The Necessary Nature of Future Firms

George P. Huber teaches "Organizational Change and Redesign" in the Executive MBA program and "Organizational Decision Making" in the doctoral program at The University of Texas at Austin, where holds the Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Regents Chair in Business Administration. His current research focuses on organizational change, organizational design, and organizational decision making. He has also conducted and published research in the areas of information technology and individual and group decision making. Dr. Huber is a Fellow of the Academy of Management and of the Decision Sciences Institute and is a charter member of the Academy of Management Journals Hall of Fame.In 1993, his co-edited book, Organizational Change and Redesign: Ideas and Insights for Improving Performance, was published by Oxford University Press, and in 1995 his co-edited book, Longitudinal Field Research Methods: Studying Processes of Organizational Change, was published by Sage Publications. Dr. Huber has held full time positions with the Emerson Electric Manufacturing Company, the Procter and Gamble Manufacturing Company, the U.S. Department of Labor, Execucom Systems Corporation, and has served as a consultant to many corporations and public agencies. Professor Huber has held full time faculty appointments at the Universities of Wisconsin, California, and Texas.

"While many books deal withdecision making and many more deal with environmental complexity, this is oneof the first to lucidly tie them together and provide executives with thespecific tools and mind-set necessary to bring about significant organizationalchange. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a key driver of the integrationof business and science, and this book will be a must-read for many of the studentsin our masters and executive education programs."

• Chapter 1 Dangerous Deficiencies WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHAT IS NOT? THE ROLE OF TOP MANAGEMENT ABOUT THIS BOOK Chapter 2 The Future Environments of Business OrganizationsSCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY Scientific Knowledge Improved Technologies Mental Blocks to Imagining a Different World on the Same Planet Interim Summary and Transition THE COMPLEXITY OF FUTURE ENVIRONMENTS Environmental Variety Environmental Density and Interdependence Interim Summary and Transition ENVIRONMENTAL DYNAMISM AND COMPETITIVENESS Velocity, Turbulence, and Instability Environmental Competitiveness Chapter 3 Sensing and Interpreting the Environment FACIT AB IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SENSING AND INTERPRETATION Consequences and Importance of Interpretation ENVIRONMENTAL SENSING IN FUTURE FIRMS Intelligence Gathering Intelligence Gathering As a Staff Function? As an Outsourced Function? Intelligence Gathering As Specialized Accountability Intelligence Gathering As Eclectic Responsibility Supporting Sensors Probing the Environment Sensing Early Responses to the Firm′s Actions and Products Top Managers As Environmental Sensors INTERPRETING WHAT IS SENSED Declines in Quality and Timeliness of Organizational Interpretations Enhancing Interpretation in Future Firms Faulty Interpretations Chapter 4 Organizational Decision Making DECISIONS AND DECISION MAKING RESOURCE IN FUTURE FIRMS Increasing Environmental Dynamism and Its Consequences Increasing Environmental Complexity and Its Consequences Increasing Competitiveness and Its Consequences Decision Maker Capabilities: Past, Present, Future DECISION MAKING PRACTICES IN FUTURE FIRMS Ensuring Scope Ensuring Speed Effects of Forthcoming Information Technologies on Decision Speed and Scope IT Investments Focused on Analysis IT Investments Focused on Communication TEMPTING PRACTICES Intuitive Decision Making Satisfying and Analogizing Firms′ Responses to Personal Propensities to Use Short-cut Methods Chapter 5 Knowledge Acquisition: Organizational Learning LEARNING, KNOWLEDGE, AND INNOVATION ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: A PRACTICE WHOSE TIME HAS COME LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE Highly Effective Learning Experiences: Designed Experiments Highly Effective Learning Experiences: Natural Experiments Highly Effective Learning Experiences: Learning from Action Probes and Operations Highly Effective Learning Experiences: Learning by Observing Samples of One or Fewer LEARNING FROM OTHERS - VICARIOUS LEARNING Absorptive Capacity Importing Knowledge in the Form of Expertise Enhancing Organizational Learning by Enhancing Individual Learning INTRODUCING LEARNING PRACTICES Chapter 6 Leveraging Learning through Knowledge Management SEMATECHTHE FOUR REPOSITORIES OF ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE THE NEED TO MANAGE KNOWLEDGE DIRECT, INFORMAL KNOWLEDGE SHARING An Example of How Motivation Can Negatively Affect Direct, Informal Knowledge Sharing Organizational Culture: An Achievable Solution to the Problem of Motivation? KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Motivational Issues in Knowledge Management Systems Managing Motivation in Knowledge Management Systems Situational Influences Favoring the Use of Extrinsic Motivators Long-lived traditions and cultures Increased use of teams, and of incentives for team performance Lower levels of organizational and group identification Person-to-Person Knowledge Sharing from a Distance PLANNED KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER ACROSS TEAMS Capturing and Transferring Team Learning Obstacles to Intra-Organizational Knowledge Transfer, and Solutions Chapter 7 Innovation: The Integration and Exploitation of Knowledge OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALIZATION WITHIN-FIRM APPROACHES TO INTEGRATING KNOWLEDGE: A BRIEF RECOUNTING OF CURRENT STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES Interim Summary and Transition KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION STRUCTURES IN FUTURE FIRMS CHANGES IN INTRA-FIRM STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES Dividing and Coordinating the Work Coordination Processes INTER-FIRM STRUCTURES Knowledge Transfer Between Levels and Across Firms: A Brief Update on Current Practice CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES Changes in Staffing Practices Finding Expertise CHANGES IN EXPERTS′ EMPLOYMENT STRATEGIES Factors Curtailing the Growth in Independent Contracting Chapter 8 Dealing with the Simultaneous Needs for Change, Productivity, Flexibility and Employee Commitment MORE-THAN-OCCASIONAL CONFLICTS Change-Productivity Conflict Change-Commitment Conflict Change-Flexibility Conflict Productivity-Commitment Conflict Flexibility-Productivity Conflict and Flexibility-Commitment Conflict DOWNSIZINGDownsizing in the Future Forces Inhibiting Downsizing Loss of Organizational Knowledge Lower Productivity of Retained Employees Decreased Effectiveness of Inter-firm Relations Increases in Unwanted Turnover USE OF TEMPORARY AND CONTRACT WORKERS Forces Inhibiting Use of Temporary Workers CHANGE AND CULTURE Environmental Effects on Future Firms′ Cultures Environmental Effects on Management′s Culture-managing Actions and Success Unintended Adverse Effects on the Firm′s Culture How Cultures Affect the Ability of the Firm to Change CULTURE AND COMPENSATION Organizational Culture Changes in the Conditions Favoring Direct Supervision Changes in Conditions Favoring Pay for Performance Changes in Conditions Favoring Pay for Performance for Teams Changes in Conditions Favoring Use of Organizational Culture Epilogue