10A. Mechanistic or Organic?
Among its many products, Delaware-based W. L. Gore is best known for its Gore-Tex fabric used in outdoor gear. Here is a brief description of one of its five Scottish factories, where all employees are called associates:

Associates are always encouraged to join a team with particular responsibilities, but they also have the opportunity--and encouragement--to pursue ideas and projects of their own choosing, particularly those which might lead to new applications and markets for the product. Much of the company's growth has come from finding new uses for their applications.

Tom Lester, "The Gores' Happy Family" Management Today (February 1993): 66.

Questions: Does this illustrate a mechanistic or organic organization? Explain. What problems could this type of organization likely have? What could be done to avoid those problems? Would you like to work for this sort of organization? Why or why not?

For further information about the interactive annotations in this chapter, visit our Web site /business/kreitner/management/9e/students/annotations.

Author Notes 10-A: Mechanistic or Organic? From the description, it is clear that W. L. Gore is an organic organization. This is demonstrated not just because of the environment described, but by the continuing variety of new products and ideas resulting from individual initiative. For example, Glide dental floss is made of Gore-Tex. How did they get from waterproof outerwear to that type of product? One of the biggest challenges with an organic organization is separating creative action from chaos and productive flows from simple milling around. In organic companies, it's much harder to evaluate performance (compare a multiple-choice test to an essay one). Managers need to make the right hiring choices and stay focused on results while supporting the exploration of their people. An organization like this actually requires more personal responsibility and discipline than a mechanistic organization because responsibilities are not as clearly defined, and no one is looking over your shoulder constantly to make sure you're doing your job. Do you have the internal motivation and discipline to be productive in this type of environment?

10B. Back to the Opening Case
Using Figure 10.1 as a guide, what evidence of organizational integration can you find at EZE Castle Software?

Author Notes 10-B: Back to the Opening Case The existence of the ombudsman as a liaison individual is one example of integration. Cookies and milk is another. Having people take responsibility for chores for the entire company is also an integrative force.

10C. Pumping Some Life into the Research and Development (R&D) Function

In an attempt to instill a sense of vitality and harmony in its designs, Haworth formed a radically new type of R&D department in 1996. Christened the "Ideation Group" and commissioned to explore possibilities for future office environments, this unconventional group quickly added zest to Haworth through its revolutionary designs.

To visitors, the Ideation Group appears to be part consulting firm, part think tank, and part "skunk works." ... Although the group is perceived as slightly irreverent in its behavior and somewhat eccentric in its approach to design, it has given Haworth a leading-edge design capability for its office furniture and systems.

Excerpted from Janis R. Evink and Henry H. Beam, "Just What Is an Ideation Group?" Business Horizons, 42 (January-February 1999): 73.

Question: Why was this reorganization successful?

Author Notes 10-C: Pumping Some Life into the Research and Development (R&D) Function A chair is something to sit on, a desk to work at, and a couch is for slouching. How can a company build innovation into things that have been on the market--in one form or another--since early cave people drew rocks around a fire to sit on while toasting their dinner and themselves? One way is to take a non-traditional approach to R&D. By letting your people stretch, their designs may start to stretch as well. The very irreverence that the group has been accused of demonstrating may be responsible for the "outside of the box" thinking that led to their leading-edge designs. Risk-taking is required to make things different.

10D. How Reengineering Got a Bad Name
A manager reportedly told James Champy, co-author of the landmark book on reengineering:

We don't really know how to do reengineering in our company; so what we do is, we regularly downsize and leave it to the three people who are left to figure out how to do their work differently.

As quoted in "Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Doing from Scratch," Inc. (20th Anniversary Issue), 21 (May 18, 1999): 51-52.

Questions: Does the term reengineering have a positive or negative connotation for you? Explain. How often do you think misapplication or misinterpretation gives otherwise sound management practices a bad name? Explain.

Author Notes 10-D: How Reengineering Got a Bad Name Many companies pay lip service to a concept, but don't really follow through. That's bad enough. What's worse is those firms that take a concept, twist it to suit their own often-misguided ends, and then have the nerve to slap a label on it that makes it seem okay. Reengineering involves re-working the way a company does business, but many firms have used it as a jumping off point for significant layoffs that focus more on cutting costs than improving processes. Reengineering is a concept that, like quality, empowerment, and teams, can be used very effectively, or abused inappropriately. Such words and concepts are powerful, and their misuse can create powerful problems.

10E. Wider Is Better, for the Head of Cisco Systems
Says John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems Inc.: "I learned a long time ago that a team will always defeat an individual. And if you have a team of superstars, then you have a chance to create a dynasty." That's one reason Chambers has two to three times as many people reporting to him as does the average executive in his company: It forces him to empower those directly under him with greater autonomy, because he can't possibly keep up with every detail of their work.

John Byrne, "The Global Corporation Becomes the Leaderless Corporation," Business Week (August 30, 1999): 90.

Question: What is the key to making Chambers's wide span of control work?

Author Notes 10-E: Wider Is Better, for the Head of Cisco Systems Chambers has discovered that, for him, empowerment has to be built into the structure of his immediate team. If he can't keep track of them, they become empowered by default. The key to success with this approach is having the right people--those who are capable of handling the responsibility--and who know when Chambers needs to be pulled in on a project or a decision.

10F. Are You Ready to Be Your Boss's Leader?
As technology evolves and organizations decentralize, people on the front lines have far more independence and responsibility. They are closer to the market and closer to how their product is used. They can see what their leaders are missing. When leaders falter, it's up to the rest of us to step up and help them lead. But leading up is not some noble calling: When you help those above you avoid a bad deal or seize an opportunity, you improve your whole organization's performance.

