The Antidote: Volume 4 Issue 1
Table of contents
Organizations in pigeonholes
B GouldDiscusses organizations and their differing theories, as promoted by managers, but wonders whether they are bewildering to managers who may not know where to start. Posits that…
The benefits of bureaucracy
B GouldStates the use of the word bureaucracy is greeted with much disparaging comment, with Max Weber held up as the father of the movement (although he saw its limitations). Highlights…
Organizational culture I: the organization as unwritten rules
T KippenbergerConcludes that the nature of organizations, as in all spheres of activity involving humans, is to have unwritten rules and procedures of the game. Cites a global consumer products…
Individual and Co.: the third epoch
B GouldProclaims present‐day managers have unconsciously inherited an approach to organizations that is of rapidly declining relevance. States some managers have moved beyond the old…
Strategic management of flexibility
B GouldContends organizations need some possibilities to enable change to survive or exploit shifts and terms of their environments. Highlights, in a panel, the flexibility main points…
Imagining the virtual organization
B GouldArgues that the virtual organization is a creature of the mind ‐ not so much a concrete, easily identifiable type of organization ‐ as it is a management perspective or framework…
Five organization types
B GouldReviews some main ideas from Mintzberg's synthesis of research based on his book ‘Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations’. Posits there are five co‐ordinating…
Organizational culture II: hearts and minds
T KippenbergerArgues that culture ‐ the commonly held symbols, beliefs, values and behaviours ‐ is perhaps the most powerful force for cohesion in the modern organization. Highlights two broad…
Organizations as systems: the viable systems model (VSM)
B GouldLooks at some key features of the viable systems model (VSM) and its application, which has been extensively applied to the diagnosis and design of organizations for management…
Organizational culture III: clan organizations for times of upheaval and change (DHL International)
T KippenbergerInvestigates the organization of clans ‐ which have, as their basic community, ideals and clanship (ideology going beyond profit). Posits that clan organizations acknowledge their…
Smart (MCC's compact car)
B GouldCovers the Micro Compact Car (MCC) a joint venture between German carmaker Mercedes‐Benz and Swiss watchmaker SMH (maker of Swatch and Longine), aimed at the younger adult market…