Types of organisations

As Lauren Keller Johnson (2004a) states, organisations encounter predictable challenges related to growth and change. For example,

- some organisations become bureaucratic, slow and overly-politicised as proliferating layers of management interfere with decision-making

- others, forced by their increasing mass to decentralise, spawn confusion by setting up uncoordinated structures and processes across functions

- healthy qualities of resilience, adaptability and focus give way to sluggishness, chaos and passivity.

Furthermore, Lauren reports that there are 7 types of organisations

"...i) resilient: anticipates and proactively adapt quickly to market shifts, yet remains focused on and aligned with a coherent business strategy

ii) just in time: is less proactive but can "turn on a dime" without losing sight of the big picture

iii) military: succeeds through sheer force of top executive's will

iv) passive-aggressive: demonstrates surface-level agreement and congeniality but entrenched, underground resistance defeats attempts at change

v) fits and starts: has scores of smart, motivated, talented people but they don't pull in the same direction at the same time

vi) has grown: is too large to be controlled by a small team of top executives but moves slowly because it doesn't have democratic decision-making

vii) over-managed: has multiple layers of management and suffers from "paralysis by analysis" ..."

Lauren Keller Johnson, 2004a