Organization Design - The Learning Organization

Like a factory or a machine, an organization should be designed around the job it is to do. Unlike a machine, though, an organization is made up of people, rather than gears. Each of these people has abilities, needs, and flexibility that must become part of the design.  The most effective organizations are learning organizations. These, in addition to serving their customers, build (and build upon) members' abilities, meet some member needs, and use member flexibility to continuously fit the organization to its market. Properly designed and implemented, the learning organization can be a company's most important strategic tool. In a learning organization -- Members understand that their personal welfare and that of the organization are complementary. Members are empowered to act in a way that supports their own and the company's welfare. The kind of empowerment that supports this kind of an organization has four components. At each job position, the organization member must have - A set of clear, general instructions for the work to be done, and the reasons for doing it Tools and training appropriate to the work that must be done Decision making authority to get the job done correctly, and in a timely fashion A measurement and reward system that supports organization objectives Clearly, building this kind of an organization around the work to be done is a complex task, and no two projects are quite alike. Generally, though, the organization redesign consists of five sub-projects, as follows: Strategic Planning (or a review the strategic plan that is already in place) to set performance parameters for the changed organization Business Process Reengineering to set the best way of doing the work.  Organization Structure Development to build the organization around the work it will do Data System Alignment so that systems support the new way of working Reward Structure Alignment to ensure that individual objectives support the new organizational direction

See also: Strategic Planning Business Process Reengineering Data System Alignment

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