Organization Design

(Simulated) Organizations in Action: A reconfiguration exercise

by Nicolay Worren

This article reports on the development and pilot testing of a group exercise intended to improve participants’... more This article reports on the development and pilot testing of a group exercise intended to improve participants’ understanding of two key organization design concepts: Work process interdependency and Coordination cost. In the exercise, participants are divided into groups representing departments and are then asked to reconfigure the groups while considering both benefits (reduced coordination costs) and costs (of reconfiguration). The exercise was supported by the development of a tool, quantifying the concepts of interdependency and coordination cost. Future versions of the exercise may be used to study more systematically the capacity of individuals and groups to take into account multiple interdependencies in optimizing a design at the individual, group and system level.

Becoming the ambidextrous Organization - Design Thinking as a Methodology for nurturing Innovation Culture?

by Jan Schmiedgen

Fueling Innovation Through New Organizational Forms

by Karthikeyan Iyer

Published at RealInnovation.com, Feb 2009

The changing shape and form of organizations is a topic of considerable interest in recent times. The reasons for the... more The changing shape and form of organizations is a topic of considerable interest in recent times. The reasons for the changes are multi-fold. Some argue that these changes have been necessitated by the phenomenon of hyper-competition (D’Avini 1994) that characterizes the nature of disorder, stress and unpredictability that is confronting modern organizations. This phenomenon is seen to arisen from the shift in economic growth cycles from the post-war economy to the new economy based on technological drivers of information, communication and technology (Sparrow & Cooper 2003). Along similar lines, others have pointed out that modern organizations are driven by discontinuity rather than continuation and stabilization (Foster & Kaplan 2003).

Along with competitive drivers, changes to organization form and shape have also been influenced by social factors – primarily the organizational culture and climate, with its emphasis on attitudes, values, feelings and social processes (Ashkanasy et al. 2000). Organizational culture and climate are greatly
influenced by the leadership of the organization. At the same time they also get impacted by prevalent cultures and climate in other organizations as well as by overall trends in social culture.

Irrespective of the specific factors driving organizational change, it is clear that in the recent past, new organizational forms have emerged. These new forms offer insights for organizational design and change and are being seen as key drivers for innovation and growth.

Reinventing the future: Adding design science to the repertoire of organization and management studies

by Georges Romme

Published in: Organization Management Journal, 2009 (co-authored with Joan van Aken)

Mainstream research on organization and management is largely modeled after the natural sciences and the humanities.... more Mainstream research on organization and management is largely modeled after the natural sciences and the humanities. It aims at understanding social systems and, as such, has produced a vast knowledge base. However, this knowledge base has been criticized as fragmented and lacking relevance for practice. Two recent developments have produced the possibility of reinventing the future of organization and management studies: the increasing interest in design science research and in evidence-based management. First, we discuss how the actor perspective and solution-orientation of design science research can lead to more relevant research output. Second, we explore how the use of this research output in evidence-based management – typically via a design-oriented research synthesis – can decrease fragmentation by drawing together various strands of research and, moreover, lead to more relevant and interesting research questions, aiming at understanding as well as solution design. Adding design science research to the repertoire of organization and management studies can create a virtuous cycle toward a future in which these studies matter more than they do now.

Special issue on "Organization Studies As a Science for Design"

by Georges Romme

Introduction to special issue in Organization Studies, published in 2008. Other guest editors: Mariann Jelinek and Richard Boland

Toward Science-Based Design in Organization Development: Codifying the Process

by Georges Romme

Published in Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 2007 (co-authored with Inge Damen)

Herbert Simon once suggested that the social sciences are actually the hard sciences, due to the enormous complexity... more Herbert Simon once suggested that the social sciences are actually the hard sciences, due to the enormous complexity and interconnectedness of social systems. This insight is critical in understanding the nature of change and development of large organizational systems. Adopting a science-based design approach, we emphasize the importance of developing construction principles and design rules for the implementation of large-scale organization development (OD) interventions. In this respect, OD implementation and experimentation processes tend to be much more problematic than defining the intended outcomes of an OD project. The empirical part of the paper draws on several case studies of OD projects that employ the methods of circular redesign. The first case illustrates how implementation may fail as a result of a lack of awareness of the complexity of OD implementation and experimentation processes. The second case suggests that a coherent set of principles and rules provides a common framework and language for scholars, managers and consultants working together in large-scale organizational change projects.

