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The Six-Box Organizational Model

Marvin Weisbord proposed one of the earliest diagnostic models, one that he describes as the result of “my efforts to combine bits of data, theories, research, and hunches into a working tool that anyone can use.”5 His model is based on six variables (see Figure 5.1):

Purposes: What business are we in?

Structure: How do we divide up the work?

Rewards: Do all tasks have incentives?

Helpful mechanisms: Have we adequate coordinating technologies?

Relationships: How do we manage conflict among people? With technologies?

Leadership: Does someone keep the boxes in balance?

The 7-S Framework

The 7-S Framework was developed by the McKinsey & Company consultants Robert Waterman Jr., Tom Peters, and Julien Phillips.7 It is based on the propositions that (1) organizational effectiveness comes from the interaction of multiple factors and (2) successful change requires attention to the interconnectedness of the variables. They characterize the factors into seven categories: structure, strategy, systems, style, staff, skills, and superordi-nate goals.

Structure refers to the formal organizational design. Strategy refers to “the company's chosen route to competitive success.”8 Systems are the various procedures in areas such as IT whereby an organization operates on a day-to-day basis. Style is a reference to patterns in the actions of managers and others in the organization; that is, how they actually behave (consultative? decisive?) when faced with the need to act. Staff refers to the processes for development of the human resources of the organization. Skills are described as the “crucial attributes”—the “dominating capabilities”—in areas such as customer service, quality control, and innovation that differentiate it from its competitors.9 Superordinate goals refer to the organization's “vision” (see Chapter 9).

Waterman, Peters, and Phillips stress that the visual representation of the model is intended to emphasize the interconnectedness of the variables. This aspect is central to their intention, which is to emphasize that those factors “that have been considered soft, informal, or beneath the purview of top management interest [e.g., style] … can be at least as important as strategy and structure in orchestrating major change.”

The Star Model

Jay Galbraith argues that an organization is at its most effective when what he labels “the five major components of organization design” are in alignment.11 In this model, the five components are strategy, structure, processes and lateral capability, reward systems, and people practices.

A preeminent role is given to strategy —“the cornerstone”—on the grounds that “if the strategy is not clear, … there are no criteria on which to base other design decisions.”12 Structure is defined as the formal authority relationships and grouping of activities as represented on an organization chart; processes and lateral capability refer to the processes, either formal or informal, that coordinate activities throughout the organization. Reward systems seek to align individual actions to organizational objectives, while people practices are the combined human resource practices (e.g., selection, development, performance management) of the organization. Misalignment of any of these five factors is considered to produce suboptimal performance.

The Congruence Model

David Nadler and Michael Tushman have developed an open systems model of organizations based on the proposition that the effectiveness of an organization is determined by the consistency (“congruence”) between the various elements that comprise the organization.

This model sees organizations as comprising four components: task (the specific work activities that have to be carried out), individuals (the knowledge, skills, needs, and expectations of the people in the organization), formal organizational arrangements (structure, processes, and methods), and informal organization (implicit, unstated values, beliefs, and behaviors).

The model is based on the conceptualization of the organization as a transformation process. At the “front end” of the process is the context, comprised of the environment, resources, and history. Environment refers to factors outside the organization such as the economic, social, and technological conditions. Resources are the assets, tangible and intangible, internal to the organization. History refers to the organization's own history, 127128which leaves an imprint on how the organization currently operates. Within this context, strategy is formulated. The organization then becomes the means for the attainment of strategy. The output of the transformation process is primarily the performance of the organization, but this is mediated via the performance of both groups and individuals.

Based on their experience using the congruence model in organizational problem solving, Nadler and Tushman have identified a process for this activity .

The Burke-Litwin Model

The main contribution of the 12-factor model developed by Warner Burke and George Litwin is that it differentiates between those elements of the model that are seen as likely to be the source of major (“transformational”) change and those that are more likely to be the source of change that is experienced as incremental (“transactional”). The four transformational factors are external environment, mission and strategy, leadership, and organizational culture. These are intentionally located at the top of the diagram that represents the model (see Figure 5.6).

The fundamental premise of the model is that planned change should flow from the top of the diagram (environment) to the bottom (performance).14 However, as indicated by the arrows, the feedback loops go in both directions, indicating that internal organizational factors can impact the environment and not just be on the receiving end of a one-way environmental determinism

The Four-Frame Model

Lee Bolman and Terry Deal argue that managers benefit from being able to analyze organizations from the perspective of four different “frames” or “lenses,” each of which provides a different “angle” on how organizations operate 15 Without the capacity to use 128129multiple frames, managers may become locked into their one favored way of seeing the world. Bolman and Deal comment:

· Organizations are filled with people who have their own interpretations of what is and what should be happening. Each version contains a glimmer of truth, but each is a product of the prejudices and blind spots of its maker. 16

The human resource frame directs attention to the relationship between the organization and the people that comprise it. It is based on the proposition that a good fit between the needs of the organization and what people want out of work benefits both parties, and the reverse (where fit is lacking, both suffer).

