The focus here is
for producing desirable outcomes in organizations.Results are what count in organizations, and managers are accountable for them. Popular issues like leadership, culture, innovation &c are simply means to an end: and so invoked as secrets, reasons or excuses. They must all be put to one side for now.
The
have been identified as being about . Their use to design has been identified as the basis for the strongest possible structure. But closer inspection via this framework confirms what every CEO knows: line-management alone is not enough. Using what has been discovered, a fuller picture of can now be teased out.In clarifying details, I assume knowledge of methods of managing and levels for structuring organizations.
Remember: . Outputs are pure means.
The hierarchy of is purposive in nature. That is natural because organizations are purposive systems, and we use purposes to design their structure.
Taking a whole organization perspective, it is notable (and either surprising or obvious depending on your viewpoint) that 6 of the See details.
are determined by HQ (i.e. at & ).The rationale for the lower five levels, operations, is to enable given outputs so that taken together they embody desired .
to be converted into diverseThe internal duality of this hierarchy, created by the v outputs duality is values v systems—as shown in the diagram at right and explained below.
Operations must engage with brute reality in a way that HQ can avoid. Fortunately, this is where line-management is possible and information systems can help. A tool to help ensure that engagement is effective is the map of
as developed here.The pattern of transitions from already completed, is to sharply distinguish what goes on at each level. That permits design of a management structure for an organization and enables employment of suitably capable staff.
to may look simple and straightforward. However, in practice it is not so easy. The first task,However, when staff actually use that structure in doing work, matters get more complicated because there is an instant activation of a tension-generating duality. Appreciating that tension allows for the construction of a dynamic map that represents requisite accountability processes in organizations.
Pursuit of this inquiry therefore requires the following standard steps:
Start at the end: see the final pictureand focus on the terms used for processes.
OR
Originally posted: 22-Feb-2014