Lecture Notes 15/03/2024

 There are two types of control- Control on people and control over information
 In a matrix structure, there is a risk of developing silo mentality. Thus, integration of
knowledge is important. This can be done via integration or dissemination of knowledge
via workshops or written documents after completion of a project.
Lecture Notes 18/03/2024

 The 4 problems of organizing are that should be solved- Task division, task allocation,
information exchange, rewards and awards
 The final aim of a rational organizational design is efficiency.
 A rational organization is formalized. The level of formalization is defined with the help
of these aspects-Three aspects of bureaucratic organizations-
Hierarchy/organizational structure
Rules, procedures and records
Paperwork and records
Role of managers-
 According to Taylor, scientific management is discovering procedures that maximize
efficiency, identify the work tasks and then standardize them.
 Fayol’s five functions of management- planning, organizing, co-ordinating, commanding
and controlling- He introduced surveillance. EMPLOYEES have no freedom to take
decisions and just follow tasks. Again like Taylor, individuals are treated as machines,
without any passion. Not good in today’s world!
 In a Bureaucratic organization, people might feel encaged. There should be job
enrichment. There is lack of magical elements due to too strict and rigid procedures.
 Today, we need to develop a work environment where people can cpnstantly evolve and
enrich their skills and competencies. Macroconditions are affecting the way firms are
organized.
 This leads to evolution of the rational organizational design.
 Hybrid organizations are where few features of bureaucratic organizations are retained
but the rules and procedures are more relaxed.
 In Post-bureaucratic organizations, the legal authority is replaced by responsibility based
authority. Hierarchy replaced by holocracy.
 In a competitive environment, a firm needs to be intimate with the customer to know their
problems and to solve them. This way customer is a co-creator. They will reason with
you. The boundaries of such a organization is not very clear. They are flexible
 To be innovative, firm needs to create opportunities for knowledge creation.
 In Holocracy, people have the freedom to choose the content that they want to work on
but they are moderated for performance. People with strong ideas and competencies take
leadership and attract other people. However, the downsides are that when the main
person leaves, the idea dies.
Lecture notes – 25/03/24
 Effective teams –
 Heedfulness is a characteristic of high-performing teams. It is the ability to care to
achieve the common goal of the team. It means that even if something is not your
job , as per protocol, even then you help, you take that extra leap and care!
 When there is trust, I can express my opinion without any fear. After that, a common
goal can be set and we as a team can be accountable for it.

It is important to identify when you need a working group and when a team. It takes
effort to convert a working group into a team. It also takes time.
 Support to teams can be given in the form of-
A strong mission statement
Putting the right skills in the team
 The right HR policies, individual incentives to perform well in teams
A team coach
Self-organization cannot happen without constraints. The trick is to put enough but
not too many constraints . Otherwise it kills creativity
Types of constraints-
Governing constraints-
Restraining – can do everything but not that
Lecture Notes 02/04/2024

 My values should match the values of the company. That we I will feel connected and
will commit more, be more productive and hence, ultimately enjoy and create value
for the company.
 An environment that fosters individual well-being needs to be developed.
 Identifying a person’s skills and traits is not easy. Triangulation of data received from
interview(s with multiple people), questionnaire and spending time observing the
individual, should be done.
 Intrinsic motivation is more important than extrinsic motivation
 Social justice., relationship with managers are also very important motivators
 Different things motivate different people. Different personality types have different
motivators. Next, the context. A 20yr old has a different context than a 50 yr old. The
manager needs to understand what is that motivates the employee. The final thing is
different cultural influences and norms.

