INLS 131:  Management for Information Professionals

Week 13: April 9-15, 2002
Organizational Analysis and Design

Assignments

The two chapters you will read this week and next week --Chapter 19 and Chapter 20--include aspects of management that I personally find highly engaging. They deal with the structure of the organization. An important theorist in the management field, W. Edwards Deming (whom we've met before), asserts that most of the problems of poor performance, waste, lack of productivity, low morale, internal conflict, or you name it, stem from structural (that is, organizational design) problems rather than personnel problems. The TQM (Total Quality Management) movement with Deming's famous 14 principles is described in the text on pages 485-487. From Deming's emphasis on structural change, it follows that a major task for the manager (right up there with employee development) is how to structure the organization so that it maximizes productivity.

In fact, you could say (for example, if you were asked on an exam) that the two most important tasks of the manager are to:

1. develop employees, and
2. create an optimum organizational structure to accomplish organizational goals.

The structure of the organization is not static. As the external environment changes and as new CEOs assume leadership, the priorities of the organization will change and may necessitate a structural change to achieve the same goals. As the paragraph on page 439 introducing this section of the book says, these are macro-level issues and "are heavily dependent on systems thinking and analytical skills."

The learning objectives for this week are to:

• define and apply some common organizational design terms
• distinguish between mechanistic and organic organizational structures
• distinguish among four kinds of organizational structure: functional, divisional (sometimes called market), matrix, and network 
• design a "balanced scorecard" to assess organizational effectiveness

You will have only two tasks to do. One asks you to describe the structure of an organization you are familiar with -- perhaps one where you are currently working or perhaps a volunteer organization. The second asks you to design a way of assessing organizational effectivenss using a balanced scorecard approach.

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Task 26: Description of Organizational Structure

Select an organization you know. It can be large or small. You can choose a department as your organization rather than the organization as a whole (If you work for a university or a large corporation, it will be easier for you to deal with a smaller unit. However, you should be aware that the larger organization will have a very strong effect on what you do). A work organization is probably preferable for this assignment to a voluntary organization but if you are more familiar with a volunteer group (a club, nonprofit organization, etc.) this will work). Once you have selected the organization, consider the table showing characteristics of mechanistic and organic organizations on p. 447 of your text. Which of these phrases best describe your organization? Most organizations have a mixture of mechanistic and organic descriptors but usually have a preponderance on one side or the other. Describe your organization in these terms. Then turn to the list of structural forms provided on the same page and comment on each of these as they relate to your organization. Would you describe your organization as functional, divisional or matrix? Tell why you have selected one of these. Do you see any evidence of horizontal or network structures in your organization? If so, describe them. Lastly, consider the environment in which your organization operates. Is it stable or rapidly changing? Consider the chart on p. 458 relating organizational design to the degree of turbulence (change) in the environment. In your judgment, what rate of change surrounds your organization? Is its organizational structure appropriate as defined by this chart?

Please post your response to the Organizational Aspects forum by or before April 15. Entitle your response "Task 26 - Organizational Description".

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Task 27: Balanced Scorecard

We are not doing the fourth case study provided in your textbook on diversity in the Bestfoods company. However, the case introduces the notice of a balanced scorecard first developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in their 1996 book The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action (Boston: Harvard Business School). A brief introduction to the concept may be found at http://www.qpronline.com/balancedscorecard/balanced_scorecard_intro.html. Essentially, the balanced scorecard concept simplifies the process of determining how well the organization is doing by concentrating on four aspects: the financial, the customer, the organizational processes, and the learning and innovation aspect. For each aspect, a "driver" (that is, a manifestation of what would reflect doing well on this aspect) and a "measure" (something countable to would show progress) are identified. See p. 548 in your textbook for a diversity balanced scorecard created for Bestfoods. Another possibly useful reference may be found at http://www.mapnp.org/library/org_perf/bal_card.htm. (This is a set of links to useful information about the balanced scorecard concept assembled by the nonprofit management assistance program) With the BestFoods example and these readings, consider the organization you selected for task 26 and suggest four central objectives for it with at least one driver and one measure for each one.

Post your response on the Organizational Aspects forum on or before April 22. Entitle your posting "Task 27 - Balanced Scorecard."

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Week 14