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Discipline

Organizational design

Designs how an organization works: its structure, processes, incentives and people, so that they serve its strategy.

In Spanish
Diseño organizacional
Origin
Galbraith (1995)

What it deals with

A good strategy fails if the structure, processes or incentives push in another direction.

Principles

  • Strategy

    What the organization wants to achieve.

  • Structure and processes

    Who decides and how work flows.

  • Incentives and people

    What is rewarded and which skills are needed.

Applications in design

  • Use it like this

    Before changing the org chart, review processes and incentives.

  • Avoid

    Changing the structure and expecting the way people work to change.

  • Don’t fall for it

    Design with the people who work in the organization, not just for them.

Authors and works

  1. 1995

    Jay R. Galbraith

    Proposed the star model: strategy, structure, processes, incentives and people have to fit together.

Sources

Original sources

  • Galbraith, J. R. (1995). Designing organizations: An executive briefing on strategy, structure, and process. Jossey-Bass.

Last reviewed: