Book Description
Richard Daft's best-selling text, Organization Theory and Design, integrates the most recent thinking about organizations, classic ideas and theories, and real world practice, in a way that is interesting and enjoyable for learners. This edition includes many updates including a new chapter on international issues and revisions of other chapters to include the most recent ideas and events. While organization studies and real world examples are insightful for understanding organizations and solve real-world problems, Daft also integrates numerous features that give learners the opportunity to apply concepts and develop skills and insights.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book with excellen deal.......2007-09-27
I bought this book with the apprehension that it might not be the same one I'm looking for.But Amazon made me feel so satisfied.I got the exact book and that too new and in much lower price than the market.
The learning book.......2005-07-23
"Organization Theory and Design" is a book every corporate member that has aspirations to better understand and contribute to his organization should own.
I used this book studying a basic course of organizational behavior after the professor had referred to it as "the best text on the market". I found out he was right - the book is extremely well-written and its contribution to my understanding of the subject is invaluable.
As it happened, I partly read older versions of the book to find out how every few years Mr. Daft updates his analysis, insights and examples of the ever changing and evolving world of organizations; for instance, the past example of IBM that served as the major opening example of an organization that has gone from the top of the world to the brink of disintegration in the beginning of the 90's (and since then regained leading position in its areas of expertise), is replaced in this 8th edition with Xerox. Mr. Daft continues and presents the most recent developments in organizations' design - structures and management methods that have only emerged lately in response to the turbulences in the environments and competition worldwide.
By making the changes and improvements in every edition "Organization theory and design" wins the title of this review - "the learning book" - that mirror images the main theme of this work - "the learning organization". Almost no organization can stand still in today's reality - managers and workers have to constantly think of better ways of doing things and learn from every source that bears knowledge and can give the organization a better competitive advantage. Things have never moved so fast and threats and opportunities have never been so immense. Competitors have to be efficient and different to survive and stay on the top.
The structure of the book is designed to convey its ideas in the best possible manner: Each and every chapter opens with an example illustrating its content, then an introduction to the subject. Theory and examples from today's organizational world followa and are interwoven throughout the text in the "in practice" section. A fascinating section is "leading by design" in which Mr. Daft highlights top-of-the-line companies that have managed to materialize the theory and consequently lead their industries. Yet another remarkable feature is "bookmark" in which the autohor recommends and actually reviews the content of other books that further develop the subject the chapter dealt with. For me, the magnitude of this behavior is unprecedented; I haven't read a book that is so much interested in advancing and advertising works of fellow authors. This is a code of conduct every author can learn from in pursuing the ultimate goal - to better inform and educate his/her readers.
Some of the material the book covers include the organizational environment, organizational structures, organizational decision making processes, ethics, organization-decline and organizational politics.
As is the norm in many books, Mr. Daft integrates case studies directly connected to the content of each chapter in its end. They add all the more to the reality dimension that is so strong throughout the book.
Lastly, the price of this book is somewhat expensive but well worth the money and will certainly prove to be a wise investment. Years after its reaing and studying it may serve as a reference source when the reader will stumble across situations covered in the book and learn to appreciate even more the lessons insights Mr. daft offers.
A Strong Guide in Organization Theory.......2001-05-18
This is a well-designed and comprehensive book in the area of organization theory. From introduction to the end, this book aims to teach the foundations of organization theory to readers.
There is a great awareness of new developments in the area of organization theory. The new developments such as team-based management models are integrated into the conventional wisdom wonderfully in the book. We are living in a world in which globalization and stiff competition dominates. We name this age as Information Age and corporations need new mentality and practices to adapt to challenging conditions this era brings about. This book presents some new approaches in global competition perspective to readers.
A Look Inside, Bookmark, In Practice, The New Paradigm and Case for Analysis are excellent peculiarities of the book.
Diagrams and other visual characterizations involved in the book give readers a big opportunity to digest topics recounted. Since this book is a detailed investigation of organization theory, you may miss some parts and feel confused. I can recommend another book, that is, Designing Organizations (Robey, D. and Sales, Carol A.), which is a summarized organization theory book with excellent cases.
If you want to understand organization theory with its basic foundations and details, this book is a must. You must exploit the rich knowledge of Professor Daft.
Strongly recommended.
