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Now in its fourth edition, this is the definitive step-by-step ''how to'' guide to designing an organization. Building on information processing theory, the book proposes a holistic, multi-contingency model of the organization. This textbook communicates the fundamentals of traditional and new organizational forms, including up-to-date analysis of self-organizing, boss-less, digital, and sustainable organizations. Providing a framework for the practical implementation of organizational design changes, the authors break the process down into seven basic steps: (1) Assessing Goals, (2) Assessing Strategy, (3) Analyzing Structure, (4) Assessing Process and People, (5) Analyzing Coordination, Control and Incentives, (6) Designing the Architecture, and (7) Implementing the Architecture. Each step connects with one of the nine interdependent components of the multi-contingency model, and the authors also provide a logical query process for approaching each of these components. This is an ideal guide for managers or executives interested in assessing their organization and taking steps to redesign it for success, as well as for MBA and executive MBA students looking for an introduction to organizational design.

Now in its fourth edition, this is the definitive step-by-step ''how to'' guide to designing an organization. Building on information processing theory, the book proposes a holistic, multi-contingency model of the organization. This textbook communicates the fundamentals of traditional and new organizational forms, including up-to-date analysis of self-organizing, boss-less, digital, and sustainable organizations. Providing a framework for the practical implementation of organizational design changes, the authors break the process down into seven basic steps: (1) Assessing Goals, (2) Assessing Strategy, (3) Analyzing Structure, (4) Assessing Process and People, (5) Analyzing Coordination, Control and Incentives, (6) Designing the Architecture, and (7) Implementing the Architecture. Each step connects with one of the nine interdependent components of the multi-contingency model, and the authors also provide a logical query process for approaching each of these components. This is an ideal guide for managers or executives interested in assessing their organization and taking steps to redesign it for success, as well as for MBA and executive MBA students looking for an introduction to organizational design.

There are two very contrasting approaches to reading this book and learning about organizational design. The more traditional approach is to read the book, and then use the OrgCon on cases and applications. The second approach is to begin with the OrgCon software and only examine the book as you find it helpful. Which approach is better? It is your choice, not ours. In our experience, students in organizational design prefer to start with the OrgCon and a case, rather than with the book itself. Readers who have more background in organization theory and design usually examine the book first.There are numerous changes in the third edition. The literature review in each chapter has been updated. The information processing approach is strengthened and applied more comprehensively as the theoretical underpinnings. Throughout we have rewritten the text beyond normal editing in an attempt to make the presentation clearer and easier to read.

There are two very contrasting approaches to reading this book and learning about organizational design. The more traditional approach is to read the book, and then use the OrgCon on cases and applications. The second approach is to begin with the OrgCon software and only examine the book as you find it helpful. Which approach is better? It is your choice, not ours. In our experience, students in organizational design prefer to start with the OrgCon and a case, rather than with the book itself. Readers who have more background in organization theory and design usually examine the book first.There are numerous changes in the third edition. The literature review in each chapter has been updated. The information processing approach is strengthened and applied more comprehensively as the theoretical underpinnings. Throughout we have rewritten the text beyond normal editing in an attempt to make the presentation clearer and easier to read.

Design Models for Hierarchical Organizations: Computation, Information, and Decentralization provides state-of-the-art research on organizational design models, and in particular on mathematical models. Each chapter views the organization as an information processing entity. Thus, mathematical models are used to examine information flow and decision procedures, which in turn, form the basis for evaluating organization designs. Each chapters stands alone as a contribution to organization design and the modeling approach to design. Moreover, the chapters fit together and that totality gives us a good understanding of where we are with this approach to organizational design issues and where we should focus our research efforts in the future.

We will not repeat our preface discussion from the first edition. Here we only add some new comments: • a note to the reader and user, • changes in the book and the Organizational Consultant (OrgCon), and, • our thanks to the many individuals who have contributed critically to this venture, read and reviewed the book, contributed chapters and cases, and similarly used and critiqued the OrgCon. For the reader, there are two very contrasting approaches to reading this book and learning about organizational design. The more traditional ap­ proach is to read the book, and then use the OrgCon on cases and applica­ tions. The second approach is to begin with the OrgCon software and only examine the book as you find it helpful. Which approach is better? It is your choice, not ours. In our experience, students in organizational design prefer to start with the OrgCon and a case, rather than with the book itself. Readers who have more background in organization theory and design usually examine the book first. We have tried to write the book so that it can serve both as a reference and an integrated presentation.

Organizational design is a normative science with the goal of prescribing how an organization should be structured in order to function effectively and efficiently. Organizational theory is a positive science that states our understanding about how the world operates and contrasts that under­ standing with a view of how the world could possibly operate. It provides the theoretical underpinnings for organizational design. In this book, we attempt to construct an approach for diagnosing and designing organiza­ tions built on a knowledge base of organizational theory. Organizational design is a young field that incorporates many concepts and approaches. In organizational design literature to date, there seems to have been only two ways of doing things in this field-either to be so general and so simple that the various interpretations do not yield practical design implications, or to be so detailed and specific that generalization to other situations is almost impossible. We attempt here to strike a balance-and offer an approach that is applicable to a broad range of situations. In our view, organizational theory exists as a large body of related languages, definitions, hypotheses, analyses, and conclusions. Our know­ ledge is vast, diverse, somewhat inconsistent, and generally unconnected. Yet there is an underlying core of knowledge that can be used for analytical purposes. Creating this balanced approach requirs that the knowledge be distilled and augmented to produce a set of clear and consistent design rules that can be used to recommend what the organiza­ tion''s design should be.