Bill Breen, "Trickle-Up Leadership," Fast Company, no. 52 (November 2001): 70.

Questions: Are you ready for this new upside-down world of leadership? Even if your boss earns more money? Explain.

Author Notes 10-F: Are You Ready to Be Your Boss's Leader? Are you in it for the money, or does the thought that your ideas can make a difference motivate you? Of course, in the right sort of company with the right sort of boss, good ideas will eventually lead to more opportunities, and more money. Also, as the company succeeds, your opportunities within it will also expand. A key is to be a self-starter who shows initiative. It's one of the little-understood rules of organizations. There are two ways to get a bigger piece of the pie--get a bigger piece of what's already there, or make a bigger pie.

10G. Philips Flips the Switch on Matrix
In the 1990s, Dutch electronics giant Philips experimented with matrix management, which organizes the company along product lines and country sector. But the scheme sparked too much conflict. "We killed the matrix. It was too slow--it put the management board in a referee role," says Jan Oosterveld, board member in charge of strategy at Philips. Now Philips is trying something more flexible: Managers of individual businesses have primary global responsibility, while regional bosses or global account managers for key clients play a role as well.

Gail Edmondson, "See the World, Erase Its Borders," Business Week (August 28, 2000): 114.

Questions: Why would matrix design be especially difficult for a huge global corporation? What arguments could you present in favor of a well-run matrix design for Philips? Does Philips's new arrangement sound good to you? Explain.

Author Notes 10-G: Philips Flips the Switch on Matrix Picture a two-by-two matrix. You have four squares, easy to see and delineate. Yes, you think, a matrix is a useful tool. Now increase that matrix to 3x3. Nine squares. 4x4 gives you 16 squares. 10x10 is 100 squares and 100x100 is 10,000 squares. How does the matrix work for you now? From a mathematical perspective, matrices get unwieldy very quickly. Now, let's add some people into the equation--Yipes! I think I want my pyramid back!

10H. Two Types of Delegation?
There are two types of delegating that managers need to consider before passing the workload to their employees: delegating for results and delegating for employee development.

Sharon Gazda, "The Art of Delegating," HRMagazine, 47 (January 2002): 75.

Questions: What do you like or dislike about this distinction? How can a manager effectively blend the two types of delegation?

Author Notes 10-H: Two Types of Delegation? Good managers think about developing their people, and delegating is one of the best ways to do that. Sometimes a manager has the luxury of time to allow an employee to move up the learning curve. Then delegating for development is possible and worthwhile. However, sometimes getting it done is the most critical factor. That's when you put your senior people on a project--the ones you developed earlier, just for this contingency. In my opinion, delegating and giving feedback just may be the two most important skills a front-line manager can have.

10I. You Call That Teamwork?
Michael Schrage, author of the book, No More Teams!:

Somehow, we have to get past this idea that all we have to do is join hands and sing Kum Ba Yah and say, 'We've moved to teamwork.' ... It's just not that easy. Anyone who's ever been on a team knows that....

As quoted in Ellen Neuborne, "Companies Save, but Workers Pay," USA Today (February 25, 1997): 1B.

Questions: Does Schrage have a good point or is he being overly negative? Explain. What is your own experience with teamwork? What does management have to do to promote real teamwork?

Author Notes 10-I: You Call That Teamwork? How do you feel about working on teams? Do you see a team assignment in class as a chance to work more efficiently by sharing skills, or just another headache factor? After the excitement (or in the case of "Kum Ba Yah" sentiment) dissipates, teams still face the challenge of working together. It always seems easier to get a job done individually--because you know exactly what you want to do, you can move fast, and you don't have to communicate it to anyone. One of the most common comments of nondelegating managers is "By the time I explain it, I could have done it myself." Every team member feels like that at some point in the process. But being a member of an ongoing team is an investment in the results. Over time, you and your team members will develop knowledge about each other's work styles and abilities. A natural shorthand will occur ("Let's just do it the way we did the Belsole project."). Management's role is to provide access to the tools, set up good team combinations, and step in to facilitate as needed. Finally, management needs to provide a way for teams to review their peers and reward (or penalize) the team for achieving results, not individual members. These can provide an incentive to find a way to work together.

10J. A Radical Approach to Virtual Organizations
Advice from management guru Michael Hammer:

See your business not as a self-contained company but as part of an extended enterprise of companies that work together to create customer value.

Michael Hammer, The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade (New York: Crown Business, 2001), p. 221.

Questions: But what about quaint notions such as loyalty and company pride? How prepared are you to work in this sort of fluid and uncertain environment? Explain.

Author Notes 10-J: A Radical Approach to Virtual Organizations As the owner of a small consulting firm, I can't do everything for my clients. Over time, I have developed a group of other consulting firms that I trust and can rely on to do a good job for my clients and--just as important--keep me in the picture. At the same time, other consulting firms have begun bringing me in on special projects where I have the skills to meet their needs. One of my subcontractors has business cards from my firm, because I partner with him enough that it makes sense for him to have them. One of the consulting firms I work with is having some of their cards printed for me. Yes, I'm proud of my company, but I'm also proud to work for some of the consulting firms that hire me. At least on the small consulting firm level--everybody wins with this arrangement. Clients get a broader base of services from people they trust; consultants get more opportunities through sharing their client base. The question is, can it work at this larger scale, when individual relationships move into corporate connections and the question of trust is much more complex? I don't know, but I hope it can, because I've seen how well it works at my level.