Is there a comprehensive conceptual way to understand what Organisational Structure is?
Isn’t it many ways to structure an organisation? Should different principles be applied for public sector organisations versus private businesses? What about large and small companies – should they be organised according to different “rules”?
Or what about companies that only operates in a “domestic” market versus an international or global company? And what are the differences between them anyway?
What about centralization and decentralization? Are there principles for when to centralize and when to decentralize? Can some functions be centralized and some decentralized?
Are matrix structures more or less effective?
Do we need a traditional structure at all, why not just give people the task and explain the value creation flow, and the company will self-organise?
What to do in order to get everyone to accept the same structural design?
These are some of the crucial questions that needs to be answered before you structure any organisation. In any case, I am sure the questions will come up in the discussion anyway, because each time I started to work for a new client on their structure, these are some typical questions that always will be asked. Some of them is based on pure curiosity – people really want to understand – and some are inquisitive questions in order to stall and avoid structural changes.
Read my book Organisational Structure – Making Strategy Happen and find answers to the questions above.
The book describes how to create a functional, effective and efficient structure, typical structural problems and how to solve them, based on real client case studies from around the world.
The book is available both as E-book and Paper book.
The book is with foreword by Dr. Ichak Kalderon Adizes