The Unyielding Persistence of Conventional Organizations

Conventional forms of organization will continue to persist not just because of human resistance to change but because there are merits that those of us pursuing novelty and innovation fail to see. There are three fundamental considerations a firm has to pay attention to, to survive and remain profitable, they are: efficiency, innovation and adaptability Child, J (2005: 378) and efficiency is perhaps the most critical of the three, the most constant need of the organization so to speak and the strength of conventional organizations is in their efficiency and we can safely conclude that conventional organizations are structured for efficiency. Child, J (2005: 379). Innovation is another critical strategic consideration for the success of an organization and it will appear that new forms of organizations support innovation more than conventional forms but we need to note that innovation has two components: exploration and exploitation. Child, J (2005: 380). Exploration is the search and generation of new knowledge while exploitation is the application of knowledge and the commercialization of such new knowledge. Organizations structured to explore knowledge such as Bell Laboratories of the AT&T and Xeroxs PARC, have not made money from all the wonderful and great innovations that emanated from the organizations mainly because they were not designed to exploit the innovations generated. Roberts, J (2004: 254). The exploitation of knowledge requires a focus on current realities with the energies of the organization aimed at effectiveness and execution of the idea and this requires a structured organization with clearly defined roles and responsibilities and reporting structure. Roberts, J (2004: 255). This is another reason for the persistence of conventional organizations. The third consideration for organizational success is adaptability, which is the ability of the firm to be responsive to changes within its environment and adjust to new circumstances. This requires rapid communication of new information and a structure that will allow the firm to act and respond to that information Child, J (2005: 381). Adaptability breeds confusion and chaos without a structure in place delegating authorities, a system specifying actions to be taken in response to new developments or procedures as to the dissemination of information. Despite postulations and practice of new organizational forms, it is clear that the conventional forms of organizations will continue to persist for reasons of efficiencies, exploitation of innovation and effective adaptation. Though I must say that I am a great believer in novelty and I believe that the new forms of organization will mature and evolve to provide a means to handle these issues

but in the meantime conventional organizations are better structured to provide a framework for these important organizational considerations.