Indian Institute of Management, Sirmaur

Postgraduate Programme in Management 2020-22

Term II
Course Outline

Course Title: Design of Work Organizations

Instructor: Dr. Sanjay Singh
Session Duration: 90 minutes (Total Sessions: 15)

Introduction
Much that happens (or does not happen) in an organization may be explained through
organization design. And therein lies the complexity. The answers to such questions like why
two seemingly similar organizations perform so differently; why an organization that
performed well earlier is facing outcome issues though nothing really has changed; or, is it
possible to bring about significant changes by altering some design elements; may be found in
organization design.

We will also study how organizational processes like decision making, innovation, and power
and politics can impact and be impacted by structural choices in organizations, and thereby
impact the effectiveness of organizations. We will also examine the role of culture in
Organization Design.

It is therefore not difficult to see the linkage between organization design and effectiveness.
Just as the dependent variables in the first part of the Organization Behaviour course are
individual and group performance, the major dependent variable in Organization Design is the
performance of the organization itself.

Finally, the dynamic nature of the business environment requires organizations to build a
capability to change and adapt its internal characteristics to “fit” the requirements of the
external environment in order to survive and succeed. This course will address in detail the
questions that arise out of this: Why should the organization change? What can we change?

Text Book

Richard L. Daft (2013). Understanding the Theory and Design of Organizations (11th Edition).
New Delhi: Cengage Learning

Additional Text:

Jay Galbraith, Diane Downey, Amy Kates (2002). Designing Dynamic Organizations: A
Hands-On Guide for Leaders at All Levels. New York: AMACOM

Pradip Khandwalla (1992). Organizational Design for Excellence. New Delhi: Tata-McGraw
Hill

Methodology
This is a case-based course. Students will be expected to read all cases thoroughly and come
prepared for classroom discussion for all sessions. The purpose is to ensure that the concepts
learnt are understood in the context of real-life organizational problems and the attendant
managerial dilemmas. It is hoped that the learning would add to the repertoire of managerial
capabilities to deal with problems related to organizational structure, processes and
functioning. Participants will bring their learning to the fore through the group project on the
underlying theme that would run through the entire course: “Organization Design for
Organizational Effectiveness”.

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, participants should be
a) equipped with relevant analytical skills to apply their theoretical understanding of
organizational design and change to understand organization design challenge in practice;
b) able to analyse the range of contextual determinants of organizational effectiveness;
c) able to manoeuvre various design elements (structure, system, process and culture) to
enhance organizational effectiveness and efficiency;

LEARNING GOALS AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES (AACSB)

This course is designed keeping learning goal developing analytical and integrative thinking in
consideration (LG5 of PGPM). All three learning objectives will be assessed through various
evaluation mechanisms (quiz, case situation, scenario analysis, business problem solving
exercise etc.)
LO1: Be able to identify symptoms and key factors of the business problems. Clearly
define a business problem using key facts;
LO2: Be able to critically analyze defined business problem using widely used
analytical techniques, models, or frameworks in order to integrate different aspects of
business;
LO3: Be able to propose potential alternative solution, evaluate them and recommend
an appropriate solution.

Evaluation
Quiz 20%
Group Presentation of Case 20%
Group Project 20%
End Term Exam 40%

Session Plan

Session Topic
01-02 Topic: Introduction to Organizational Design
Individual, Role, and Organization, Deciding when to design
Organizational Design process, Organization Behaviour, Organization Design and
Organization Development

Reading:
 Ann C. Frost; Lyn Purdy (2017). Note on Organizational Structure and
Design. HBR #W17709-PDF-ENG

Case:
 Ann C. Frost, Clayton Caswell (2018). Organizational Design at
iQmetrix: The Holacracy Decision by Chris Street. HBR Case
#W17707-PDF-ENG
03-04 Topic: Designing the Structure
Understanding structure, Evolution of structure, Factors affecting Organizational
structure
Reading:
 Ethan S. Bernstein, Nitin Nohria (2016). Note on Organizational
Structure. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/491083-PDF-ENG
 Chapter: Fundamentals of Organization Structure (Daft)

Simulation:
 Carlos Martin-Rios, Niclas Erhardt (2019). Organizational Design
Simulation: Evolving Structures. HBR Simulation #7140-HTM-ENG
(access for all students in the course)

