CS Holdings recently planned and hosted SA`s first conference on organisational design. Sixty delegates attended the two-day conference, which was specifically geared for top-ranking representatives from large organisations in the private and public sector. The good turnout has prompted planning for a second conference in April 2003, with the intention of making it an annual event.
"Large companies are often energy-sapping places in which to work," says leading international corporate design strategist Prof Andrew Campbell, who presented at the conference and has directed research projects on a wide variety of design issues.
"Frequently, this is because the complexity of the organisation makes it hard for anyone to do anything without approval from bosses, functional heads and other influences in the structural matrix of the organisation. Yet complexity is unavoidable. Managers know that there has to be a better way, but they do not know how to design it. What`s more, managers find the whole process of organisation design difficult and frustrating, and are overwhelmed by the number of variables they have to consider."
Campbell has authored nine books, including his most recent work "Designing Effective Organisations", and has also published numerous papers on the subject.
"The purpose of organisational design is to shape and structure organisations to enhance product and service delivery within a global and turbulent business context," explains Wynand Geldenhuys, people effectiveness executive at CS Holdings, who also presented at the conference. "Sound organisational design needs to occur at strategic, tactical and operational level in order to be most effective, and to a large extent the conference covered these aspects."
Delegates were also afforded the opportunity to participate in an electronic benchmarking exercise whereby their organisation`s design was measured. "The outcome was a blueprint of their current design, clearly indicating the gaps and frameworks for their future initiatives," says Geldenhuys.
Interest was also expressed in the establishment of a South African Forum for Organisational Design Professionals. "The overall objective of the forum would be to promote and sustain a high level of professionalism and ethical conduct in carrying out organisational design interventions," says Geldenhuys. "The composition of a board, a code of conduct, as well as specific objectives and activities have yet to be agreed upon and anyone interested in helping to establish this forum is welcome to contact us."
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