1. Success And Failure in Organizational
Design
S.KRISHNAPRABHU
1st Year MBA
RA1652001020061
2. INTRODUCTION
Organizational design is a step-by-step methodology which identifies dysfunctional aspects of work flow, procedures, structures and
systems, realigns them to fit current business realities/goals and then develops plans to implement the new changes. ... A clear strategy
for managing and growing your business.
Success comes from a tight, clear connection between change expectations and ... Failures come when an organization is overly
focused on activities, skills and ... Structure and systems (particularly IT) changes may be required for change but ...
3. SUCCESS IN ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
1. Clear performance focus
Success comes from a tight, clear connection between change expectations and business results. Failures come when an organization is
overly focused on activities, skills and culture, or structural changes without creating a tight linkage to business results.
2. A winning strategy
Projects & organizations succeed when the strategies play to strengths. Failure happens when there is an overestimation of strength(s)
and/or no ability to document concrete ‘wins.’
3. A compelling and urgent case for change
Success happens because there is a widely accepted ‘felt’ need for change. Failure occurs when there is no demonstrated commitment to
the need for change. There is no clear ‘pain’ for remaining in the status quo.
4. Specific change criteria
In successful efforts, the underlying performance criteria and change requirements are clear, documented and not negotiable. If the
‘rules’ shift or evolve or can be negotiated, failure follows.
5. Distinction between decision-driven and behavior-dependent change
Some change can be ‘decided’ – restructuring, purchases, hires/fires, etc. Other change is ‘behavior-dependent’ – skills development,
new processes, implementing new accountabilities, etc. Organizations that over ‘decide’ and underinvest in ‘behavior’ changes fail.
6. Structure and systems requirements
Structure and systems (particularly IT) changes may be required for change but are almost always overused as either the answer or the
excuse. Overdependence on structure and systems results in confusion and sapped energy, and is a great technique for stalling progress.
4. 7. Appropriate skills and resources
Successful change often demands new skills that are being created; requiring some level of transition resources until new skills are fully
functional. Lack of the right talent (skills) and resources against an opportunity is certain failure; yet organizations consistently repeat
this shortcoming.
8. Mobilized and engaged pivotal groups
Organizations that succeed tap critical internal influencers to champion the change and actively engage staff in driving the change.
Getting beyond basic change rhetoric requires a compelling employee value proposition (“what’s in this for me,”) achievable goals, tools
and shared information.
9. Tight integration and alignment of all initiatives
Major change inevitably requires dozens of initiatives (strategy projects, re-engineering efforts, training, leadership development,
communications, technical redesign, new measurements, etc.). The result is a massive integration challenge. Failure results from locally
and globally isolated projects, cross-project conflicts, resource competition, and confusion as to how projects do or don’t relate.
10. Leader ability and willingness to change
The ceiling on any attempt to change at the project, department or organization level is set at the leaders’ willingness to embrace and
embody the change. Whatever behaviors individual project or leader team members cannot adopt, become effectively impossible for the
organization
5. FAILURE IN ORGANIZATION DESIGN
1. Poor Planning Sets Up Organizational Change for Failure
Often, leaders are so focused on getting their “content” solution designed that they dive right into the design phase of organizational
change without adequately doing the upfront planning work required. This sets the effort up for failure right from the start. Instead,
identify all the conditions and activities that must occur early to set the project up for success, like: 1) change roles, governance and
decision-making, 2) stakeholder engagement strategy and communications, 3) timeline, resources and capacity, and 4) key initiatives
and how to integrate them for maximum speed and efficiency. Without a well-designed change process plan, a likely outcome will be a
false start, resistance, and/or eventual failure.
2. Inadequate Support from Leadership
Organizational change does not succeed without leadership support. And lip service is not enough. Leaders must champion and model
the change for the rest of the organization, in both what they say and do.They must be active, consistently supporting the change teams
as they design and implement changes. They must be out communicating the benefits of the change to stakeholders and listening to and
responding to their concerns. If your leaders are not prepared to stay actively involved, perhaps it isn’t the right time for them to launch a
major change effort. Forbes magazine supports the fact leadership support plays a crucial role for the success of organizational change,
saying that successful change initiatives start at the top and organizations should "set up a top-level team of experts, reporting directly to
the CEO".
6. 3. Lack of Resources
Lack of resources is one of the most common reasons why organizational change fails in most organizations. Adoption and sustainment
of change are long term investments. They don’t occur just because an awesome solution was designed. It has to get implemented, and
then tested, refined, and reinforced. This generally is a longer, and costlier endeavor than most change leaders realize. If you don’t plan
and resource the latter phases of change, you’ll not realize the full benefits you set out to achieve.
4. Priority Focus on Systems vs. People
Leaders often focus more on the system changes than the people that have to make and live with them. Don’t forget that while you need
to have systems in place, it’s the people who matter most. “Sustained change is always driven by people,” says Lee Colan in his article
“10 Reasons Change Efforts Fail.” “Even implementing new software successfully is more about the people who will use is, install it,
train it, and support it than it is about the system itself.”
. Inadequate Change Leadership Skills
One could easily argue that this is the #1 cause of failed organizational change. Why? Because every issue or problem within a given
change initiative either gets prevented, solved, or caused by the skill of the change leaders in charge. And the truth is, we don’t
adequately train our leaders to become competent change leaders. Leadership development is a part of virtually all large organizations,
but change leadership development is sorely missing. The net is that leaders tend to run change initiatives like they run their
organizations, and the two are vastly different. Consider, where can your leaders go to get the development they need to become stellar
change leaders?
