Using modeling and computer simulation, this research focuses on studying two different views to organizational design and their implications for performance in the context of academic institutions. One view represents the manifest structure that includes resources (students, faculty, administration, facilities, finances, partners, donors, etc.); the other view represents the latent structure that focuses on dissent. The dissertation addresses the following two questions; 1. What are the tangible dynamic interdependencies constituting the manifest structure within academic institutions and their impact on performance? 2. What is the impact of the latent structures composed of intangible organizational processes, especially dissent, on performance? The dissertation proposes generic system dynamics simulation models untangling the complexity of the topic by tackling various slices of the problem in separate papers. The models are based on three different theoretical frameworks addressing resources and their composition, dissent, and stakeholder engagement. It is observed that while both the manifest and the latent parts of the university organization impact its performance, the latent part, being invisible, is often ignored. In the long run, the influence of the latent part of the organization can slowly but seriously compromise intangible performances components like quality, reputation, and attractiveness. When the manifest part of the organization is dysfunctional, its tangible performance rapidly suffers. The damage control policies will often impact the latent organizational performance leading the institution into a vicious cycle. The presence of time delays in this framework may create an oscillatory behavior that might modulate a growth or decline trend. Performance measures addressing intangible performance components must be factored into the organizational design since faculty, students, and other stakeholders are not only driven by financial rewards, but also by the organizational environment. The research, besides addressing the important question of the role of latent elements in organization design and demonstrating this can be done using system dynamics modeling and computer simulation, should also be of value to the design and management of higher education institutions.

Covid-19 brought various challenges that the world that was not fully prepared to face since 2019. The pandemic came with both health and economic repercussions, and various organizations had to adapt their Organization Design to confront these new challenges posed by this Black Swan event. Since the pandemic is still recent, most of the research related to Organization Design and Covid-19 has focused on the changes during the pandemic. What has been missing in the research is a perspective on the evolution of Organization Design over time. Two research questions were addressed. The first question explored how individuals from different positions perceived changes in Organization Design during the pandemic using Jay Galbraith's Star Model. The findings revealed variations in perceptions across positions, particularly regarding hiring growth, structure, communication, rewards, and the hiring process. The second research question uses a combination of Path Dependence Theory and Jay Galbraith's Star Model to compare the short-term and long-term effects of contingencies on Organization Design within a Medical Manufacturing Company. Some changes, like temporary Covid-19 protocols and rewards, were phased out, while others, including remote work, digital transformation, hybrid work models, and certain structural changes, became permanent. The thesis contributes to the understanding of how Black Swan events impact Organization Design in the Medical Manufacturing Industry, providing practical recommendations for decision-making during crises and emphasizing the significance of organizational resilience and change management. The study's theoretical contributions include exploring path dependence in crisis-induced transformations, highlighting the dynamic nature of organizational responses, and suggesting future research avenues. Overall, this research enhances knowledge of Organization Design dynamics and offers guidance for organizations in crisis response and resilience-building. / Covid-19 förde med sig olika utmaningar och konsevenser såväl ekonomiskt som hälsomässigt. Pandemin kan ses som ett exempel på en svart svan-händelse, dvs. en osannolik händelse med omfattande konsekvenser. Organisationer var tvungna att anpassa sig för att möta utmaningarna som denna svarta svan-händelse medförde, i synnerhet när det gäller organisationsdesign. Eftersom pandemin fortfarande ligger relativt nära i tiden, har en stor del av forskningen kring organisationsdesign och Covid-19 fokuserat på förändringarna under pandemin. Det som har saknats i forskningen är ett perspektiv på utvecklingen av organisationsdesign över tid. Denna uppsats bidrar till att fylla detta kunskapsgap genom en fallstudie av ett medicinskt tillverkningsföretag. Två forskningsfrågor behandlas, den första frågan fokuserar på hur individer på olika positioner i företaget uppfattade förändringar i organisationsdesign under pandemin. Med utgångspunkt i Jay Galbraiths Star Model visar uppsatsen att uppfattningar om förändringar skiljer sig åt mellan olika positioner, särskilt med avseende på personaltillväxt, struktur, kommunikation, belöningar och rekryteringsprocesser. Den andra forskningsfrågan behandlar hur organisationsdesignen utvecklats i ett stigberoende perspektiv.Vissa förändringar, som rutiner för hantering av Covid-19 och specifika belöningsmodeller, fasades ut, medan andra, som distansarbete, digitalisering, hybridarbetsmodeller och vissa strukturella förändringar, förblev permanenta. Uppsatsen bidrar till en ny förståelse för hur en svarta svan-händelse kan påverka organisationsdesign inom ett företag och ger rekommendationer för beslutsfattande under kriser samt betonar betydelsen av organisationsresiliens och förändringshantering. Studiens teoretiska bidrag ligger i kombinationen av stigberoendeteori och omvandling under en extern kris av svart svan-typ.

