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The author's approach to the subject is unique in two ways: First, it is architectural and heuristic. It identifies factors inherent in an organizations structure and purposes that can lead to excellence in one field but to weakness in another, then provides guidelines and insights to address them. Second, the book is about maintaining success in a dynamic world, not about achieving it in a static one. TOC:Preface.- Because of the Outside World.- The Meanings of Excellence, Organization, Systems, Complexity, and Architecting.- The Necessity of Excellence in Complex Systems.- Serious Attempts at Defining Excellence.- The Extraordinary Field of Complex Systems.- Value Added in Complex Organizations.- The Delicate Balance of the United States Government.- The Marketplace and Other Battlegrounds. Because of the Inside World.- The Excellence Assumption and the Hardware Goofs List.- Different Objectives, Different Structures, and Different Management (include CEOs).- Incompatibility of Organizational Structures.- Policy and Procedural Sets.- Assumptions Stated and Unstated.- Architecting the Response.- Problem Solving in Complex Organizations.- Tools of the Art.- To Reorganize or Not to Reorganize, That Is the Question.- Diagnosis and Reorganizing with Incomplete Information.- Structural Factors and the Skilled Specialist.
List of contents
Preface and Introduction. Treating Organizations as Systems. An Architect's Perspective of the World Outside. Internal Constraints and Opportunities. The Foundations of Systems and Organizational Architecting. Stay the Course or Change it? Appendices.
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About the author
Rechtin, Eberhardt
Summary
Tackles a difficult dilemma: how do respected organizations maintain their vaunted excellence, accommodate the new world of global communications, transportation, economics and multinational security, and still survive against stiff competition? This book identifies potential weaknesses and offers guidelines and insights to address them.