Readable and great information.......2000-11-20
Daft out did himself in this edition of his text. He includes book reviews and company profiles throughout each chapter to illustrate the theories he's describing. I read this for an MA course and found it easy to learn from. I'm even putting the information into practice at work! Not all textbooks are that helpful. *grin*
team-based structure.......1999-06-28
Application of organization design about Team-Based Structures and The boundaryless Organization.
Book Description
There are two very contrasting approaches to reading this book and learning about organizational design. The more traditional approach is to read the book, and then use the OrgCon on cases and applications. 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.
There are numerous changes in the third edition. The literature review in each chapter has been updated. The information processing approach is strengthened and applied more comprehensively as the theoretical underpinnings. Throughout we have rewritten the text beyond normal editing in an attempt to make the presentation clearer and easier to read.
Book Description
Over the last three decades the average life expectancy of a corporation in North America has dipped well below 20 years. In fact, by 1983 a full third of the 1970 Fortune 500 companies had been acquired, merged, or broken apart. In this landmark book, one of the business world's foremost pioneers, Russell L. Ackoff, delivers this indispensable guide for those hoping to beat these odds--and to better navigate the corporate challenges of the next millennium. While most business and management schools continue to teach the functions of a corporation separately--production, marketing, finance, personnel--the reality is that for a corporation to endure each division must work with the others to create an effective system. Re-Creating the Corporation is Ackoff's masterful blueprint for understanding and creating these model corporate systems. In four comprehensive sections--Background, Process, Designs, and Change--Ackoff lays out in clear concise prose the five organizational goals of successful corporate systems: plan effectively, learn and adapt rapidly, democratize, introduce internal market economies, and employ a flexible structure that will minimize the need for future restructuring. And through a deft mix of practical and theoretical examples drawn from a wide range of applications in a wide range of firms, this book ultimately guides executives to the system best suited to meet their organizational goals. Re-Creating the Corporation, which is the culmination of a lifetime of innovative and insightful business thought from one of the business world's premier thinkers, is essential reading for those attempting to navigate the rapidly changing economic environment of the next millennium.
Customer Reviews:
Truly Ackoff's Best.......2002-05-29
Recreating the Corporation is Ackoff's best work on utilizing the use of systems thinking to understand how to make not only pieces of companies better, but how optimizing the entire company can lead to dramatic improvements. Those who know Ackoff's work will appreciate his freshening of material contained elsewhere and the addition of new concepts to make the framework wholistic.
Organizational Design to Apply The Fifth Discipline.......2000-09-25
Since Peter Senge eloquently introduced business readers to the importance of systems thinking in The Fifth Discipline, companies have been grappling with how to apply that aspect of the learning organization. In Re-Creating the Corporation, Russell Ackoff has written the most complete description of how such an organization can be created.
A system is any grouping of parts that is influenced by its parts and requires their coordination to create the best result. A car is an example. You can take the best transmission from one type of car, the best engine from another, and the best brakes from a third, and they will not work together. This is a typical quality of systems: If you optimize any part of the system, you reduce the effectiveness of the whole. But most organizations are set up to seek optimization of the part rather than the system, creating disasters like the car example I just used.
Although he makes only limited reference to it, Professor Ackoff is clearly influenced by complexity science. He has created fractals (small versions of the whole that scale up and down) in his organization, and is trying to expose the widest number of people to the widest possible perspectives on the systems issues of an organization.
The book is designed as a series of essays to explain what systems are and how they operate; processes for planning, design, implementation and learning; organizational designs that apply the concepts of democracy, economy and flexibility; and an overview of the weaknesses of management fads and panaceas, and the benefits of working on organizational and transformational leadership instead. His goal is to create an organization that is as stable as possible in order to create an organization that is as flexible as possible. Let me explain. He wants to avoid reorganizations of roles and jobs, but he wants the organization as a system to evolve rapidly and easily in serving stakeholders.
I found the concepts to be quite consistent with the realities of a wired world, by putting a structure and a thought process together that will provide a context for gaining benefits from enhanced communication. Basically, the structure relies on creating a three dimensional organization -- one that relies on input (functional) units like purchasing, finance, and legal that are primarily used internally, output (product or service creating) units such as the manufacturing activities, and market or user defined (customer or geography) units. Most organizations emphasize one of these three dimensions or the other. By keeping them in place in a balanced way, the idea is to avoid needing to make adjustments to create or abolish any of these types of units.
