We will not repeat our preface discussion from the first edition. Here we only add some new comments: a note to the reader and user, changes in the book and the Organizational Consultant (OrgCon), and, our thanks to the many individuals who have contributed critically to this venture, read and reviewed the book, contributed chapters and cases, and similarly used and critiqued the OrgCon. For the reader, there are two very contrasting approaches to reading this book and learning about organizational design. The more traditional ap proach is to read the book, and then use the OrgCon on cases and applica tions. The second approach is to begin with the OrgCon software and only examine the book as you find it helpful. Which approach is better? It is your choice, not ours. In our experience, students in organizational design prefer to start with the OrgCon and a case, rather than with the book itself. Readers who have more background in organization theory and design usually examine the book first. We have tried to write the book so that it can serve both as a reference and an integrated presentation.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
"The first edition of Burton and Obel's
Strategic Organizational Diagnosis and Design
offered the first ever synthesis of the entire contingency theory literature into a lucid and coherent teaching framework. At the same time, the methodology for organizational diagnosis and design captured in the Organizational Consultant software provided a uniquely valuable new teaching, learning, and consulting tool.
The second edition of this modern classic in organization design extends the scope of the first edition by adding a whole new section on organizational climate, and one on analyzing companies organizations using publicly available data. The Organization Consultant has been rewritten for Windows and significantly enhanced. Teaching organizational design with this book and software package was exceptionally easy, enjoyable and fruitful, so that my teaching evaluations for this class reached an all-time high!"
(Class: Designing Project and Company Organizations
Instructor: Raymond E. Levitt, Professor of Construction Engineering and Management, School of Engineering, Stanford University)
"I have been teaching organization theory in the business school for some years; the students have great difficulty with the concepts and their meaning for them as future managers. Based upon the Burton and Obel book and ORGCON software, I have developed a pedagogy which excites the students about organizational design and gives them a structure for understanding the basic concepts in organization theory. I begin the course with a Danish company prospectus which provides a lot of information about the company. In small teams, the students develop the data inputs for the ORGCON software. They are asked to operationalize organization theory concepts in a managerial design context. Thereafter, the integration of theory and application is quite normal and they are able to focus on the complex problems of design choice and organizational change for implementation."
(Torkild Jorgensen, The Aarhus School of Business)
Reihe
Auflage
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Illustrationen
ISBN-13
978-1-4684-0021-2 (9781468400212)
DOI
10.1007/978-1-4684-0021-2
Schweitzer Klassifikation
1. Introduction.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 What is an Organization?.- 1.3 An Information Processing View of Organizations.- 1.4 Strategic Organizational Design.- 1.5 The Basic Features.- 1.6 Creating a Knowledge Base from the Literature.- 1.7 The Organizational Consultant for Designing an Organization.- 1.8 Validating Theory for Application.- 1.9. Summary.- 2. Describing the Organization for Design Purposes.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Organizational Configurations.- 2.3 Organizational Complexity.- 2.4 Formalization.- 2.5 Centralization.- 2.6 Coordination and Control.- 2.7 The Organizational Structure of SAS.- 2.8 Summary.- 3. Management and Leadership Style.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Literature Review.- 3.3 Management and Leadership Style as a Contingency.- 3.4 Managing the Management.- 3.5 SAS: The Management Style of Carlzon and Stenberg.- 3.6 Summary.- 4. Organizational Climate.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Climate and Culture.- 4.3 Literature Review on Climate.- 4.5 Measuring and Categorizing Climate.- 4.6 Climate as a Contingency.- 4.7 Managing the Climate.- 4.8 The Climate at SAS.- 4.9 Summary.- 5. Size and Skill Capabilities.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 A Literature Review.- 5.3 The Effects of Size and Skill Capability on Organizational Structure.- 5.4 Managing Size.- 5.5 The Size of SAS.- 5.6 Summary.- 6. The Environment.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Background and the Literature.- 6.3 Describing the Environment: Equivocality, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Hostility.- 6.4 Environment as a Contingency Factor.- 6.5 Environmental Effects on Configuration, Coordination, Media Richness, and Incentives.- 6.6 Operationalizations of the Environmental Measures.- 6.7 Managing the Environment.- 6.8 The SAS Environment.- 6.9 Summary.- 7. Technology.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 A Literature Review.-7.3 Technology as a Contingency.- 7.4 Managing Technology.- 7.5 The Technology of SAS.- 7.6 Summary.- 8. Strategy.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 A Literature Review.- 8.3 Definition of Strategy.- 8.4 The Two-Stage Model: Description, Strategy, Structure.- 8.5 The Propositions for Strategy Description.- 8.6 International Dimensions.- 8.7 Choosing the Right Strategy.- 8.8 The Strategy of SAS.- 8.9 Summary.- 9. Organizational Design: A Synthesis.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2 Diagnosis and Design.- 9.3 Contingency Fit.- 9.4 Situation Fits and Misfits.- 9.5 Design Parameter Fit.- 9.6 Total Design Fit.- 9.7 Designing the Organization.- 9.8 SAS.- 9.9 SAS and the Lifecycle.- 9.10 Summary.- 10. Using the Organizational Consultant.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 Practical Organizational Diagnosis and Design.- 10.3 Alignment of the Understanding of the Organization's Situation.- 10.4 What Can We Learn By Doing?.- 10.5 Cases.- 10.6 Organizational Consultant Setup.- 11. Using Publicly-Available Information for Strategic Organizational Diagnosis and Design.- 11.1 Introduction.- 11.2 Data Sources, Collection and Analysis.- 11.3 Company Profile.- 11.4 Discussion of Answers to OrgCon Questions.- 11.5 Total Organizational Analysis.- 11.6 Detailed Discussion of Organizational and Situational Misfits.- 12. Oticon.- 12.1 Introduction.- 12.2 Case 1: The Top Management Group That Got Fired by Itself.- 12.3 Case 2: The Spaghetti That Became Revolutionary.- 12.4 Case3: What Happens if the Spaghetti Gets Cold?.- 12.5 Case 4: Scouts are More Attractive.- 13. Sample Cases and Exercises.- 13.1 Introduction.- 13.2 ABB Electromechanical Meters.- 13.3 Duke University Press.- 13.4 GTE Government Systems Mobile Subscriber Equipment Division.- 13.5 Bluestone Group, Inc..
