This concludes our fourth module of this course.
Let's take a moment and review what you've learned throughout the course.
Our overall objective in this course was to better
understand the process of value creation.
In our first module we asked,
what is the role of management in organizations?
We talked about how managers need to identify resources and
then decide how those resources will be allocated and utilized.
Managers are ultimately responsible for the success of
their organizations and must look out for the interests of various stakeholders.
In later modules, we discussed different contingencies which are
factors that managers don't necessarily have a lot of control over,
but which they must take into account when designing the organization.
We identified both external and internal contingencies.
External contingencies are related to the forces outside of the organization.
For example, we talked about the different types of
business models that can operate within an industry.
We discussed industry life cycles,
including how industries grow and change over time.
We also identify different types of industry change trajectories.
In addition to these external contingencies,
we also discussed internal contingencies.
For example, one important internal contingency is
the operational technology within an organization,
or in other words how we turn inputs into outputs.
We talked about different sequences of production,
and how those sequences create different types of
interdependencies that require unique types of coordination.
Another key internal contingency is the strategy of the organization,
and we talked about different strategies that might be
appropriate for organizations to pursue.
Understanding these external and internal contingencies can
help us to better make design decisions.
In module three, we talked about differentiation.
We discussed how managers can allocate tasks,
resources, and authority when creating organizational structure.
We learned some of the basic building blocks of organizational structure and design.
For example, we talked about functional structures,
divisional structures, matrix structures, and hybrid designs.
Finally, we learned about integration,
or in other words how to institute coordination and
control within our organizational design.
We discussed the difficult balance between designing an organization that is efficient,
but then also allows for appropriate flexibility.
We learned some ways to assess whether our design is actually working.
So, this course has been about creating a design that aligns with our strategy and that
accounts for critical external and internal contingencies facing the organization.
Once we have a design in place,
now we need to execute our plans in order to create value.
Executing once our design is in place will be the topic for the next course.
Thanks for participating in this course,
and I hope you'll join us for the next course called
Managing the Organization from Organizational Design to Execution.