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. The process focuses on improving both the technical and people side of the business.

1. Success And Failures In
Organization Design
J. Vijay Immanuel Raj
RA1952001020052
MBA “A”

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. The process focuses on improving both the
technical and people side of the business.
• For most companies, the design process leads to a more effective organization design, significantly
improved results (profitability, customer service, internal operations), and employees who are
empowered and committed to the business. The hallmark of the design process is a comprehensive
and holistic approach to organizational improvement that touches all aspects of organizational life, so
you can achieve:
• Excellent customer service
• Increased profitability
• Reduced operating costs
• Improved efficiency and cycle time
• A culture of committed and engaged employees
• A clear strategy for managing and growing your business

3. Success In Organizational Design:
1.Build on your strengths:
• Pinpoint the unique role that your company holds against the competition.
Define where these strengths will take you in the new world order.
• Once that is clear, chances are the way you shape your teams won’t mimic
any other company’s organizational structure. And that’s a good thing.
2. Go beyond lines and boxes
• At the same time, building on your strengths doesn’t mean doing what
you’ve always done.
• Start by asking how the company’s unique strengths shape how people
work and act. Balance that by asking where your company structure isn’t
currently serving your business goals.

4. 3. Know your roles
• No question: It’s expensive to find, develop and later (regretfully) let go of talent. The
best time to get your org design right is before you grow your team. That’s right –
expanding your team should happen after you’ve clearly defined the impact you need
from new roles.
• But this is a challenge; many organizations lack definition around technical roles. The
process of defining roles is traditionally the responsibility of Human Resources (HR).
However, HR departments struggle to update and create new roles as technology
advances and business needs shift—causing frustration for the organization.
4. Support a culture of learning
• Organizations that make professional development a high priority and provide a range of
flexible training options mapped to business needs are the most successful at keeping
their teams at peak performance and skill level.

5. Failure 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.

6. 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.
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.

7. 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.