A second major innovation to aid this organizational structure is the idea of using interacting boards to supervise each unit. This creates more participation, more democracy, and more interconnection across the organization.
To this, Ackoff combines a common process for systems solution creation and implementation that all would learn in the organization.
With organization, thinking, and doing processes in place, he then proposes that organizations go for transformational change rather than incremental change.
I found the book to be full of fresh thinking and interesting examples of how this can be applied based on Mr. Ackoff's consulting experiences with his well-known, long-term clients like DuPont and Anheuser-Busch.
For those who want to learn more about systems thinking at the micro level, I suggest reading the sections on that in The Fifth Discipline Field Guide. That will help you understand the concepts much better than the material in this book.
While I agree with the concept of keeping the organization as stable as possible, I found the proposals here to be a pretty ponderous way to accomplish that end. I suspect that simpler versions of this concept could work almost as well in coordinating systems thinking, and might work much more rapidly. For a newer, smaller organization, the structure would be overly complicated.
My own idea is that companies should move beyond organizational design and problem-solving structures as their focus to concentrate instead on creating an overriding mission, vision, strategy, tactics, and means of implementation (with employees and stakeholders who are energized by this diretion) that are all-encompassing in perspective and in providing direction, and perpetual in appropriateness. Then, by focusing on the key points of potential progress, the organization should constantly make large improvements in its business model that are more adaptable to the changing business environment. I think this concept of the organization that I have just described is easier to understand and apply once it is formulated in an organization than the ideas described here from Re-Creating the Corporation.
Even though I disagree with the proposed solutions in this very interesting book, I gave the book five stars for raising most of the right questions. We learn more from good questions than from the first sets of proposed solutions, and I hope that others will take these questions seriously and pursue them as well.
After you have read this book, ask yourself where in your organization you are pursuing optimization of an area or a part of the organization's activities. When will that optimization be harmful? How can you prevent that harm? What means of coordination could create a better combined result for your organization?
"There are no simple solutions to complex problems"........2000-08-21
"This book is a product of applying systems thinking to the management and organization of enterprises". Russel L. Ackoff writes, "therefore, an understanding of the nature of systems and systems thinking is essential for understanding what this book is about. Although most people can identify many different systems, few know precisely what a system is. Without such knowledge, one cannot understand them, and without such an understanding, one cannot be aware of their implications for their management and organization and for treatment of the most important problems that currently face them" (p.5).
Thus, he firstly argues that a system is a whole consisting of two or more parts that satisfies the following five conditions:
(1). The whole has one or more defining properties or functions.
(2). Each part in the set can affect the behavior or properties of the whole.
(3). There is a subset of parts that is sufficient in one or more environments for carrying out the defining function of the whole; each of these parts is necessary but insufficient for carrying out this defining function.
(4). The way that each essential part of a system affects its behavior or properties depends on (the behavior or properties of) at least one other essential part of the system.
(5). The effect of any subset of essential parts on the system as a whole depends on the behavior of at least one other such subset.
Hence, Ackoff summarizes his argument that a system is a whole that cannot be divided into independent parts without loss of its essential properties or functions, and additionally argues that when the performances of the parts of a system, considered separately, are improved, the performance of the whole may not be (and usually is not) improved.
Within this general framework, he:
* defines four different types of systems, and shows their effects on organizations and the way they are managed (more detailed discussion see Chapter 2):
(1). 'Deterministic', systems and models in which neither the parts nor the whole are purposeful.
(2). 'Animated', systems and models in which the whole is purposeful but the parts are not.
(3). 'Social', systems and models in which both the parts and the whole are purposeful.
(4). 'Ecological', systems and models in which some parts are purposeful but as a whole have no purposes of their own.
* by considering three primary forms of traditional management and planning (reactive, inactive, and preactive) and their deficiencies, discusses systems-oriented/interactive form of management and planning.
* discusses five aspects of interactive planning in separate chapters as follows:
- preparing the state of the organization or a situational analysis (more detailed discussion see Chapter 4).
- determining ideals, objectives, and goals or ends planning of the organization (more detailed discussion see Chapter 5).
- identifying the gaps between what the organization is and is now doing and where it wants to be and to be doing (more detailed discussion see Chapter 6).
- considering resources such as money, plant and equipment (capital goods), people, consumables (materials, supplies, energy, and services), data, information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, and asking and answering following questions:
i. How much will be required, where, and when?
ii. How much will be available at the required time and place?
iii. How should each shortage or excess be treated? (more detailed discussion see Chapter 7).
