At this stage, enterprises are faced with rapidly changing business environment. With estimated the relative reaction time and decision-making has also become very short time. Any decision-making will be on corporate organizational structure and business process changes consequent. The adjustments of the enterprises would require the co-ordination of Information Systems. How to quickly modify the information system for the enterprises has become a very important issue. This thesis has a website for example that describes how to use the Service-Oriented Architects Association Website Model (SOAAWM) of the amendment to the enterprise information system. SOAAWM uses four tools such as architecture hierarchy diagram, service operation diagram, structure-behavior coalescence diagram, and business process diagram to build up the website. SOAAWM is based on the service-oriented theory and method. By using the structure-behavior coalescence approach embedded in SOAAWM, we are able to describe working situations of organizational structures, business processes, and information systems clearly enough to reduce the business risks. In this study, through structure-behavior coalescence approach embedded in the theory and method of service-oriented re-planning of the organizational structures and business processes, making such a great level of complexity and impact of information systems can be avoided in the build omissions or bias, but also enhance the post on-line information system communication efficiency and maintain quality. This is the major achievement of our research.

<p>Many organisational flaws are consequences of unsuitable structure arrangements that do not support the organisation in its work towards goal accomplishment. The appropriateness of the structure is determined by how well it allows the organisation to respond to the environment in which it is active. Furthermore, an organisation is divided into parts with their own requirements on the structure. CSR is a concept that enables for a wider perspective of how to conduct business, thereby strengthening the link between the organisation and the external society. It addresses the issues of how a company can create sustainable wealth through behaving in a responsible way where a high responsiveness to the environment is crucial. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to describe and analyse how the organisational social structure of the CSR work can help and enhance such engagement.</p><p>An abductive approach have steered the authors when conducting this study. Qualitative data is explicitly used, gathered through interviews with representatives from ABB and Skanska. The data derived from these interviews provides a picture of what, why and how the two companies have chosen to work with CSR issues as well as how they have chosen to structure the work. Using the theoretical frame and the empirical data an analyse of the characteristics and arguments for CSR and the cultural, motivational and structural aspects led to the identification of requirements that this work place on the structure and how ABB and Skanska handle these requirements.</p><p>The objective of CSR is to be able to assess the business impact on the society and from that standpoint create a way to handle those impacts. Therefore the work is different from company to company but with common requirements on the structure where some are, local responsiveness, creativity and unified work. To answer to these requirements the structure should preferable have the characteristics of horizontal differentiation and specialisation on group level, an integration based on both human interaction and documents where standardisation should be avoided. This implies that the requirements of CSR are best met when the mechanic and the organic structure meet. An organic organisation needs mechanical traits to allow for the guidelines, directives and responsibilities to be defined in order to reach a unified picture. The mechanical on the other hand needs organic characteristics to support and allow for continuous improvements and work that takes local conditions into account.</p>

Incorporating team context into research and practice concerning team effectiveness in multinational organizations still remains an ongoing challenge. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the influence of industry, corporate culture, structure, strategy and task characteristics on MNTs in business organizations and to develop a more comprehensive framework connecting the internal dynamics with contextual aspects of MNTs functioning in companies in Europe and the USA. The study was conducted in an Austrian (VA TECH), a German (Henkel) and an American company (K&M International). Forty-two problem-centered interviews were conducted with 22 team members and 20 team leaders. Levels of uncertainty, stress and turbulence influence organizations and MNTs since teams and organizations have to reshape their strategies. Multinational strategy has a positive impact on MNTs while companies with a global strategy assign low value to diversity. MNT norms in companies with a strong corporate culture are reflective of the organizational culture. MNTs at companies with a weak corporate culture develop their own unique cultures and deviate from the values and norms set by the organization. Team composition, size and length of cooperation have a moderating effect on MNTs. We could identify several team leader competences that contribute to team success. The results show how teams reduce the complexity of operations by facilitating the creation and transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge and by transferring appropriate dimensions of the HQ corporate culture between geographically dispersed business units. (author's abstract)

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / In the pursuit of creating a culture of assessment, Purdue University has been developing organizational structures to encourage teams and units to integrate assessment and evaluation throughout their work projects. We created an Evaluation and Assessment Consultative Team (EACT) five years ago to assist units with their assessments, and for the past few years, the Libraries have explicitly required teams to include measurable outcomes in their annual planning documents. This presentation will describe the planning process that our teams and units go through to integrate assessment into their work, including staff development activities sponsored by EACT that prepare teams for this process. Examples of team-engendered assessments will be shared as well. The brief presentation of the assessment situation at Purdue will be a springboard into a discussion of the challenges teams face when asked to include outcomes in their planning. The audience will be divided into small groups to construct a list of challenges and will report them out. Then, as a group, we'll brainstorm staff development, administrative, or other techniques to address those challenges.

