An organisation’s design embraces its
business model, leadership, governance, management systems,
structures, policies, human resource management, culture,
processes, performance and reward systems, and use of technology.
Designing so many possible dimensions of organisation means:
Understanding and shaping many organisational
dimensions simultaneously
Creating the right linkages between
diverse aspects of organisational functioning
Synthesising information and patterns
to create new insights, not just analysing data to pin
down root causes
Evaluating and using qualitative as
well as quantitative information – and connecting
the two
Using systems thinking to identify which
design features can have the most impact
Focusing on how to manage multi-dimensional
change even during the design phases – and determining
whether designs, however good they seem, can really be
implemented.
Organisation design aims to improve what exists
and create what does not. It has always combined commerciality
with a knowledge of organisational behaviour. Today it also
has access to the sort of innovative thinking found in aesthetic
and industrial design. Organisation designers can now blend
the traditional logical disciplines of organisation design
with more contemporary creative approaches in order to open
up new possibilities.
From time to time this page provides links
to articles, mine and other people’s, which reflect
current thinking in organisation design.