 Intrinsic motivation is boosted by autonomy (the freedom to choose what I like, to

manage my own work instead being micro-managed by a manager), mastery (the
chance to try and fail and try again to become a master at the art) and finally the
purpose(employees know the bigger purpose of the company and what role they play
in achieving this goal).
Also, the competence of a person when it aligns with the purpose of the firm, it is a
motivation. Relatedness.
  Due to AI, knowledge is a commodity now. It is no more a differentiator. How does it
affect knowledge transfer in companies is a question.
Lecture notes – 8/04/2024-Organizational changes in digital era

 By Alessandro Zamai at Kering –

 The role of HR is standardization of input via recruitment and talent acquisition
 Excellence in working through- Organizational design, efficient communicatoion,
enabling and communication.
 Excellence in data management- Quality (accuracy and completeness), privacy (only
designated people handle the sensitive data), security
 Digitalization of data is important.
 HR decisions now need to be supported with data analytics.
 Let data drive the decisions and not the opinion of the highest paid person
 It is important for organizations to be data-driven because-
 Enhancing customer experience
 Optimizing decision making
 Increasing operational efficiency
 Ensuring regulatory compliance
 Gaining a competitive advantage
 Driving innovation
 Data driven approach is helping organizations adapt to the fast market changes by
embracing decentralization and agility. Also, cross functional teams can use it to make
holistic decisions. Helps overcome silo mentality through sharing insights, know-
hows across departments, etc
 

People are resistant to new digitalization because- increased transparency, fear of changing
competencies as some maybe too specialised, fear od losing job,
Best-fit operating models-
Centralized model- one centralized data governance office that tells what tool to use, how to
present data, the infrastructure, etc. No autonomy
Distribute model- Business divisions like sales, supply , etc use different tool or data analysis
and presentation, etc. Full autonomy.
Federated model- Some autonomy but also some constraints
People analytics- People analytics is the practice of collecting, interpreting, analyzing and
applying people data to improve critical business outcomes

 Wijnand Nuijts on Organizational change

 When you want to change and go from A to B, you need to define what A is and what
B is.
 

Organizational ambidexterity- combining exploration and exploitation- How to change while

you are still in business?
Doing too much simultaneously is a pitfull to some innovation strategies
Lecture Notes- 15/04/2024

 Intent to give in an organization marks the difference between a healthy and a sick
culture in a company.
The success of any organization depends on the unconditional giving and unbelievable
commitment of an average member
The intent of the individual to make a deliberate contribution make s the world sustainable.
Variables that affect this intent are–
1. Culture of the group. Intent as a product of culture
2. Intent of the organization. If you want people to go an extra mile, give them a reason
to do that
3. How the organization is led? Leadership is about people and an outcome/goal/vision.
Means and ends- When you give people the freedom to choose, use democracy instead of
autocracy, then you shift your focus from the job to the person. The person will
Leadership is about achieving people through results instead of the other way round.
The product of leadership is the excellence of the people reporting to me.
My ideal boss= He/she himself is very passionate and motivated. Not just money-minded but
wants to create an actual impact. Who takes out time and effort to help me grow. Is
empathetic. Is smart. Confident. Has a work-life balance himself/herself.
Care and growth are two themes under which any attribute of a leader can be incorporated.
This is a manifestation of ‘Legitimate authority’
As a leader, if you have allies, people whose willing alliance you gained through care and
support, instead of alienating people by controlling them, the more powerful you are.
Power and control are opposites. The more powerful you are, the more you have to loose
control!
Incremental suspension of control is important because growth is incremental. That is why a
balane is important between control and letting go.
Empowering people consists of three things-giving them the means (hard things/tools,
information, time of the leader, resources), the ability( How to do and why to do, soft tools,
knowledge, etc) and accountability (= you carry consequences, consistent awards and
punishments)
Soft mistake of a leader- To treat accountability issues as ability or means issues
Hard mistake= To treat means and ability issue for accountability issue
Accountability issue-
The soft mistake is worse because in that case, you loose the quality that your organization
stands for, you disempower them, there is no growth. There is instead incremental growth of
control. Not good.
An enterprise is a community of people. They are either competing or collaborating. But
never see it as a structure or machine.
The more control you impose, the less control you have
There is no such thing as value-adding control. Initiative in an organization is an
accelerator and control is like a brake. Understand the role of brake. Brake applied,
inertia and friction. Sometimes it is important but it doesn’t add value.
Control is the organizational equivalent of weed