business case, the Social Network Analysis tools are applied into the business reengineering process.

HRM at a Crossroads: Comments on “Evolution of Strategic HRM Through Two Founding Books: A 30th Anniversary Perspective on Development of the Field”

I agree with Bruce Kaufman's evaluation of the HRM field and the danger to its relevance if change does not take place in the field's almost exclusive use of normal science, lack of focus on organizational change and development and indifference to the development of useful and usable knowledge. I use the development of the Harvard Business School's first‐ever required course in HRM and Managing Human Assets, the book that grew from the course, to illustrate why and how the strategic HRM perspective of the book emerged. I go on to argue that we do not need more proof that HRM practices are associated with financial performance. The best CEOs already believe this, though they need knowledge and practices that will enable them to develop a positive sustainable HRM system. HRM research, both normal and action science, must answer the question of how a “great” HRM system—practices, leadership, organization design, culture, and change processes—might be developed over time (its takes years) and how great companies can avoid the liquidation of intangible assets in the face of pressures for short‐term performance. I describe my own work to illustrate the future direction HRM should take methodologically and conceptually. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparative Advantages of School and Workplace Environment in Competence Acquisition: Empirical Evidence from a Survey Among Professional Tertiary Education and Training Students in Switzerland

This paper sheds light on the questions how important competences are and which competences can best be learned at school and which competences can be acquired better in the workplace. Exploiting data from a survey among professional tertiary education and training business administration students and their employers in Switzerland, we find that competences related to strategic management, human resource management, organizational design and project management processes are most suitable to be taught in school. However, the results further suggest that soft skills can be acquired more effectively in the workplace than at school. The only exceptions are analytical thinking, joy of learning and organizational competences, for which school and workplace are similarly suitable. Thereby, the paper provides empirical evidence regarding the optimal choice of the learning place for both human resource managers as well as educational decision makers who aim to combine education and training, e.g. in an apprenticeship.

Will Organization Design Be Affected By Big Data?

Computing power and analytical methods allow us to create, collate, and analyze more data than ever before. When datasets are unusually large in volume, velocity, and variety, they are referred to as “big data.” Some observers have suggested that in order to cope with big data (a) organizational structures will need to change and (b) the processes used to design organizations will be different. In this article, we differentiate big data from relatively slow-moving, linked people data. We argue that big data will change organizational structures as organizations pursue the opportunities presented by big data. The processes by which organizations are designed, however, will be relatively unaffected by big data. Instead, organization design processes will be more affected by the complex links found in people data.