Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart, Third Edition

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

DESIGNING AN ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE THAT WORKS

Had I been present at the creation, I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of the universe.

—ALFONSO X

Managers, at all levels, tend to manage by organization structure. Prevailing wisdom suggests that if an executive can just get the right boxes on the chart, array them in the appropriate hierarchy, and appoint strong people to head them up, the organization will succeed. Toward this end, most large companies embark on a significant reorganization at least once a year.

In Chapter One, we discussed the advantages of seeing an organization from a process perspective, rather than from an organization structure perspective (see Figures 1.1 and 1.3). The distinction ...