In this paper, I explore what competencies are required for a company with broad-based, discontinuous, high-technology products. Many of the competencies the company must support are seemingly contradictory. Some examples include managing deliberate versus emergent strategy, market focus versus disruptive design, and exploration versus exploitation. I propose a specific organizational structure to support such paradoxical competencies for a company with these characteristic broad, discontinuous, high-technology products. / text

The quality of care in nursing homes has generally improved since the implementation of the OBRA-1987; however reports of serious problems such as inadequate pain management, pressure sores, malnutrition, and urinary incontinence persist. While the primary concern remains lack of staffing, investigators have found that even the highest staffed nursing homes are deficient in some care processes. It has been suggested that a lack of effective management structure may be a contributing factor. There is theoretical and empirical evidence to suggest that effective management structure is best guided by the complexity of work performed by the organization. The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument to measure nursing care complexity in nursing homes. Items were developed based on a comprehensive review of the literature and the adaptation of items from existing instruments to make them relevant to the nursing home setting. Content validity was evaluated by nurse experts with extensive knowledge of the theory and/or nursing home care. One hundred sixty-eight direct care providers from seven nursing homes located in central and southern Arizona participated in the study.Reliability was estimated using Cronbach's alpha. Reliabilities using individual level data were generally acceptable for a new scale, however, the alpha for the client technology subscale was low (total scale = .78, client technology = .65, operations technology = .78, and knowledge technology = .79). Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated three domains of nursing care complexity as conceptualized. Explained variance for the 3 factors was 36.19%. There was a very modest correlation of the instrument with an established instrument of work unit technology and a modified magnitude estimate of nursing care complexity. One subscale (knowledge technology) discriminated between nursing subunits in the nursing home.The instrument demonstrated modest psychometric properties in measuring nursing care complexity in nursing homes. The strength of the instrument is its ability to measure domains of work complexity based on theory from organizational and nursing science. Further investigation is needed to strengthen the psychometric properties of the instrument and to determine its usefulness in measuring nursing care complexity in nursing homes.

Globalization and the new knowledge economy have far-reaching implications for higher education mainly in the economic, political, social and technological aspects of knowledge production. Higher education institutions are the main providers of both knowledge and knowledge workers. While research and teaching are the main processes for producing knowledge at colleges and universities (Clark, 1983), information technology has been an enabling infrastructure for globalization and the main vehicle for the dissemination of knowledge as well as for facilitating knowledge in becoming a commodity (Altbach, 2006; Altbach & Teichler, 2001; McBurnie, 2001). This has led to the penetration of higher education institutions by market forces and the business sector. The commercial value of these knowledge assets in the new knowledge economy has brought economic, political, and social implications for higher education institutions. Now, they seek to strategically manage their organizational knowledge (Metcalfe, 2006; Trow, 2001). Information technology has become embedded in higher education's knowledge production and has led to reorganization of conventional academic structures, faculty work, and teaching practices.This research addresses diverse fields of study such as organizational change, sociology of organizations, and political economy of organizations, and focuses on a single developing country. The structurational model of technology, the power-process perspective of technology, the theory of academic capitalism, and the framework for strategic management of intellectual capital were joined in this study to examine: (a) the intellectual capital created through instructional production and delivery of information technology enhanced courses and its strategic management; and (b) the impact of information technology on the organization of higher education and faculty's academic work with regard to instructional production and delivery.Findings show that information technology is not regarded as an opportunity to develop intellectual capital; thus, dependency on foreign technology is favored. An academic capitalist knowledge/learning regime is still incipient in developing countries; therefore, intellectual property policies and commercialization of intellectual assets are new to higher education institutions. The vast majority of these institutions are teaching-oriented; hence, the incorporation of information technology has re-structured their organization and in turn had an impact on managerial capacity, academic work and the academic profession.