05 Topic: Aligning Structure and Strategy

Strategy, Structure, Framework for selecting strategy and design

Reading:
 Chapter 2: Strategy, Organizational Design, and Effectiveness (Daft)
 Alfred D. Chandler Jr. (1990). Enduring Logic of Industrial Success.
https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/90202-PDF-ENG

Case:
 Jean-Louis Schaan, Ramasastry Chandrasekhar (2013). Arla Foods - Matching
Structure With Strategy. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/W13456-PDF-ENG

06 Topic: Designing an Organization that Scales

Organization Design for Scale, Design Challenges, Limits to Growth

Reading:
 Robert C. Ford, Richard Ungaro (2020). Seven Key Steps for Rapidly Scaling
Up Multi-unit Operations. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/BH1039-PDF-ENG

Case:
 Matthew Wong, Darren Meister (2016). Joyus - Building an Organizational
Structure for Scale. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/W16005-PDF-ENG
07 Topic: Organizational Design for Performance
Effectiveness and strategy, Designing for effectiveness, Miles and Snow’s Strategy
Typology

Reading:
 Chapter: Strategy, Organizational Design, and Effectiveness (Daft)

Case/Executive Module:
 Robert L. Simons (2016). Strategy Execution Module 4: Organizing for
Performance, https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/117104-PDF-ENG
08 Topic: Designing Customer-Centric Organizations
Building Relationships, Organic vs Mechanistic Management, Organizing for
Customer-centric experience

Reading:
 Chapter: The External Environment (Daft)

Case:
 Robert L. Simons, Antonio Davila (2013). Siebel Systems: Organizing for the
Customer. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/103014-PDF-ENG
09 Topic: Fitting Organizational Design to Environment
Fitting Design to Environment, Elements of Organization-Environment Misfit

Reading:
 Daft: Chapter 6 -The Impact of Environment
Case:
 Abhay Ojha (2010). Bosch Group in India: Transition to a Transnational
Organization. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/IMB301-PDF-ENG
10 Topic: Inter-organizational Relationships
Organizational ecosystem, resource dependence, collaborative networks, population
ecology

Reading:
 Daft: Chapter: Relationship between Organizations
Case:
 Robert A. Burgelman, Sara Gaviser Leslie (2008). The Renault-Nissan Alliance
in 2008: Exploiting the Potential of a Novel Organizational Form.
https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/SM166-PDF-ENG
11 Topic: Structural Evolution in Organizations – The Organizational Life Cycle
Organizational life cycle, organizational decline and downsizing

Reading:
 Daft: Chapter 12: Organizational Size and Life Cycle
 Larry E. Greiner (1998). Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow.
https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/98308-PDF-ENG
Case:
 David A. Garvin, Lynne C. Levesque (2004). Executive Decision Making at
General Motors. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/305026-PDF-ENG
12 Topic: Technology and Organization Structure
Managing Information for Decision Making and Control, strengthening internal and
external coordination, designing for e-business, impact of IT on organizational design

Reading:
 Daft: Chapter 11 - Information and Control Processes
Case:
 Lynda M. Applegate, James I. Cash Jr. (1991). General Electric Canada:
Designing a New Organization. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/189138-PDF-
ENG
13 Topic: Managing Culture in Organizations
Organization Design and Culture: Adaptability, Mission, Clan and Bureaucratic
Cultures
Reading:
Daft: Chapter 9 - Corporate Culture and Values
Cases:
Noah Askin; Gianpiero Petriglieri (2016). Tony Hsieh at Zappos: Structure,
Culture and Radical Change. HBR Case #IN1249-PDF-ENG
14 Topic: Knowledge Management and Learning Organization
Learning and knowledge management, Management and measurement of Learning,
Organizational problem solving process
Reading:
 David A. Garvin (1993). Building a Learning Organization.
https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/93402-PDF-ENG
Cases:
 James G. Clawson, Gerry Yemen (2004). Goddard Space Flight Center:
Building A Learning Organization. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/UV3262-
PDF-ENG
15 Topic: Managing Innovation in Organizations
Innovation process, Models of innovation, Organizing for innovation

Reading:
Daft: Chapter 11 - Innovation and Change

Simulation:
 Tucker Marion, Sebastian Fixson (2017). Innovation Simulation: Breaking
News. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/8675-HTM-ENG