Exploring Management, Third Edition

When Carol Bartz took over as Yahoo's CEO, she said the firm's organization chart was “odd” and “looked like a Dilbert Cartoon.”

8

Organization Structure and Design: It's All About Working Together

Management Live

Empowerment and Patch Adams

YOUR CHAPTER 8 TAKEAWAYS

• Understand organizing as a managerial responsibility.
• Identify common types of organizational structures.
• Recognize current trends in organizational design.

The movie Patch Adams is based on the true-life story of Hunter “Patch” Adams. In the movie, Adams (Robin Williams) becomes increasingly disillusioned with medicalbureaucracy. After a heart-wrenching incident at the hospital where he volunteers, Adams is inspired to create a new kind of hospital—one free from the usual constraints. The idea involves unconventional methods of treatment. Doctors and patients work side-by-side; patients take responsibility for their owncare. Adams believed medical treatment would be more effective when patients had control.

This is how empowerment works in any setting. It frees people to make decisions about how they work. It recognizes their full potential. While structures and processes are necessary, they only carry an organization so far. People are the real difference.

Think back to a time when you had a problem with a product ...