Today’s enterprises are operating in a highly complex environment with rapid disruptions from different areas such as technology, regulations or market, all of them capable of bringing the entire industry upside down. And many large organizations are adopting agile software development methods as part of their continuous push towards higher flexibility and shorter lead times. Agility, however, introduces challenges and problems for the engineering of enterprises, yet few reports on organizational alignment in this regard are available in the literature. This problem of alignment between business/operations and IT has been around for as long as computers have been introduced to the work offices and is still today an important issue for enterprises of any kind. This thesis, therefore, tries to investigate the lack of insight or fragmented knowledge regarding organizational design or architecture of modern enterprises in both academia and industry. The purpose of this thesis is to explicate the challenges and recommendations found in research papers, industrial whitepapers and interviews in order to propose guidelines for achieving better alignment. The goal of this thesis is to provide an inventory of available researches in the area of Business and IT Alignment (BITA) and organizational science in order to help suggest a basis for future research. For this purpose, a Design Science Research (DSR) strategy has been followed in combination with a literature review accompanied by two rounds of interviews as a means for data collection and evaluation. The artefacts resulting from this thesis take the form of fifteen guidelines extracted using coding analysis from the literature review and a first round of interviews at a major Swedish vehicle manufacturing enterprise. The guidelines were subsequently evaluated in a second round of interview with an industry expert reviewing the correctness and usefulness of the guidelines. The results of the evaluation proved that guidelines were useful for both the academia and industry experts. Hence, enabling the author to claim that a tentative proposition has been achieved. / Dagens företag arbetar i en mycket komplex miljö med snabba störningar från olika områden som teknik, regler eller marknader, som alla kan vända hela branschen upp och ner. Och många stora organisationer använder sig av agila programvaruutvecklingsmetoder som en del av deras kontinuerliga tryck mot högre flexibilitet och kortare ledtider. Agilitet eller snabbfothet medför emellertid utmaningar och problem för konstruktion av organisationer, men få rapporter om organisatorisk anpassning i detta avseende finns tillgängliga i litteraturen. Detta problem med anpassningen mellan verksamhet och IT har funnits så länge datorer har introducerats på arbetsplatserna och är än idag en viktig fråga för organisationer av alla slags. Denna avhandling försöker därför undersöka bristen på insikt eller fragmenterad kunskap om organisationsdesign eller arkitektur hos moderna företag i både den akademiska världen och såväl industrin. Syftet med denna avhandling är att beskriva de utmaningarna och rekommendationerna som finns i forskningspapper, industriella vitböcker och intervjuer för att föreslå riktlinjer för bättre anpassning. Målet med denna avhandling är att tillhandahålla en inventering av tillgängliga forskningar inom området Business and IT Alignment (BITA) och organisationsvetenskap för att kunna föreslå en grund för framtida forskning. För detta ändamål har en Design Science Research (DSR) strategi följts i kombination med en litteraturstudie åtföljd av två intervjuomgångar som ett medel för datainsamling och utvärdering. Artefakterna som härrör från denna avhandling har formen av femton riktlinjer extraherade med hjälp av kodningsanalys från litteraturstudien och en första intervjuomgång hos ett stort svenskt fordonstillverkningsföretag. Riktlinjerna utvärderades därefter i en andra intervjuomgång med en branschexpert som granskade riktigheten och användbarheten av riktlinjerna. Resultaten av utvärderingen visade att riktlinjerna var användbara för både akademin och branschexperter. Därför gör det möjligt för författaren att hävda att en preliminär proposition har uppnåtts.

