Structuring for innovation, responsiveness and engagement
Throughout the twentieth century, organisation design and structure was heavily influenced by classical management theories, especially scientific management and bureaucracy. However, with the development of globalisation and internationalisation, organisations have been forced to focus not simply on efficiency but also on a need to be more responsive, creative and innovative.
Many scholars and management practitioners have argued that bureaucratic structures are not only slow to adapt but may also stifle creativity. Bureaucracy not only dehumanises the organisation by making it machine-like, but it also seeks to standardise and control behaviour and does not encourage thinking ‘outside the box’.
The need for greater flexibility and rapid decision making has led to changes in the way organisations are structured. The very notion of structure, implying a fixed and relatively inflexible bureaucracy, is being challenged. To meet changing needs new organisational designs are being developed that aid co-ordination and allow flexibility in decision making and response. Furthermore, unlike those early organisations influenced by scientific management, today’s organisation is structured with the needs of people in mind. This means finding ways to engage and motivate employees, leading to enhanced satisfaction, loyalty and commitment.
Employee engagement
aylorist views of structure and work (standardisation, specialisation and the separation of management roles) often lead to micromanagement and a command and control style where employees have low discretion and undertake simple routine tasks in a highly predictable environment. While this may have advantages of efficiency it can also demotivate employees, impacting upon overall job satisfaction, with consequences of absenteeism and eventual departure from the company.
Empowerment is a situation where employees are given greater freedom, autonomy and self-control over their work. Structurally, empowerment can be achieved through delayering, job enrichment and the creation of autonomous workgroups.
In addition to empowerment strategies, contemporary organisations will often strive for greater employee engagement. Engaged employees are open to new ideas, willing to change, have a customer focus and are confident in their ability. Organisations seeking to enhance employee engagement may redesign work to make it more meaningful, creative and varied. Organisation designs will encourage autonomy, higher degrees of participation, greater information sharing and communication.
Organisational engagement describes the situation when individuals are committed to their organisation and demonstrate positive behaviour at work, which extends beyond role requirements. Job engagement describes the situation when individuals are positive, interested in, even excited, about their jobs, are motivated to achieve high levels of performance and are prepared to invest discretionary effort into their work beyond the minimum to get it done.
An engagement culture exists where the majority of employees feel valued and are committed to the organisation and its goals. Finally, employee engagement refers to the individual’s involvement and satisfaction with as well as enthusiasm for work.
Employees are likely to feel more engaged when they:
◆know what is expected of them
◆have resources they need to do their work properly
◆have the opportunity to do what they do best every day
◆receive regular recognition or praise and receive encouragement for development
◆realise that someone at work cares about them as a person ◆know their opinions count
◆feel their job is important
◆have someone at work who talks to them about their progress
◆have opportunities at work to develop.
The entrepreneurial organisation
If scientific management and bureaucracy, through the division of labour, departmentalisation and span of control, are used to identify the components of an operating organisation which emphasises efficiency, what then are the components of an innovating or entrepreneurial organisation?
The entrepreneurial organisation is a company that has implemented the appropriate mechanisms enabling it to routinely and quickly identify and exploit an opportunity, that is, where employees routinely demonstrate entrepreneurship. This will typically require the organisation to be both creative and innovative. Creativity and innovation are related in that creativity generates the idea and innovation ensures its implementation. We might consider creativity to be about invention and innovation to be about exploitation. Typically associated with such concepts is the idea of risk-taking.
Innovation is at the heart of many organisations, whether they are seeking to launch new products, develop new methods and ways of working, enter new markets or seek new sources of supply. It is more than simply launching new products and extends to business improvement and improved ways of working.
In some cases, this may be incremental while in other cases, more radical. Organisations pursue innovation because it can lead to efficiency gains and
cost reduction, the ability to add more value to products and services or may result in new ways of working which can save time and make the company more responsive. As a potential source of competitive advantage, it has become more important in today’s business environment where we witness increased competition.
Innovative structures may have new roles within the organisation design and new processes to fund innovative activities and harness ideas. They may also emphasise the structure of the work environment to create a climate that facilitates creativity and innovation. Furthermore, such organisations will seek to develop a culture that inspires and values creativity, innovation and risk-taking. This is likely to be driven through the company’s leadership.
One of the key structural questions considers whether or not to create dedicated departments associated with innovation. Such departments may include product development, research and development and market development. Another decision is whether to separate entrepreneurial functions from day-to-day operational activities.