Guide to Organisation Design

Guide to Organisation Design – Naomi Stanford

How should an organisation be structured to deliver its strategy? When should it reorganise, and how can it do so without causing chaos?

Guide to Organisation Design: Creating High-Performing and Adaptable Enterprises, by Naomi Stanford, an experienced organisation design consultant and practitioner, is part of The Economist’s respected series of business guides. It offers a clear, practical introduction to the principles and practice of designing organisations that perform well and can adapt to change.

Stanford explains that organisation design is about far more than drawing boxes on a chart. It involves aligning structure with strategy, processes, people, culture, systems and performance measures, so that the whole organisation works together effectively. She describes the main types of organisational structure and their strengths and weaknesses, and sets out a step-by-step approach to planning and implementing a redesign, from assessing the need for change and gathering data to engaging stakeholders, managing transition and evaluating results.

Throughout, she draws on case studies and real-world examples from a range of organisations, highlighting common pitfalls and offering tools, checklists and models that readers can apply in their own work.

Concise, authoritative and accessible, Guide to Organisation Design is a valuable resource for managers, HR and organisation development professionals, consultants and students who want to understand how to build organisations that are effective today and ready for tomorrow.