Organization Design Challenges

Read this article for a practical look at the challenges consultants hired to redesign an organization face. The consultants did not focus on what model they should choose but more on the process or phases of the major steps in the redesign. Any company that wants to redesign its organization will face the same challenges and decision-making points. Thus, it will help to consider how the redesign is undertaken. The first step is to analyze where the organization is currently and then consider whether a new organizational model is needed or if the current one needs to be adjusted.

Key findings

Interpretation

Some information is readily available to consultants and even formalized (e.g., organization charts showing the existing reporting lines). However, other types of information (e.g., informal relations, work process interdependencies, and resource utilization) are not readily available, even though they may be more important in order to support effective decisions.

The key constraint that consultants often face is that data collection is time-consuming and therefore costly. Clients may want to reduce the cost and proceed directly to the design phase. As three respondents noted:

Lack of as-is data is always a major challenge resulting in an expensive analysis and documentation phase which clients don't want to spend money on

An absence of process maps/definitions is often a challenge - there is no record of what people actually do, sometimes not even job descriptions

My answer regarding the utilization of resources is rooted in the difficulty in gathering accurate data to perform this task, especially in a large, global organization

Obtaining valid data about the current organization is not only a question of time and cost, however, but also requires a willingness to examine current practices and share information with the consultants. As one respondent noted:

These challenges are present due to the unwillingness of the institutions I work with to truly acknowledge or disclose the truths.