- organizational structure
- The system of task and reporting relationships that control and motivate colleagues to achieve organizational goals.
- organizational design
- The process by which managers define organizational structure and culture so that the organization can achieve its goals.
- Organizational change
- The movement that organizations take as they move from one state to a future state.
- managed change
- How leaders in an organization intentionally shape shifts that occur in the organization when market conditions shift, supply sources change, or adaptations are introduced in the processes for accomplishing work over time.
- organization development (OD)
- Techniques and methods that managers can use to increase the adaptability of their organization.
- formal organization
- A fixed set of rules of organizational procedures and structures.
- informal organization
- The connecting social structure in organizations that denotes the evolving network of interactions among its employees, unrelated to the firm's formal authority structure.
- bureaucratic model
- Max Weber’s model that states that organizations will find efficiencies when they divide the duties of labor, allow people to specialize, and create structure for coordinating their differentiated efforts within a hierarchy of responsibility.
- specialization
- The degree to which people are organized into subunits according to their expertise—for example, human resources, finance, marketing, or manufacturing.
- command-and-control
- The way in which people report to one another or connect to coordinate their efforts in accomplishing the work of the organization.
- span of control
- The scope of the work that any one person in the organization will be accountable for.
- centralization
- The concentration of control of an activity or organization under a single authority.
- formalization
- The process of making a status formal for the practice of formal acceptance.
- mechanistic bureaucratic structure
- Describes organizations characterized by (1) centralized authority, (2) formalized procedures and practices, and (3) specialized functions. They are usually resistant to change.
- vertical organizational structure
- Organizational structures found in large mechanistic organizations; also called “tall” structures due to the presence of many levels of management.
- organic bureaucratic structure
- Used in organizations that face unstable and dynamic environments and need to quickly adapt to change.
- horizontal organizational structure
- Flat organizational structure in which many individuals across the whole system are empowered to make organizational decisions.
- flat organization
- A horizontal organizational structure in which many individuals across the whole system are empowered to make organizational decisions.
- Product structures
- Occurs when businesses organize their employees according to product lines or lines of business.
- geographic structures
- Occur when organizations are set up to deliver a range of products within a geographic area or region.
- matrix structure
- An organizational structure that groups people by function and by product team simultaneously.
- structural change
- Changes in the overall formal relationships, or the architecture of relationships, within an organization.
- technological change
- Implementation of new technologies often forces organizations to change.
- culture change
- Involves reshaping and reimagining the core identity of the organization.
- differentiation
- The process of organizing employees into groups that focus on specific functions in the organization.
- entrepreneurship
- The process of designing, launching, and running a new business.
- scope of change
- The degree to which the required change will disrupt current patterns and routines.
- incremental change
- Small refinements in current organizational practices or routines that do not challenge, but rather build on or improve, existing aspects and practices within the organization.
- transformational change
- Significant shifts in an organizational system that may cause significant disruption to some underlying aspect of the organization, its processes, or its structures.
- strategic change
- A change, either incremental or transformational, that helps align an organization’s operations with its strategic mission and objectives.
- level of organization
- The breadth of the systems that need to be changed within an organization.
- individual-level change
- Focuses on how to help employees to improve some active aspect of their performance or the knowledge they need to continue to contribute to the organization in an effective manner.
- group-level change
- Centers on the relationships between people and focuses on helping people to work more effectively together.
- organization-level change
- A change that affects an entire organizational system or several of its units.
- intentionality
- The degree to which the change is intentionally designed or purposefully implemented.
- planned change
- An intentional activity or set of intentional activities that are designed to create movement toward a specific goal or end.
- unplanned change
- An unintentional activity that is usually the result of informal organizing.
- change management
- The process of designing and implementing change.
- organizational development (OD)
- Specialized field that focuses on how to design and manage change.
- OD consultant
- Someone who has expertise in change management processes.
- deficit-based change
- Leaders assume that employees will change if they know they will otherwise face negative consequences.
- abundance-based change
- Leaders assume that employees will change if they can be inspired to aim for greater degrees of excellence in their work.
- top-down change
- Relies on mechanistic assumptions about the nature of an organization.
- emergent or bottom-up approach
- Organizations exist as socially constructed systems in which people are constantly making sense of and enacting an organizational reality as they interact with others in a system.
- participatory management
- Includes employees in deliberations about key business decisions.
- conventional mindset
- Leaders assume that most people are inclined to resist change and therefore need to be managed in a way that encourages them to accept change.
- positive or appreciative mindset
- Leaders assume that people are inclined to embrace change when they are respected as individuals with intrinsic worth, agency, and capability.
- Lewin’s change model
- Explains a very basic process that accompanies most organizational changes.
- Kotter’s change model
- An overall framework for designing a long-term change process.
- Appreciative Inquiry model
- A model specifically designed as an abundance-based, bottom-up, positive approach.
- appreciative conversations
- Intense, positively framed discussions that help people to develop common ground as they work together to cocreate a positive vision of an ideal future for their organization.
- Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS)
- A model that views organizations as constantly developing and adapting to their environment, much like a living organism.
- change agents
- People in the organization who view themselves as agents who have discretion to act.
- boundary conditions
- Define the degree of discretion that is available to employees for self-directed action.
- disturbances
- Can cause tension amongst employees, but can also be positive and a catalyst for change.