Extensive practical experience as well as a
rapidly growing body of research indicates
that the established organization is ill-
equipped to support the successful development and launch of
new products
and businesses.
Executives at established companies must recognize that the new venture will require the careful creation and development of a discrete organizational structure with its own resources, processes and values in order to incubate, cultivate, and harvest the business opportunities of the budding innovative enterprise.
In this article, we will review some of the leading research into organizing for innovation, and then summarize key guidelines for executives.
The Design of New Organizational Forms
by Jennifer Herber, Jitendra V Singh and Michael Useem
In their excellent chapter “The Design of New Organizational Forms” in Wharton On Managing Emerging Technologies, Jennifer Herber, Jitendra V Singh and Michael Useem explain: “Dominant players often fail to adapt because it means dismantling the very organizations that have led to their success. Past adaptations become inertial constraints, leading to a kind of “competency trap”. The organizational architectures that companies have built to propel their success can become as outmoded as feudal kingdoms in an age of democracy”.
Herber, Singh and Useem discuss six emerging organizational forms. These include virtual organizations, network firms, spinouts, ambidextrous firms, front-back designs and sense-and-respond firms. These are all examples of dynamic, adaptable organizations well suited to innovation.
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