Abstract
Defining job profiles and units is not sufficient for an organization to function. This chapter describes the fundamental limitations of jobs and units and the principles needed to overcome these limitations. It discusses the challenges involved with reporting lines, the varying temporal horizons of jobs, and the lack of cooperation. This chapter provides advice to the readers on how to overcome or at least mitigate the limitations created by a focus on jobs, positions, and units that is too narrow.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
All figures in this chapter related to the VSM are or contain, and if not stated otherwise, adapted (detail) views from Beer (1995, p. 136, Fig. 37).
- 2.
The only limitations of reaching out are of course the cases, where it risks interfering with the areas of responsibility of other job holders and units and dilutes or even eliminates clearly defined responsibilities and duties.
- 3.
Here, we limit ourselves to the organizational and systemic dimension within the VSM framework. Psychological aspects or reward systems are important factors and should not be overlooked but are not within the scope of this book.
References
Beer, S. (1994). Platform for change: A message from Stafford Beer. Chichester, New York: J. Wiley.
Beer, S. (1995). Diagnosing the system for organizations of organization. The managerial cybernetics of organization. Chichester [West Sussex], New York: Wiley. (Figures 21, 25 and 37 republished with permission of John Wiley and Sons Inc. and the permission conveyed through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.).
Bower, J. L. (1970). Managing the resource allocation process: A study of corporate planning and investment. Boston: Division of Research Graduate School of Business Administration Harvard University.
Drucker, P. F. (2006). The practice of management (1st ed.). New York, NY: Collins.
Luhmann, N. (2000). Organisation und Entscheidung. Opladen: Westdt. Verl.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lassl, W. (2020). The Limitations of Jobs and Units—The “Left Wing” of Organizations (Part 2). In: The Viability of Organizations Vol. 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25854-2_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25854-2_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25853-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25854-2
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)