Designing Organizations to Create Value: From Strategy to Structure

It takes more than the application of the latest buzzwords and managerial fads to beat the competition and increase the value of the firm. Following trends is fraught with problems, not the least of which is a tendency to isolate facets of the corporation targeted for improvement, failing to look at the big picture, and attempting to apply inappropriate structural or performance models to the organization. Instead, executives and managers who seek to lead their companies to greatness must incorporate a systematic framework to build effective organizations. Designing Organizations to Create Value provides that framework. Based on the 1 million dollar-selling MBA text Managerial Economics and Organizational Architecture, the authors offer a practical outline for identifying and resolving the organizational problems that prevent companies from achieving their full potential. Proven authors Zimmerman, Smith, and Brickley provide a three-part framework that identifies the critical aspects of corporate organization: - Assignment of decision-making rights - Rewarding individuals - Evaluating performance Even though no two firms will adopt precisely the same architecture, successful firms understand the importance of coordinating these three critical aspects of organizational architecture. The authors liken organizational architecture to building the perfect three-legged stool: everything must be precisely balanced and functional for an organization to work as it should. With dot-com start-ups dropping like flies and old economy stalwarts looking to regain their luster, Designing Organizations to Create Value provides a surprisingly simple approach to ensuring that companies that follow this practical, sensible framework will have the edge they need to thrive. Designing Organizations to Create Value is the latest title in our model of adapting successful college texts for professional audiences.

About the Author :
Research and teaching interests involve financial and managerial accounting. He and Professor Ross L. Watts received American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Awards in 1979 and 1980 for their joint papers. He received the American Accounting Association award for Seminal Contribution to Accounting Literature in 2004. He was the 1978 winner of the Competitive Manuscript Award, sponsored by the American Accounting Association, for his paper, "The Costs and Benefits of Cost Allocation." His research, which has come to be called "positive theories of accounting," seeks to understand the costs and benefits of various accounting procedures. He and Watts co-authored a book, Positive Accounting Theory, published by Prentice-Hall in 1986. Research and teaching interests in the economics of organizations, corporate governance and compensation policy, corporate finance, franchising and banking. From 1989 to 1991, he was chairman of the Finance Department and research director at he University of Utah's Garn Institute of Finance. Professor Brickley was chairman of he Committee on MBA Programs from 1994-1997. Professor Smith has research interests in the fields of corporate financial policy, derivative securities and financial intermediation. He has published 14 books and over 80 articles in leading finance and economics journals. Students in the Executive Development Program have given him their Superior Teaching Award 16 times; students in the M.B.A. program have given him their Superior Teaching Award 10 times. In 1986, he was given the first Special Award for a Perfect Teaching Rating by the School; in 1983 he was chosen as a University Mentor in recognition of his scholarship and teaching.