Many organisational flaws are consequences of unsuitable structure arrangements that do not support the organisation in its work towards goal accomplishment. The appropriateness of the structure is determined by how well it allows the organisation to respond to the environment in which it is active. Furthermore, an organisation is divided into parts with their own requirements on the structure. CSR is a concept that enables for a wider perspective of how to conduct business, thereby strengthening the link between the organisation and the external society. It addresses the issues of how a company can create sustainable wealth through behaving in a responsible way where a high responsiveness to the environment is crucial. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to describe and analyse how the organisational social structure of the CSR work can help and enhance such engagement. An abductive approach have steered the authors when conducting this study. Qualitative data is explicitly used, gathered through interviews with representatives from ABB and Skanska. The data derived from these interviews provides a picture of what, why and how the two companies have chosen to work with CSR issues as well as how they have chosen to structure the work. Using the theoretical frame and the empirical data an analyse of the characteristics and arguments for CSR and the cultural, motivational and structural aspects led to the identification of requirements that this work place on the structure and how ABB and Skanska handle these requirements. The objective of CSR is to be able to assess the business impact on the society and from that standpoint create a way to handle those impacts. Therefore the work is different from company to company but with common requirements on the structure where some are, local responsiveness, creativity and unified work. To answer to these requirements the structure should preferable have the characteristics of horizontal differentiation and specialisation on group level, an integration based on both human interaction and documents where standardisation should be avoided. This implies that the requirements of CSR are best met when the mechanic and the organic structure meet. An organic organisation needs mechanical traits to allow for the guidelines, directives and responsibilities to be defined in order to reach a unified picture. The mechanical on the other hand needs organic characteristics to support and allow for continuous improvements and work that takes local conditions into account.

This is a case study which investigated the perceived consequences of the organizational change that was implemented in January 2013 at Karlstad University. The study aimed to explore the experiences of the employees concerning the changes in organizational structure and internal communication. This was done through a set of eight individual standardized qualitative interviews with members from different departments. A lot of effort and thought was given to the ethical implications and to create a comfortable and open climate during the actual interviews to ensure that the respondents felt free to speak openly and honestly about their personal opinions and experiences. It is evident that the overall vision was ambitious; aiming to create a more effective organization through cutting off excessive administrative personnel and streamlining decision paths. However according to the opinions of the respondents it was clear that the result was far from the desired goal. Essentially, efficiency was only achieved at the top level. Previous administrative tasks have been moved to new members and a major uncertainty has arisen. A critical reason for the failure was the lack of communication during the organizational change, which created lots of antagonism from the employees. The management was unsuccessful in making the members feel involved in the decision making, and a lack of transparency was apparent. The hopes of a transparent organization were then high after the change, but proved to turn out quite the contrary. Decision referrals have failed to reach the employees until after the final decision has been made. The decision paths are not considered to be more effective amongst the departments and a massive dissatisfaction has emerged since employees no longer can make their own decision on matters that involve them. This involves for example shaping their own syllabi, something which they were fully capable and successful in doing before the change. A massive micromanagement has thus been created, and it is not deemed adapted to the organization as a whole. This has created an impression amongst the members that they are no longer trusted or considered competent. The merging of departments has not been successful either. Some combinations are not considered logical and the desire to break new grounds has not been achieved. The old department groups instead appear to have grown stronger, and not the cooperation in-between them, not even within the newly combined departments. One reason for this may be that the idea and hope of increasing cooperation across department borders was a desire from the management, and not the departments themselves. Thus, there is uncertainty both in the current leadership structure and internal communication. The members are lacking proper instructions on how communication should pass both up and down. Therefore they desire more distinct guidelines and an explicit division of responsibilities. The conclusion is therefore unambiguous; improved effectiveness has only been achieved in the top layers of the organization, and not facilitated work or improved the situation of the employees. This consequence is pitiful at an organization such as a university with concurrent research, which definitely possesses the knowledge and competences within both organizational structures and internal communication. Conclusively, they have not managed in successfully converting their internal assets from theory to action. Key words: internal communication, organizational change, organizational structure / Detta är en fallstudie över konsekvenserna av omorganisationen som skedde i januari 2013 på Karlstads universitet. Syftet var att ta reda på medarbetarnas upplevelse av förändringarna inom internkommunikationen och organisationsstrukturen. Detta uppnåddes genom åtta stycken personintervjuer av strukturerad form med anställda ifrån olika institutioner. Stor vikt lades på de etiska övervägandena och för att skapa en trygghet och tillit under själva intervjutillfällena så att respondenterna kunde svara öppet och ärligt gällande sina åsikter och upplevelser. Det framgår att den ursprungliga visionen hade ambition; där man önskade effektivisering med hjälp av mindre administrativ personal och effektivare beslutsvägar. Enligt medarbetarnas uppfattning blev dock resultatet långt ifrån idealet. På det stora hela förbättrades effektiviteten i beslutsvägarna endast högt upp i hierarkin. Administrativa personalens uppgifter blev flyttade till nya medarbetare och en stor otydlighet uppstod. En avgörande anledning var att man misslyckades i kommunikationen under processens gång, vilket gjorde att många medarbetare motsatte sig förändringen. Man misslyckades då medarbetarna inte kände sig delaktiga i de beslut som fattades, och därmed upplevde processen som ogenomskinlig. Hoppet om en transparent organisation var stort inledningsvis vid omorganiseringen, men det har snarare blivit tvärt om då beslutsremisser inte kommer ut till medarbetarna förrän efter besluten är genomförda. Beslutsvägarna känns inte effektivare nere på ämnesnivå, och ett stort missnöje har uppstått då medarbetarna inte längre har rätt till att besluta kring saker som står nära dem, exempelvis sina egen kursplaner, något som de tidigare anser sig ha klarat av mycket bra själva. Det har således uppstått en detaljstyrning uppifrån som inte passar verksamheten och detta har skapat en känsla bland medarbetarna av att de inte längre är betrodda. Sammanslagningen av institutioner blev inte heller perfekt, då vissa kombinationer inte känns logiska och visionen om att bryta mark inte uppenbarat sig. Ämnena i sig har istället blivit stärkta snarare än samarbetet mellan dem, vilket kan grunda sig i att idén om samarbete inte kom som ett önskemål från ämnena själva utan uppifrån i hierarkin. Det finns således en otydlighet både i strukturen och kommunikationen. Det är oklart hur kommunikationen ska hanteras nerifrån och uppåt, och därför önskas tydligare riktlinjer och ansvarsområden. Slutsatsen är alltså entydig; effektiviseringen har enbart rört ledningen och inte underlättat eller förbättrat situationen för medarbetarna. Detta ifrågasätts då en organisation som ett universitet med aktiv forskning inom både organisationsstruktur och internkommunikation väl besitter kunskap och kompetenser, men inte lyckats omvandla dessa tillgångar från teori till praktik i sin egen verksamhet. Nyckelord: internkommunikation, organisationsförändring, organisationsstruktur

