Changing Organizational Structures

Useful Web Links

  • www.simulator-orgeffectiveness,com: where you can diagnose your organization’s effectiveness at strategy execution, design a change programme, and then grade the decisions you make to carry it out.
  • Jeff Smisek – the CEO’s role in building company culture: Jeff Smisek, President and CEO, United Continental Holdings, oversees one of the most complex of business operations, running the world's largest airline following the merger of United and Continental – with 87,000 highly unionized employees, 5,800 departures daily, and more than 140 million passengers each year. In his ‘View from the Top’ talk at Stanford, he discusses the role the CEO must play in developing and propagating a customer service culture, aligning stakeholders around a focused plan, and managing crises virtually daily. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysDQQugfFsU
  • Eric Schmidt of Google – change creates opportunity: Despite the economic downturn, Schmidt tells students that now is the perfect time to be graduating. Additionally, the Google CEO touches on the political and economic environment and the link between ideas and technology. According to Schmidt, the changes we're seeing today, in government and politics, will not be short-term changes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4nOHaqzZKs
  • Ratan Tata – moving the Tata Group beyond India: Ratan Tata, former Chairman of the Tata Group, has been credited with turning Tata from a largely India-centric company into a global business, with approximately 65% of revenues coming from abroad, accomplished in part through acquisitions. Tata was interviewed by Charles Atkins, a second year MBA student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, as part of the ‘View from the Top’ speaker series. Tata was Chairman of the Tata Group from 1991 until his retirement in December 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mySvo-EPT0
  • Michael Dell – restructuring the top of the organization: Michael Dell told Mark C. Thompson about a time when Dell had an unwieldy organizational structure. About 20 people reported to the CEO, which left decisions unmade and mission statements muddy. Management had to go through a painful process of telling some individuals they were no longer to report to the CEO, but it helped the company run more smoothly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sls0SPNcwzs

SAGE Journal Articles

Bartunek, J. (1984) ‘Changing interpretive schemes and organizational restructuring: the example of a religious order’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 22: 410–25.

Buono, A.F., Bowditch, J.L. and Lewis, J.W. (1985) ‘When cultures collide: the autonomy of a merger’, Human Relations, 38(5): 477–500.