Organizational Transformation

Paper Summary:

The paper states that organizational theorists have stressed that it is essential to have representatives from every department to redesign a company's transformation process. No matter how strong the talent within each department, every individual sector of the company will inevitably be subject to some degree of tunnel vision. The paper emphasizes that every department will believe that its own field of specialty and the paradigm through which it views the current market, as well as the company's future, is the most important one. The paper states that organizational decisions regarding customer demand or pricing cannot be confined to the expertise of individuals from the department directly responsible for making specific decisions. When an entire organization is being restructured, the change must be comprehensive and holistic, not simply directed by one vocal group of people.

Outline:
What conflicting objectives might you anticipate from each area?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a cross-
functional team in redesigning a company's transformation
process?

From the Paper:

"So why do conflicting objectives between departments in an organization undergoing the same crisis ensue? Take the concept of "lead time," or the number of months or years it takes to get a car into production once a company has frozen its basic design (Einstein, 2002:2) Operations might want to reduce this time as much as possible, but marketing might want to keep the time plan more flexible, so alterations can be made in the car's style to reflect sudden changes in demand, like a sudden desire for smaller or more fuel-efficient cars because of a spike in gas prices. Finance and accounting departments might be pleased at the revenue saved through lead time reduction, but might also be resistant to acquiring new types of machinery to make production more efficient, for fear that such efforts may not pay off in the recent bottom line."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Einstein, Paul. (19 Aug 2002). "Transformation at General Motors." Car Connection.
• Retrieved 12 Jun 2007 at http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Daily_Auto_News/Transformation_at_General_Motors.S173.A5203.html
• Johnson, Lauren Keller. (21 Oct 2005). "Overcoming Barriers that Destroy Teams." Retrieved 12 Jun 2007 at http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5068.html
• Kotelnikov, Vadim. (2007) "Cross Functional Teams." Ten3 BUSINESS e-COACH.
• 1000ventures.com Retrieved 12 Jun 2007 at http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cross-functional_teams.html

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