Submitted in fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2014 / Universities are seen to be facing a turbulent storm of challenges, demands, environmental changes, and facilitated thrust in the midst of economic meltdown. The environments in which these institutions are operating are becoming increasingly tempestuous, and competitive which makes leadership crucial as they continuously interface with the local and wider environments. At its best leadership is proximate, contextual and distributed especially in the case of complex organisations like universities. Changes and institutional mergers that took place worldwide two decades ago diffused to the south of Africa as well. These mergers resulted in the formation of mega universities and universities with satellite or branch campuses. If the trend continues with branch campuses spreading even into foreign countries, it will lead to growth and even more leadership complexity. This study was conducted in order to establish the challenges that are faced by staff and students at satellite campuses of universities using the Riverside Campus of the Durban University of Technology as a case study. Literature on leadership and management theories, leadership in higher education and organisational structures was reviewed in order to contextualise the study. A sample of the executive leadership of the university used as a case study was interviewed in order to determine their attitudes towards the current organisational structure. Data was also gathered from the academic and administrative staff at the satellite campus used for the study as well as first and third year students at the same campus using questionnaires. This study is significant because it feeds into the year-long study that was initiated by the Leadership Foundation on Higher Education and conducted from 2010 and finished in July 2011 by the Hull University’s Scarborough Campus that was aimed at determining the most effective relationship between the centre (mother campus) and its satellite campuses, identifying tensions between the strategic and operational levels and making students’ experience consistent. The whole project was undertaken to arrive at a better understanding of the challenges of managing two or more campuses with particular emphasis on strategic matters, organisation, leadership and management structures. The study discovered that there were leadership challenges which were not unique to the university and campus used as a case study, but similar to those identified during literature review. Issues such as lack of leadership and strategic direction, diverse cultures, incomplete merger, isolation, inequitable distribution of resources and lack of development were identified as challenges that needed to be addressed. The study advances as original contribution the ‘Radial Structure’, which was greatly inspired by the natural movement, flow and distribution of energy and information in fractals. This structure ensures equity across all campuses irrespective of size and location. In the radial structure as suggested and implied by the name the corporate division is the source of energy in the form of vision, mission, goals, strategy, and resources which it disburses or radiates equitably across all the campuses. The corporate division is not attached to any campus, but it is a pole that provides an anchor for all the campuses. The energy or feedback is also radiated back to the corporate office from the campuses in the form of student fees, research output from staff and students, pass rates, information to aid decision-making and so on. The relationship that was established between the radial structure and the regression model developed from the responses of the students and theory, was that each campus should be fully-equipped with all the services that the users require for the campus to be fit for purpose. The radial structure would also allow for student services to grow and develop as the campus grows. Like any organisational structure, the radial structure could be adjusted to suit the needs of any university with satellite campuses. The organisational structure would also have to be revisited and adjusted as the needs of the university change. In essence the structure is aimed at ensuring that there is no leadership vacuum at any of the satellite campuses of a university.