The research problem that this study sought to address stemmed from a lack of knowledge about South African organizations and a dearth of empirical, quantitative research into organizations, organization structure and organization climate in this country. Five research hypotheses were formulated to address this problem and its attendant subpriJblems. A comprehensive review of the related literature and research was c~trried out and Organization Theory was traced to its earliest beginnings. A number of schools hased on Max Weber's bureaucratic ideal type were described and contrasted. Much attention was paid to the work of the Aston group m the United Kingdom and to their efforts to operationalize Weberian concepts and to incorporate them into a replicable body of quantitative research. Points of departure were re-examined and some new twists to Systems Theory and Structural Functionalism were considered. It was established that the demographic characteristics of both the sample and the population were similar enough for the results of this study to be generalised to the population with some degree of confidence. Much care was taken to test and validate each of the scales that comprised the questionnaire, and item analyses and factor analyses were carried out for every variable and group of variables. The measures developed in other parts of the world and by other researchers performed very well in a South African setting - as did the measures developed specifically for this study. Statistical associations and causal relationships between the various sets of variables, both at the sector level and at individual industry subgroup level, were sought by means of multiple regression analyses. Broad support was found for a 'culture-free hypothesis' that there are a number of stable relationships between organizations and their context; and these relationships will be constant in direction and strength regardless of differences in structures, or in contexts of structures between societies. Importantly, there were also a number of significant differences between this study and the findings of other studies which reflected South Africa's unique blend of developed and developing cultures and value systems. These differences provide fertile ground for future research in the field of Organization Theory. / Business Management / DBL

本文針對臺灣以技術創新作為策略發展主軸的企業案例，以五芒星模型（Five Star Model），分析其從代工轉為品牌經營商時，在組織設計上，所採取的措施和手段，作為後進者依循的組織設計原則。 五芒星模型，以策略、組織結構、流程、薪酬制度和人力資源五大組織設計的基本元素，分析各項元素中組織設計的原則。而本文以華碩電腦、宏達國際電子兩家分別在個人電腦及手機業內卓然有成的臺灣企業作為分析案例。觀察他們在從代工，轉型到品牌經營商時，在策略、組織結構、流程、薪酬制度以及人力資源上，所採取的行動，並將這五大組織設計元素分析出來的結果，作歸納整理，形成一套可資遵循的準則，俾使後續臺灣其他有心以技術創新作為發展品牌的廠商，能夠在進行組織變革時，依著此準則，降低失敗的風險，提高成功的可能。 / This thesis will focus on Taiwanese enterprises which run their business with innovative technologies. We try to analyze these cases with Five Star Model. Figure out what they have done during their organization changes for transition from OEM to OBM. Through the five basic elements in the model, we could easily observe their actions and build the rules for those who want to find organizational design guidance. The Five Star model list Strategies, Organization Structure, Process, People, and Reward System, as the five basic elements in organization design. Researchers could use this model to analyze the enterprise and identify the organization design principles. In this thesis, Asustek Computers, and HTC are the enterprise which we are interested in. They both are the outstanding Taiwanese companies in PC and Mobile phone categories. Both companies are famous on their innovation thinking and design. They also do the same thing to change their business model – from OEM to OBM (Own Brand Manufacturing). We observe their actions in the transition from OEM to OBM, and use Five Star Model to analyze their policy in strategies, organization structure, process, people, and reward systems. Try to identify what they have done and list their organization change thinking in these categories. We will build the guidance through Five Star Model, and provide them to those who want to use the same scheme to build their own brand. Lower the risk of failure and promote the chances to be successful.

The research problem that this study sought to address stemmed from a lack of knowledge about South African organizations and a dearth of empirical, quantitative research into organizations, organization structure and organization climate in this country. Five research hypotheses were formulated to address this problem and its attendant subpriJblems. A comprehensive review of the related literature and research was c~trried out and Organization Theory was traced to its earliest beginnings. A number of schools hased on Max Weber's bureaucratic ideal type were described and contrasted. Much attention was paid to the work of the Aston group m the United Kingdom and to their efforts to operationalize Weberian concepts and to incorporate them into a replicable body of quantitative research. Points of departure were re-examined and some new twists to Systems Theory and Structural Functionalism were considered. It was established that the demographic characteristics of both the sample and the population were similar enough for the results of this study to be generalised to the population with some degree of confidence. Much care was taken to test and validate each of the scales that comprised the questionnaire, and item analyses and factor analyses were carried out for every variable and group of variables. The measures developed in other parts of the world and by other researchers performed very well in a South African setting - as did the measures developed specifically for this study. Statistical associations and causal relationships between the various sets of variables, both at the sector level and at individual industry subgroup level, were sought by means of multiple regression analyses. Broad support was found for a 'culture-free hypothesis' that there are a number of stable relationships between organizations and their context; and these relationships will be constant in direction and strength regardless of differences in structures, or in contexts of structures between societies. Importantly, there were also a number of significant differences between this study and the findings of other studies which reflected South Africa's unique blend of developed and developing cultures and value systems. These differences provide fertile ground for future research in the field of Organization Theory. / Business Management / DBL

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