- implementing and controlling with learning and adaptation (more detailed discussion see Chapter 8).
* describes and explaines circular type of organization as a democratic hierarchy.
* discusses internal market economies as substitution of the centrally planned and controlled economies within the organizations.
* discusses the multidimensional design and organization that eliminates the need to restructure when internal or external changes require adaptation, and argues that "the circular organization, the internal market economy, and multidimensional design can all be combined in one organization. The power of each is significantly enhanced by its interactions with the others".
* examines currently popular panaceas such as downsizing, TQM, continuous improvement, benchmarking, and process reengineering and the reasons they fail, and argues that "there are no simple solutions to complex problems. Furthermore, since problems are interdependent, their solutions should be. Interdependent problems constitute messes, systems of problems. Therefore, their solutions must also form a system. A system of solutions is a plan, and plans are complicated, not simple. It is not possible in a few minutes to find behavior that will resolve, solve, or dissolve a set of problems that took years to cultivate".
Strongly recommended.
Highly Readable and Very Articulate.......1999-12-05
I enjoyed this book very much, particulary the introduction with its synopsis of systems theories and management applications. Recommended for managers in organization redesign roles in business and government
Highly Readable and Very Articulate.......1999-12-05
I enjoyed this book very much, particulary the introduction with its synopsis of systems theories and management applications. Recommended for managers in organization redesign roles in business and government
Book Description
The design of an organisation — the accountability system that defines roles, rights, and responsibilities throughout the firm—has a direct impact on the performance of every employee. Yet few leaders devote focused attention to how this design is chosen, implemented, and adjusted over time. Robert Simons argues that by viewing design as a powerful and proactive management lever—rather than an inevitable outcome of corporate evolution—leaders can maximize productivity across every level of the organisation. Levers of Organizational Design presents a new design theory based on four key yet often underrated categories: customer definition, critical performance variables, creative tension, and commitment to mission.
Customer Reviews:
ONE OF BEST BOOKS ON ORGANIATION DESIGN! FIRST-RATE, RICH IN CONTENT AND VALUE........2007-02-13
A first-rate book on the subject of organizational design.
Chapters focus on:
- tensions of organization design;
- aligning span of attention;
- unit structure;
- diagnostic control systems;
- interactive networks;
- shared responsibilities;
- examples of adjusting the levers; and
- designing organizations for performance.
Central to this book are four key factors that guide effective design decisions: customer definition, critical performance variables, creative tension, and commitment to others.
The book offers great insights and guidance to design an organization that influences how people perform, focus their attention, and how their efforts can be aligned with strategy. Rich in content and value! Very highly recommended.
An OD book with a solid combo of theory and practice.......2005-11-03
Finally, an OD book with a solid combination of theory and practice. The theory in this book is the most comprehensive model for OD I've ever seen. Simons' model incorporates all functional areas of business. He does an excellent job of looking at the whole organizational picture. This is where many authors have fallen short with theories that only cover one or two functional areas of business leaving you to guess at how to incorporate the rest. This cross-functional approach to OD is not just refreshing; it's quite necessary in today's business environment.
Simons' theory is based on levers and sliders. Easy to understand and easy to visualize. Part of the value of the book is that the theory is backed up with practical implementation examples. Like any good learning resource (a.k.a. text book) each chapter provides us with a summary and action steps. I give this book an A+ and consider it a "must read" for anyone in the OD field. It is also recommended for management teams looking to assess their organization design. Using this book will provide the understanding you need to get started.
Eloquent and Essential Practicality .......2005-09-08
Unlike subtitles of so many other recently published business books, the one for Levers of Organization Design correctly identifies its author's primary objective: to explain "how managers use accountability systems" to achieve "greater performance and commitment." Simons thoroughly and brilliantly responds to questions such as these:
What are the nature and extent of tensions of organization design or redesign?
How to get "span of attention" in proper alignment?
What is an appropriate "unit structure"? Why?
Which diagnostic control systems can be most effective? How?
Why are interactive networks essential?
How to establish and then strengthen them?
How should shared responsibilities be determined and then managed?
Then, how to sustain productive collaboration?
Which "levers" of organizational design are most effective? Why?
Which examples best illustrate how to make appropriate adjustment of them?
What are the most effective strategies and tactics when designing organizations for performance?
