Case

Module 2 ,, Tht'ee Lcÿzses em Orgaÿlizatiolml A mll),sis aÿld ActioH

Applying the Three Lenses

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Academic researchers have the luxury of i-'ocusing on one of the three lenses and becoming all expert oll it: strategic design, political, or cultural. One expert ilia), analyze the organization chart prima- rily as a map of information flows and l:ormal roles and responsibilities, [br example, and assess it in terms of how well its formal structure meets tile strategic needs of the organization. Another may regard it as one piece of data ill analyzing the polit- ical system o1" the organization, as a map o[" who has formal authority over whom. Another may see it as a cultural artiÿhct, viewing its siglfificance in terms of how often the chart is reproduced and ill what contexts, and whether nlembers of the organization refer to the "org chart" when they try to explain their organization to outsiders or whether they assert that no one can understand the organization by looking at the chart.

Taking effective action in organizations, how- ever, requires an ability to see the organization through all three lenses, not just one, and to inte- grate the insights derived fi'om each into action steps that will work oll all three dimensions. This part of the module asks you to practice your skills in the context of a single case, which follows up the case on Dynacorp presented earlier in the strategic design section of the module. In order to prepare tim" tile class discussion on integrating the perspectives, you should go back and review each of the three lenses: the strategic design, political, and cultural lenses. Please also read tilt additional background material on the Dynacorp organiza- tion that begins on page 85. This material also includes a transcript of the Dynacorp video that you will see in class. The video itself provides much richer inÿbrmation than the transcript alone, but you might want to read through the written ver- sion before class to enable you to focus more attention on the nonverbal cues in tile video.

• What arc important interdependencies across tile t:ormal units represented by the "boxes" ill the organization design (i.e., with what other t111its does any one tulit need to interact on a regular basis to carry out its assigned activi- ties)? Are adequate linking mechanisnls in place? What are they, and how well are tile.,,, worldng?

• How is the perl-brmance of tile organization and its members being measured? What is the incentive system and is it recognizing and ,'ewarding strategically \'aluable behaviors and activities? Are there "perverse incentives" that are rewarding dysl'uncdonal behavior (i.e., behavior that is impeding tile achievenlent oF desired goals)?

° Do people in the organization have the resources and tile motivation the}, need ill order to carry out tile tasks assigned to them? If not, why not? What are the barriers that are getting ill tile way?

Political Leÿls

To help you prepare to do the analysis, here are a few questions posed fi'om each of the three per- spectives, that can guide your thinldng. This list is suggestive, not exhaustive. Try to think oi: addi- tional questions to consider under each category.

Strategic Dcsiglÿ Lc1,ÿs

° What is the strategy of the organization as a whole? How well is it understood and imple- mented by the members o£ the organization at various levels?

" What is the basis l-br the iÿbt'nlal grouping structure? Are roles and responsibilities clearly defined and understood? On what activities does the structure l-ÿlcus attention?

• Who has power and status in the organization? What is the basis of their influence? Is power concentrated (at the top, or elsewhere), or are there multiple power centers?

o' What are the key arenas of conflict? Who are the key actors in this conflict (individuals, groups, subunits), and what are the basic causes of the disagreements? What are tile interests of the key actors?

• What, if any mechanisnls of conflict resolu- tion exist, and how effectively are they work- ing? If they are not working effectively, why not?

° Who benefits most fi'om the current patterns in tile organization, and why?

° Who gets credit in the organization when thillgs arc going well and perl:ormance goals are met? Who gets blamed when tile organiza- tiondoes not meet its goals? Do those who get blamed have the power to make changes that will improve perf'ormance?

° How well do inl:ormation about problems and requests fbt' help move up the hierarchy? How open are those in positions offbrmal authority to suggestions and initiatives fi'om below?

CulturM Le,ÿs

° What artifÿtcts, stories, symbols, and observed behaviors provide important clues to the cul- ture oi-" the organization? How much unifor- mity or variety do you observe?

VI2-84 ANALYTICS ° TEAMS • ORGANIZATIONS " SKILLS

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What are tile espoused values of the organiza- tion and how are tile), transmitted? How

widely are these shared? Are there any inconsistencies bem,een the behavior observed and the espoused values? What basic assumptions do these reveal? What other basic assumptions can you uncover in the language and stories people repeat? Do those at the top of the organization have the same perceptions and beliefs about die organization as those at the bottom? Do differ- ent units or groups share these beliefÿ and per- ceptions, or are there significant differences? What messages are those at the top of the organization hearing fi'om those in positions of authority? How are tile)' interpreting them? Are they hearing the message that the senders intend? What individuals are held up as exemplars? Who is identified as a good manager or a good worker? What does this reveal about the basic cultural assumptions? What is the emotional atnlosphere in the organ- izatiou (confident, anxious, contentious, etc.)?

Taldng Effective Action Steps

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In order to help you practice using the analytical skills that you are developing by using the three lenses, the class discussion will ask you to recom- mend action steps for one of the key actors in the case, based on your analysis. Here are some of the features of a good action step.

• Spat{tic al, d cotÿcretc: It is an action that you can take and that will have an observable out- come, not a general prescription such as, "Show confidence in your team." An action step spells how what you could actually do to show confidence in your team.

• Comprche,tsive: It demonstrates an ability to think through the immediate action step to include subsequent action steps that will be needed if the first is to have any positive impact. For example, you might start with a recommendation snch as, "Conduct a survey of employees." This step would not only need more detail to make it specific and co,lcrcte (e.g., what topics would it cover? how would you administer it?), but would also address the necessary [bllow-up steps (e.g., what will yon do with the data when you get it? with whom will you share it?

• EJfectivc ol* all three lerases: You need to think through whether an action that might seem

appealing using one lens is cousistent with what you are trying to accolnplish using the other lenses, For example, to pursue the example of the employee survey, it might be tempting, using a political lens, to have a cover letter or introductory message fi'om the CEO on the survey, in order to show that it has sig- nificant support in the company and to increase the eagerness of people to respond. If the survey is part of an effort to get employees

• to take more responsibility for improving tile organization, however, the cover letter may send a signal of top-down "ownership" of tile improvement prog,'am that contradicts tile goals of the initiative.

• ColMslcÿlO, with your aÿ,alysis: Make sure that your recommended action steps actually build on your analysis. Many of us have "recipes" to which we resort in times of pressure, especially if those recipes have worked in the past (e.g., "change the incentive system" or "ensure that you have the snpport of top lnanagclnent'). Many of the failures in organizations occur because a manager comes into an organization and applies recipes that worked for him or her in tile past, but are not justified by the context in which they arc now operating.

R_entember that in making recommendations, as in real life, it is ranch better to have a small num- ber of specific, comprehensive, well-thought-otÿt action steps that tbrm a coherent sequence than it is to have a large nulnber of steps that take you, in the immortal words of Stephen Leacock, riding madly oft" in all directions.