The political frame suggests that we see organizations as sites where participants interact in pursuit of a range of objectives, some in common, some that differ; some that complement, some that conflict. One of the most important aspects of the political frame is that it does not present “political” as necessarily equating to “bad” or “underhand.” Even where superordinate goals, such as the organization's mission, are shared, the means whereby that mission is to be operationalized may be fiercely contested between various individuals, each of whom may sincerely believe that his or her action is in the best interests of the organization.

The symbolic frame proposes that the essence of an organization may lie not in its formal structure and processes but in its culture—the realm of symbols, beliefs, values, 129130rituals, and meanings. In Bolman and Deal's terms, “what is most important is not what happens but what it means.”17

Diagnosis by Image

In many change situations, the initial diagnosis is enhanced by getting the perspective of various staff of the organization as to the current (as-is) situation. However, even where people are not intentionally “holding back,” they will often find it difficult to encapsulate, in words, their sense of the current situation.

One technique that can often “cut through” this blockage—and that builds on the body of work of Gareth Morgan on the application of the notion of “images” to organizational analysis18—is to ask people to describe their organization and how it operates by providing an image in the form of either a simile (“my organization is like a well-oiled machine”) or a metaphor (“my organization is a dinosaur”) (see Table 5.3).

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Our experience using this approach shows that most people, when requested, can very quickly and very succinctly produce such an image. The images then become the focal point for discussion. Indeed, they generate discussion because a natural follow-on from the production of an image is that the producer is asked to “flesh out” the image; that is, to describe in more detail the situation that the image was intended to convey.

Component Analysis

The approaches to diagnosis described in the previous section dealt with the organization as a whole in its relationship with the context/environment in which it operates. The approaches to diagnosis in this section deal with specific components within these models. Particular attention is given to the strategic context on the basis that this is a major—although, as noted in Chapter 3, by no means exclusive—driver of change.

The PESTEL Framework 19

PESTEL characterizes the organizational environment in terms of six factors: political (e.g., the threat of terrorism), economic (e.g., unemployment levels), social (e.g., demographic changes), technological (e.g., development of new/substitute products), environmental (e.g., antipollution policies), and legal (e.g., antitrust law). Although this is a very broad-ranging 130131framework, it can be a useful starting point for an organization that has not given much attention to the broad trends that might impact on the future operation of the business. To be able to assist in this role, it is important that the PESTEL framework incorporate trends—with the extrapolation into the future that this implies—rather than rigidly documenting the status quo. Applied in this way, it can form the basis for coarse-grained identification of necessary or desirable change initiatives.

Scenario Analysis

The pilots for major airlines routinely spend time in flight simulators as part of their training. One of the advantages of such simulators is that the pilots can be exposed to a range of different situations from the routine to the unexpected. While the pilots must become completely familiar with the former, as they constitute the everyday reality with which they will have to deal, the simulations extend to events that in all probability they will not encounter even once throughout their career. The rationale for exposure to the latter is clear enough: Although they are highly unlikely to be encountered, the consequences should they occur could be disastrous (literally) unless handled correctly and speedily.

Scenario analysis offers the same opportunity in the context of strategic change in organizations. 20 It has received attention in the business world primarily through its extensive use by Royal Dutch Shell, who for over three decades have used it as a tool for addressing their possible futures. A scenario is a description of some future state based on a set of assumptions about what is likely to happen in regard to a number of key factors believed to be key drivers of that future state. Scenarios may be constructed through the application of a specific methodology (see Table 5.4 and Exercise 5.1 ).

Scenario Analysis

The pilots for major airlines routinely spend time in flight simulators as part of their training. One of the advantages of such simulators is that the pilots can be exposed to a range of different situations from the routine to the unexpected. While the pilots must become completely familiar with the former, as they constitute the everyday reality with which they will have to deal, the simulations extend to events that in all probability they will not encounter even once throughout their career. The rationale for exposure to the latter is clear enough: Although they are highly unlikely to be encountered, the consequences should they occur could be disastrous (literally) unless handled correctly and speedily.

Scenario analysis offers the same opportunity in the context of strategic change in organizations.20 It has received attention in the business world primarily through its extensive use by Royal Dutch Shell, who for over three decades have used it as a tool for addressing their possible futures. A scenario is a description of some future state based on a set of assumptions about what is likely to happen in regard to a number of key factors believed to be key drivers of that future state. Scenarios may be constructed through the application of a specific methodology (see Table 5.4 and Exercise 5.1).21

Top of Form