Hi Andrea,
Please let me know your views on this...looks better than previous ? or am I going in wrong direction
Issue
Organizations should be structured in a clear hierarchy in which the people at each level, from top to bottom, are held accountable for completing a particular component of the work. Any other organizational structure goes against human nature and will ultimately prove fruitless
Response
Organization structure and communication clarity model plays a vital role in productivity and performance and there is always a debate on these. Some people advocates flat organization structure with common roles and responsibility pool, on the other hand rest strongly believes in hierarchical structure along with unambiguous communication on roles and responsibilities. Here I agree with author that to achieve highest productivity, organization should be structured in hierarchy in which the people at each level, from top to bottom , are held accountable for completing a particular component of the work.
Chief reason for this is, until or unless each individual is not accountable for a particular job, back and forth ownership passing would persist that would further result in productivity loss. Sometimes it may go beyond that and may lead to shutting down the entire operations. For an example Air India operations ownerships is not in individual hand and no one is clear that what is expected out from CEO and what else from aviation minister and several times we have seen productivity loss just because of that, recently Air India purchased some aircrafts just because they got aviation and finance minister approval and since then these are just parked in hangar or simple not used. As a result airline is taking maintenance cost without utilizing them and that further leading to financial resource crunch and aircraft ground staff is not taking maintenance on serious note, which may anytime leads to crash - if these start flying.
Secondary I would like to pick up recent Mexico gulf oil disaster example where Mr. Barak Obama is single person from US and BP CEO on the other hand. Both of them are too clear that for what all they are countable for and there is clear hierarchy. Hence every thing is going quicker and without any major obstacle. Another example on this is India US Nuclear bill agreement. Unlike India, US side has a hierarchical team in which everyone understands that for what all they are responsible for and as a result Bill agreement is too clear from there side. However on the other hand India side still not finalized and the learning from Bophal Gas yet to incorporate.
Those who disagree with above statement might argue that Unlikely flat organizations ,hierarchical organizations require more no of managers that impacts financials and having common responsibility pool is always better as this would encourage team work and organization would excel. However this overlooks that as per human nature until or unless we are not clearly accountable for a work or part of , we would not think that is our work and hence back & forth on responsibilities, lake of ownership, interest. Collectively all these would be toxic for organization end goal.
In sum, I have argued that to get maximum output organizations should be structured in a clear hierarchy in which the people at each level, are held accountable for completing a particular component of the work because this the only way that compliance human nature, appreciate better working culture, faster and timely execution. All these collectively help organization to meet its goal and widely accepted. All global leaders like GE, BP, GM, NISSAN,AIG etc are using this concept and highly successfully. Many of the issues are not resolved for everybody satisfaction but in long run it is required and will lead to betterment of all involved. Finally to excel and rock across the globe and in-fact to reach a complete new horizon, organization structure should be clear in hierarchy in which everyone held accountable for completing a particular component of the work.
Please let me know your views on this...looks better than previous ? or am I going in wrong direction
Issue
Organizations should be structured in a clear hierarchy in which the people at each level, from top to bottom, are held accountable for completing a particular component of the work. Any other organizational structure goes against human nature and will ultimately prove fruitless
Response
Organization structure and communication clarity model plays a vital role in productivity and performance and there is always a debate on these. Some people advocates flat organization structure with common roles and responsibility pool, on the other hand rest strongly believes in hierarchical structure along with unambiguous communication on roles and responsibilities. Here I agree with author that to achieve highest productivity, organization should be structured in hierarchy in which the people at each level, from top to bottom , are held accountable for completing a particular component of the work.
Chief reason for this is, until or unless each individual is not accountable for a particular job, back and forth ownership passing would persist that would further result in productivity loss. Sometimes it may go beyond that and may lead to shutting down the entire operations. For an example Air India operations ownerships is not in individual hand and no one is clear that what is expected out from CEO and what else from aviation minister and several times we have seen productivity loss just because of that, recently Air India purchased some aircrafts just because they got aviation and finance minister approval and since then these are just parked in hangar or simple not used. As a result airline is taking maintenance cost without utilizing them and that further leading to financial resource crunch and aircraft ground staff is not taking maintenance on serious note, which may anytime leads to crash - if these start flying.
Secondary I would like to pick up recent Mexico gulf oil disaster example where Mr. Barak Obama is single person from US and BP CEO on the other hand. Both of them are too clear that for what all they are countable for and there is clear hierarchy. Hence every thing is going quicker and without any major obstacle. Another example on this is India US Nuclear bill agreement. Unlike India, US side has a hierarchical team in which everyone understands that for what all they are responsible for and as a result Bill agreement is too clear from there side. However on the other hand India side still not finalized and the learning from Bophal Gas yet to incorporate.
Those who disagree with above statement might argue that Unlikely flat organizations ,hierarchical organizations require more no of managers that impacts financials and having common responsibility pool is always better as this would encourage team work and organization would excel. However this overlooks that as per human nature until or unless we are not clearly accountable for a work or part of , we would not think that is our work and hence back & forth on responsibilities, lake of ownership, interest. Collectively all these would be toxic for organization end goal.
In sum, I have argued that to get maximum output organizations should be structured in a clear hierarchy in which the people at each level, are held accountable for completing a particular component of the work because this the only way that compliance human nature, appreciate better working culture, faster and timely execution. All these collectively help organization to meet its goal and widely accepted. All global leaders like GE, BP, GM, NISSAN,AIG etc are using this concept and highly successfully. Many of the issues are not resolved for everybody satisfaction but in long run it is required and will lead to betterment of all involved. Finally to excel and rock across the globe and in-fact to reach a complete new horizon, organization structure should be clear in hierarchy in which everyone held accountable for completing a particular component of the work.