According to research which Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton provide in The Strategy-Focused Organization, only 5% of the workforce understand their company's strategy, only 25% of managers have incentives linked to strategy, 60% of organizations don't link budgets to strategy, and 85% of executive teams spend less than one hour per month discussing strategy. If true, these are chilling statistics which suggest that few decision-makers in any organization (regardless of its size or nature) would be able to answer, clearly and realistically, each of the questions listed previously. Hence the urgency of their reading Simons' book. I also urge them to check out the several works co-authored by Kaplan and Norton.
Book Description
This book provides the most current, thorough, and contemporary account of the factors affecting the organizational design process, making important organization theories accessible and interesting. It addresses the many issues and problems that are involved in managing the process of organizational change and transformation, providing direct and clear managerial implications. Topics covered in this comprehensive book are the organization and its environment; organizational design; organizational change; and finally, interesting case studies that illustrate the concepts presented. A useful book that is appropriate for managers in any organization.
Book Description
An enterprise architecture tries to describe and control an organisation’s structure, processes, applications, systems and techniques in an integrated way. The unambiguous specification and description of components and their relationships in such an architecture requires a coherent architecture modelling language.
Lankhorst and his co-authors present such an enterprise modelling language that captures the complexity of architectural domains and their relations and allows the construction of integrated enterprise architecture models. They provide architects with concrete instruments that improve their architectural practice. As this is not enough, they additionally present techniques and heuristics for communicating with all relevant stakeholders about these architectures. Since an architecture model is useful not only for providing insight into the current or future situation but can also be used to evaluate the transition from ‘as-is’ to ‘to-be’, the authors also describe analysis methods for assessing both the qualitative impact of changes to an architecture and the quantitative aspects of architectures, such as performance and cost issues.
The modelling language and the other techniques presented have been proven in practice in many real-life case studies. So this book is an ideal companion for enterprise IT or business architects in industry as well as for computer or management science students studying the field of enterprise architecture.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Modelling Approach.......2007-01-19
This is first in its kind book that tackles enterprise architecture modeling with a holistic approach. Book presents a unified modeling approach for enterprise architecture and simplifies the relationship between architecture domains with a simple Meta model. It also deals with communication and analysis aspect nicely.
This does not provide any details about what architecture development process should be nor it gives any insight on choosing an architecture framework. So set your expectation before buying. AS book title says it is about modeling, communication and Analysis.
Average customer rating:
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Organization Theory: Structures, Designs, and Applications, Third Edition
Stephen P. Robbins
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
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Managing Human Resources
ASIN: 0136424716 |
Book Description
M->CREATED
Customer Reviews:
Knowledgable.......2000-05-04
Nice book and I HAVE to read it. No choice! Is in my school text! It really isnt as boring as the other text books generally. Interesting actually!
Book Description
The first in the readers' series called Resources for the Knowledge-Based Economy, Knowledge Management and Organizational Design is a unique compilation of articles and book excerpts that describe how the management of an organization shapes the levels of knowledge transfer, innovation and learning.
The collection draws on fifty years of management thinking and presents key issues facing knowledge-intensive organizations. The selections are concise, clearly written and present a rich framework of examples drawn from real management experience. Arranged thematically, the chapters discuss decision-making, organization structure, innovation, strategic alliances, managing knowledge workers and power relations. Represented in this volume are the ideas of influential academics including the late economist Frederick Hayek and French sociologist Michael Crozier, as well as world-renowned management thinkers such as Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Charles Handy.
A unique collection of activities and book excerpts selected for their insight into the relationship between organizational design and knowledge management.
The first compilation of its kind to draw together the work of leading economists, sociologists, psychologists, management thinkers and practitioners
Includes an introductory essay which synthesizes the various ideas presented throughout the volume.
Customer Reviews:
Not much new in this book.......2001-01-20
There isn't much new in this book.
Book Description
There are two very contrasting approaches to reading this book and learning about organizational design. The more traditional approach is to read the book, and then use the
OrgCon on cases and applications. 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.
There are numerous changes in the third edition. The literature review in each chapter has been updated. The information processing approach is strengthened and applied more comprehensively as the theoretical underpinnings. Throughout we have rewritten the text beyond normal editing in an attempt to make the presentation clearer and easier to read.
Average customer rating:
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The Design of Inquiring Systems: Basic Concepts of Systems and Organization
Charles West Churchman
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