vinaykumar07
24

Hai all I want to know something related to recent works on "Types of future organization that we are heading towards". help me to have an insight on this topic Regards Vinay Kumar
From India, Hyderabad
MOSES J. EMANUEL
Dear Kumar,
If I got your query correctly, perhaps you should start by reading Wall's paper, "The Protean Organization" find it attached. If it isn't really what you wanted just clarify further you question.
Regards,
Moses J. Emanuel

From Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam
Attached Files (Download Requires Membership)
File Type: pdf the_protean_organization.pdf (114.6 KB, 152 views)

Rajat Joshi
101

Hi Vinay,

You can refer the book by Christopher Barnatt on Challenging Reality where he talks about the turmoil uncertainity and transisition which are going to be characterized in future organizations.

Also would like to share an article on the same – Building a Boundaryless organization by Nido R Qubein

BUILDING A BOUNDARYLESS COMPANY

By Nido R Qubein

I'm intrigued by a concept that John F. Welch developed with great

success at General Electric: the concept of the company without

boundaries.

By this, Welch means the removal of all barriers to the flow of

information and ideas into and through your company.

In some companies, information flows through the corporate structure,

but only through narrow, carefully restricted channels.

In a typical old-style corporation, ideas and information flow up and

down "chimneys of power" running from the executive offices down

through several layers of management. Often, information becomes

bottled up in little bureaucratic compartments where it can never get

out and reach the people who could really benefit from it. There are

several reasons for companies to dismantle these barriers to free-

flowing communication.

THE FOUR F's

Rosabeth Moss Kanter tells us that modern companies must observe the

Four F's, by being focused, flexible, fast, and friendly. You can't

be any of those unless information can flow fast and freely from all

corners of the organizations.

You can't focus the efforts of your entire work force if your

organization is criss-crossed with walls that impede the flow of

communication.

You can't be flexible if you have a rigid corporate structure in

which every division and department is a closed information loop with

no lines of communication to other parts of the organization. You

can't respond to the market if you erect barriers to information

flowing in from the outside.

You can't be fast if information has to seep slowly through layer

after layer of management.

And you can't be friendly if your people don't talk to other people

inside and outside your organization.

In the old days, everyone had to "go through channels." In the new

business environment, the channels have to be removed. The

organization must become saturated with information and ideas.

Here's how Jack Welch described the kind of organization he had in

mind:

In a boundaryless company, internal functions begin to blur.

Engineering doesn't design a product and then "hand it off" to

manufacturing. They form a team, along with marketing and sales,

finance and the rest. Customer service? It's not somebody's job. It's

everybody's job. Environmental protection in the plants? It's not the

concern of some manager or department. Everyone's an environmentalist.

If you look around, you'll probably find plenty of boundaries in your

own company that need to be removed. One of them may be the door to

your office that remains closed to input from your employees. Another

might be a rigid boundary between hourly and salaried employees that

keeps people in one category from talking freely with people in

another. Or it could be a boundary labeled "NIH" for "Not Invented

Here." Some companies are hostile to ideas that didn't originate in-

house.

THE RIGHT WAY, THE WRONG WAY, AND THE COMPANY'S WAY

To paraphrase Vince Lombardi, in many organizations, the company's

way isn't the best way; it's the only way. When you take that

attitude, you're literally shutting out a world of innovative ideas.

Because GE was receptive to ideas from beyond its corporate walls, it

was able to reduce its average inventory levels by $200 million a

year. Here's what happened:

GE found an appliance company in New Zealand using an innovative

method of compressing product cycle times. It put the method through

a trial run in a Canadian affiliate, then transferred it to its

largest appliance complex in Louisville, Kentucky.

The method, which GE dubbed "Quick Response" has enabled GE to

respond more quickly to customer needs.

But GE didn't just introduce it in Louisville and forget it. It

brought people in from all 13 of its major businesses to study the

method and adapt it to their own operations.

A company without boundaries doesn't just shop for ideas among other

companies in the same business. GE dispatched people to Wal-Mart to

learn about the management practices that have propelled this

business to the forefront in retailing.

Smaller companies can use the boundaryless concept to acquire

products and expertise that they can't afford on their own. If you're

wrestling with a tough problem, look for some other company that has

had the same type of problem and has solved it. If you can't afford

the R&D required to develop the technology you need, look for

somebody who has already developed the technology and buy it.

This approach can benefit both sides of the transaction. I've watched

it in action with a long-time client of mine in Tulsa. The Bama

Companies is a sweet goods and snack manufacturer. It does a

prosperous business under its own label, but has broadened its

market. A number of other companies in the sweet goods and snack

business have contracted with Bama to manufacture their products

under private labels.

Some of these companies are too small to invest in the manufacturing

facilities Bama can offer. Others are large companies that find it

more profitable to contract with Bama than to invest in their own

plants. Bama has made it into a win/win situation for all parties.

DIVISIONS WITHIN A CORPORATION

Another boundary might be the lines that run between divisions of a

corporation. GE brought down the interior walls by practicing a

principle Welch calls "integrated diversity."

Under this concept, GE remains a diversified company. It consists of

many different businesses, each at the top or near the top in its

market. But the people from these businesses look for ways of sharing

their knowledge and technology. If one division develops a piece of

technology, the company looks for multiple applications.

For instance, in GE's Medical Systems, experts from Aerospace helped

with the development of ultrasound technology. Engineers from

Aircraft Engines helped Power Systems to cope with expanded worldwide

demand for gas turbines.

Moving personnel across divisional lines provides fresh perspectives,

not to mention hybrid vigor. In 1991, GE transferred leadership in

four of its 13 major businesses, with new leaders coming from other

GE businesses. These internal transfers give executives throughout

the company broad-based experience. They no longer think narrowly of

divisional interests; they think first of GE.

Among the toughest boundaries to dismantle are the ones individual

managers erect around the borders of their turf. In the old days, you

provided people with upward mobility by giving them a raise and a

title. Soon the corporate work place was overrun by people

with "manager" in their titles. They carved out little fiefdoms and

fiercely defended them.

Look at your own work place. How many of your "managers" really need

to manage? In a boundaryless corporation, there's a greater need for

people who coach, advise and facilitate through teamwork than for

people who control and direct through authoritarian management.

If you review the job titles and job descriptions in your company,

you may see opportunities to reduce the number of management

positions by replacing functionaries with leaders. If you do this,

you'll be amazed at the way boundaries of authority can be turned

into avenues of cooperation.

Many of the bureaucratic boundaries erected by corporate

functionaries are there because the individuals feel insecure.

Because they feel insecure, they resist change. GE sought to remove

these boundaries through a program it calls "Work-Out."

Work-out sessions are similar to New England town meetings. The

people who attend are drawn from the ranks of hourly and salaried

employees; of management and union leaders. These are people who

don't often have an opportunity to speak to each other during the

work day. In keeping with its boundaryless nature, Work-Out also

frequently includes representatives of customers and suppliers.

During these sessions, people are free to speak out on any topic that

turns them on. Often, the complaints they raise are addressed on the

spot.

One union leader, given a chance to lecture at Work-Out, told the

group that he used to have three clearly defined enemies: the IRS,

the Russians and GE management. Now, he said, there's only one: the

IRS.

I'm convinced that the Company Without Boundaries is the company of

the future. If you remove the barriers between your company and its

stakeholders, you create a community of mutual interests in which

everyone works toward the good of all. That's what you call a win/win

situation.

Cheerio

Rajat Joshi

From India, Pune
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