IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jorgde/v11y2022i1d10.1007_s41469-022-00109-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How to get better at flatter designs: considerations for shaping and leading organizations with less hierarchy

Author

Listed:
  • Markus Reitzig

    (University of Vienna)

Abstract

Working with fewer hierarchical layers than has been the case traditionally is often considered critical for firms to become more innovative, speedier, and retain and attract gifted personnel in today’s world. The upside appears great, but so do the associated risks of creating a dysfunctional organization. I propose that systematically thinking through a series of classic organization design questions to shape a custom-tailored design is promising when delayering grown hierarchies or growing start-ups to remain flat. More promising than adopting any one fashionable management approach wholesale.

Suggested Citation

  • Markus Reitzig, 2022. "How to get better at flatter designs: considerations for shaping and leading organizations with less hierarchy," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(1), pages 5-10, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jorgde:v:11:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s41469-022-00109-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s41469-022-00109-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41469-022-00109-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41469-022-00109-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raghuram G. Rajan & Julie Wulf, 2006. "The Flattening Firm: Evidence from Panel Data on the Changing Nature of Corporate Hierarchies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 759-773, November.
    2. Helge Klapper & Markus Reitzig, 2018. "On the effects of authority on peer motivation: Learning from Wikipedia," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(8), pages 2178-2203, August.
    3. Jesse Shore & Ethan Bernstein & David Lazer, 2015. "Facts and Figuring: An Experimental Investigation of Network Structure and Performance in Information and Solution Spaces," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(5), pages 1432-1446, October.
    4. Carliss Y. Baldwin & Kim B. Clark, 2000. "Design Rules, Volume 1: The Power of Modularity," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262024667, December.
    5. Smeets, Valerie & Warzynski, Frederic, 2008. "Too many theories, too few facts? What the data tell us about the link between span of control, compensation and career dynamics," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 687-703, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marcel Maurer & Norbert Bach & Simon Oertel, 2023. "Changes in formal structure towards self-managing organization and their effects on the intra-organizational communication network," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 12(3), pages 83-98, September.
    2. Constantinos Markides, 2022. "Boundary conditions for effective delegation in flat structures," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(1), pages 19-22, March.
    3. Alen BADAL, 2022. "Inclusion + Respect ≥ Effective Leadership," CrossCultural Management Journal, Fundația Română pentru Inteligența Afacerii, Editorial Department, issue 1, pages 69-64, July.
    4. Frank Martela, 2023. "Managers matter less than we think: how can organizations function without any middle management?," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 12(1), pages 19-25, June.
    5. Oliver Baumann & Brian Wu, 2023. "Managerial hierarchy in AI-driven organizations," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 12(1), pages 1-5, June.
    6. Oliver Baumann & Brian Wu, 2022. "The many dimensions of research on designing flat firms," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(1), pages 1-3, March.
    7. Olav Sorenson, 2022. "Flat firms, complementary choices, employee effort, and the pyramid principle," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(1), pages 11-14, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tim Hazledine, 2016. "Tip of the Iceberg? Organisational Foundations of Top Pay in New Zealand Listed Companies, 1995-2014," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 19(3), pages 197-206.
    2. Valerie Smeets, 2017. "Can firms oversee more workers with fewer managers?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 333-333, February.
    3. Westling, Tatu, 2012. "Managerial spans, industry tasks and ICT: evidence from the U.S," MPRA Paper 39403, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Yue Maggie Zhou, 2013. "Designing for Complexity: Using Divisions and Hierarchy to Manage Complex Tasks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 339-355, April.
    5. McCann, Robert J. & Shi, Xianwen & Siow, Aloysius & Wolthoff, Ronald P., 2012. "Becker Meets Ricardo: Multisector Matching with Social and Cognitive Skills," IZA Discussion Papers 6533, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Lee, Margaret & Kray, Laura J., 2021. "A gender gap in managerial span of control: Implications for the gender pay gap," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 1-17.
    7. Anja Schöttner & Veikko Thiele, 2010. "Promotion Tournaments and Individual Performance Pay," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 699-731, September.
    8. Daron Acemoglu & Philippe Aghion & Claire Lelarge & John Van Reenen & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2007. "Technology, Information, and the Decentralization of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1759-1799.
    9. Filippo Carlo Wezel & Gino Cattani & Johannes M. Pennings, 2006. "Competitive Implications of Interfirm Mobility," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(6), pages 691-709, December.
    10. Srivardhini K. Jha & E. Richard Gold & Laurette Dubé, 2021. "Modular Interorganizational Network Governance: A Conceptual Framework for Addressing Complex Social Problems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-21, September.
    11. Bénédicte Gendron, 2004. "Why emotional capital matters in education and in labour? toward an Optimal exploitation of human capital and knowledge management," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques r04113, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    12. Nicholas Bloom & Luis Garicano & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2014. "The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(12), pages 2859-2885, December.
    13. Singh, Anuraag & Triulzi, Giorgio & Magee, Christopher L., 2021. "Technological improvement rate predictions for all technologies: Use of patent data and an extended domain description," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    14. Seppo Kuula & Harri Haapasalo & Arto Tolonen, 2018. "Cost-efficient co-creation of knowledge intensive business services," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 12(4), pages 779-808, December.
    15. Kevin Amess & Sarah Brown & Steve Thompson, 2007. "Management Buyouts, Supervision And Employee Discretion," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 54(4), pages 447-474, September.
    16. Ghazala Azmat & Marc Möller, 2018. "The Distribution of Talent Across Contests," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(609), pages 471-509, March.
    17. Gambardella, Alfonso & Conti, Raffaele & Novelli, Elena, 2018. "Specializing in Generality: Firm Strategies When Intermediate Markets Work," CEPR Discussion Papers 12782, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Morgan Dwyer & Bruce Cameron & Zoe Szajnfarber, 2015. "A Framework for Studying Cost Growth on Complex Acquisition Programs," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(6), pages 568-583, November.
    19. Fei Li & Jin Chen & Ying Ying, 2019. "Innovation Search Scope, Technological Complexity, and Environmental Turbulence: A N-K Simulation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-12, August.
    20. Nicholas Bloom & Raffaella Sadun, 2012. "The Organization of Firms Across Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(4), pages 1663-1705.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jorgde:v:11:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s41469-022-00109-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.