Abstract
The purpose of strategic organisation is to maximize the efficient and effective use of physical and financial resources and people's skill, knowledge and talent to deliver outcomes.
Because different parts of businesses have different purposes, leaders need to organise their business activities, relationships, and systems accordingly.
Effective delivery on opportunities requires leaders to shift resources (cash, talent, managerial attention) out of less promising business areas and into more attractive ones. This resource agility can break down when managers apply a uniform set of objectives, (e.g. fixed gross-margin percentage or time-to break even) across all opportunities, regardless of their stage or long-term potential.
Leaders also need operational agility to exploit opportunities in a timely fashion. They need to organise for the correct data to spot opportunities and market trends, and to organise competitive advantage in supply chain – getting the product or service to market when people want to buy it. They need interconnected communication systems to disseminate information quickly and effectively throughout the organisation; they need performance metrics and remuneration and reward systems that support the individual and collective behaviour to deliver their stated outcomes.
The truth about organisations
Even though commercial organisations are created for a strategic purpose, because they are primarily made up of people, they are in fact social systems. Therefore they follow the same general principles, dynamics and developmental phases as any other social system (e.g.societies, communities, tribes).
We can gain valuable insights from the study of social systems to help us organise different parts of businesses differently, in order to produce the outcomes we are seeking.
Each social development phase described below has a predictable profile of tangible and intangible characteristics for both individuals and groups. Furthermore, similar to individual psychological development, each phase depends on the capabilities of the one that precedes it.
These characteristics are important for leaders to understand so that they can apply appropriate management and leadership practices differentially to suit the strategic purpose and the situational environment to maximise the chances of getting to desired business outcomes.
Read more in the attached PDF...