Construction principles and design rules in the case of circular organizing

by Georges Romme

Published in: Organization Science, 2006

This paper proposes a science-based approach toward organization design, involving construction principles and design... more This paper proposes a science-based approach toward organization design, involving construction principles and design rules as boundary objects in practitioner-academic projects. Construction principles grounded in organization science serve to construct design rules and, in turn, the latter are instrumental in creating and implementing solutions in organizational settings. As such, construction principles and design rules drive organization design and development. The process of implementing and testing organization designs involves pragmatic experimentation in complex and dynamic authentic settings. As an example, the authors explore the development of the circular design. In the circular design project, the notion of circle process derived from cybernetics served to develop an initial set of construction principles and design rules for circular design. Implementation and experimentation in more than thirty organizations served to test whether organizational solutions produced with circular design rules actually work. Findings from these cases led to several changes in the principles and rules. The authors conclude that construction principles and design rules, as boundary objects, can help reconnect organization research and ongoing design work in organizational settings.

Creating university spinoffs: A science-based design perspective

by Georges Romme

Published in: Journal of Product Innovation Management 2008 (co-authored with Elco van Burg, Victor Gilsing and Isabelle Reijmen)

Academic entrepreneurship by means of university spin-offs commercializes technological breakthroughs, which may... more Academic entrepreneurship by means of university spin-offs commercializes technological breakthroughs, which may otherwise remain unexploited. However, many universities face difficulties in creating spin-offs. This article adopts a science-based design approach to connect scholarly research with the pragmatics of effectively creating university spin-offs. This approach serves to link the practice of university spin-off creation, via design principles, to the scholarly knowledge in this area. As such, science-based design promotes the interplay between emergent and deliberate design processes. This framework is used to develop a set of design principles that are practice-based as well as grounded in the existing body of research on university spin-offs. A casestudy of spin-off creation at a Dutch university illustrates the interplay between initial processes characterized by emergent design and the subsequent process that was more deliberate in nature. This case study also suggests there are two fundamentally different phases in building capacity for university spin-off creation. First, an infrastructure for spin-off creation (including a collaborative network of investors, managers and advisors) is developed that then enables support activities to individual spin-off ventures. This study concludes that to build and increase capacity for creating spin-offs, universities should do the following: (1) create university-wide awareness of entrepreneurship opportunities, stimulate the development of entrepreneurial ideas, and subsequently screen entrepreneurs and ideas by programs targeted at students and academic staff; (2) support start-up teams in composing and learning the right mix of venturing skills and knowledge by providing access to advice, coaching, and training; (3) help starters in obtaining access to resources and developing their social capital by creating a collaborative network organization of investors, managers, and advisors; (4) set clear and supportive rules and procedures that regulate the university spin-off process, enhance fair treatment of involved parties, and separate spin-off processes from academic research and teaching; and (5) shape a university culture that reinforces academic entrepreneurship by creating norms and exemplars that motivate entrepreneurial behavior. These and other results of this study illustrate how science-based design can connect scholarly research to the pragmatics of actually creating spin-offs in academic institutions.

Making a difference: Organization as design

by Georges Romme

Published in: Organizaton Science, 2003

Mainstream organizational research is based on science and the humanities. Science helps to understand organized... more Mainstream organizational research is based on science and the humanities. Science helps to understand organized systems as empirical objects from an outsider position. The humanities contribute to understanding, and critically reflecting on, the human experience of actors inside organized practices. This paper argues that, in view of the persistent relevance gap between theory and practice, organization studies should be broadened to include design as one of its primary modes of engaging in research. Design is characterized by its emphasis on solution finding, guided by broader purposes and ideal target systems. Moreover, design develops, and draws on, design propositions that are tested in pragmatic experiments and grounded in organization science. This study first explores the main differences and synergies between science and design. The author here also explores how and why the design discipline has largely moved away from academia to other sites in the economy. The argument then turns to the genealogy of design methodologies in organization and management studies. Subsequently, the circular design methodology serves to illustrate the nature of design research, that is, the pragmatic focus on actionable knowledge as well as the key role of ideal target systems in design processes. Finally, a framework for communication and collaboration between the science and design mode is proposed. The author argues that scholars in organization studies can guide human beings in the process of designing and developing their organizations toward more humane, participative and productive futures. In this respect, the organization discipline can make a difference.