In this paper, Michael Gibbs (University of Chicago), Alec R. Levenson (CEO), and Cindy Zoghi (BLS) study job design. Do organizations plan precisely how the job is to be done ex ante, or ask workers to determine the process as they go?
Research and Insights Archive
Research and Insights from the Center for Effective Organizations
Available Content
Designing Organizations that are Built to Change
Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) and Christopher G. Worley (CEO) share that as the pace of globalization and social change quickens, executives are correctly calling for greater agility, flexibility and innovation from their companies.
Designing Organizations as if Change Matters
Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) and Christopher G. Worley (CEO) share that more and more executives and management theorists are calling for agility, flexibility, and innovation in the performance of organizations.
Designing Organizations to Lead with Knowledge
Susan A. Mohrman (CEO) argues that organizational development practitioners in the knowledge economy must bring frameworks and development processes that help organizations build and sustain knowledge leadership.
The Challenge of Designing Knowledge Work
This white paper by Susan A. Mohrman (CEO) describes the critical importance of work design in the knowledge economy.
Designing Organizations to Lead with Knowledge
The nature of the knowledge firm and of knowledge processes are described, and a framework for understanding how the design of the organization impacts knowledge in practice is presented in this paper by Susan A. Mohrman (CEO).
Designing the Customer-Centric Organization: A Guide to Strategy, Structure, and Process
Designing the Customer-Centric Organization (Jay R. Galbraith, (Jossey-Bass, 2005)) offers today’s business leaders a comprehensive customer-centric organizational model that clearly shows how to put in place an infrastructure that is organized around the demands of the customer.
How Corporate Boards are Changing
Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) and David Finegold (Keck Graduate Institute) state that over the past four years, corporate boards in the U.S. have been under increasing pressure. Stimulated by high-profile scandals, investor dissatisfaction with board performance and questions about the level of executive compensation, regulators have introduced significant reforms in the rules governing boards.
Are Independent Directors the Answer?
A recent survey Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) and David Finegold (Keck Graduate Institute) conducted with Mercer Delta of directors in Fortune 1000 companies found that board members themselves feel that of all the proposed board reforms, having boards and audit committees made up of independent directors are by far the most likely to have a positive impact on boards.
Developing Complex Collaborations: Basic Principles to Guide Design and Implementation
Susan Cohen (CEO), Don Mankin (Co:e-laboration Design Associates), and Stephen P. Fitzgerald (Alliant International University) While a group of laborers building the pyramids of Egypt might seem to bear little resemblance to a team of machine operators working in a plant, they actually have much in common.
Business Without Boundaries: An Action Framework for Collaborating Across Time, Distance, Organization, and Culture
Don Mankin and Susan G. Cohen argue that traditional forms of collaboration are not sufficient for competing effectively in the more complex and dynamic environment of today’s business world.
Integrated Speed and Flexibility: Delivering Customer Solutions
Jay R. Galbraith states that a challenge for organization designers is to create an organization that can act with speed, flexibility and integration. Up until now, designers could create organizations that are characterized by any two of those features but not all three.