Coming soon · Book Profile
Designing Organizations
A prescriptive guide to strategic organization design that shows how different business and portfolio strategies require different, aligned combinations of structure, processes, rewards, and people—captured in the Star Model—across business-unit and enterprise levels.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Designing Organizations distills Jay Galbraith's decades of research and consulting into a practical, top-down method for building high-performing organizations. Starting from the premise that different strategies lead to different organizations, the book uses the Star Model—strategy, structure, processes, rewards, and people—as a holistic framework for aligning design choices. It traces companies from single-business functional start-ups through related and unrelated diversification, network and reconfigurable forms, and value-adding conglomerates and synergy portfolios, using vivid cases (Nike, IBM, Disney, GE, BMW, RBC, Danaher) to show how lateral processes, integrators, matrix structures, and partnerships coordinate increasingly complex work. It closes by examining how big data and real-time decision making may create a new organizational dimension. For any leader entrusted with stewardship of a complex institution, this book explains not just what to organize but how to align every design lever so people can excel rather than merely cope.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A senior leader or general manager entrusted with the stewardship of an organization who wants to build a high-performing enterprise that excels at executing its strategy.
- The problem
- Their organization has grown more complex and is misaligned with its strategy and stakeholder environment, so it cannot serve customers effectively. They feel that 'doing what comes naturally' and relying on good people is no longer enough, and they are confused about how to organize amid rising complexity and constant change.
- The plan
- Clarify your strategy: decide what to do, where to play, and how to win.
- Use the Star Model to design structure, processes, rewards, and people as an aligned whole.
- Match lateral processes—voluntary, e-coordination, formal groups, integrators, or matrix—to your coordination needs.
- As you diversify, choose the right portfolio structure and define how the corporate center adds value.
- Build reconfigurability and real-time decision capability to compete when advantages are temporary.
- The payoff
- An aligned, high-performing organization where people excel and get consistent messages about desired behavior. · The ability to coordinate complex, interdependent work rapidly and to reconfigure as strategy shifts. · A corporate center that adds genuine economic value to its portfolio of businesses.
See our guide
Related profiles we’ve built
- A Theory of Human Motivation →
- Anxiety at Work_ 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done →
- Applied Multivariate Stats Social Sciences Stevens →
- Assessing Change in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy of Children and Adolescents (Psychology, Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy) →
- Basics Qualitative Research Grounded Theory Corbin Strauss →
- Bayesian Multilevel Models for Repeated Measures dаta A Conceptual and Practical Introduction in R →
- Beyond Hr Boudreau Ramstad →
- Compensating Your Employees Fairly →
Additional reading
- The Organism · Kurt Goldstein
Maslow sources the term 'self-actualization' from Goldstein and builds upon his holistic view of the organism.
- Explorations in Personality · H. A. Murray, et al.
Cited as providing an 'excellent discussion' on the basic principle of centering motivation theory on goals rather than instigation or behavior.
- Social Interest · Alfred Adler
Maslow credits Adler and his followers for stressing the importance of the 'esteem needs,' which he felt were neglected by Freudian psychoanalysts.
- Wisdom of the Body · W. B. Cannon
Provides the foundational concept of 'homeostasis,' which Maslow uses as the starting point for his discussion of physiological needs.
- Multipliers · Liz Wiseman
Explores how leaders can either amplify ('multiply') or diminish ('diminish') the intelligence and capabilities of their teams, a key concept for creating a positive, low-anxiety environment.
- The Fearless Organization · Amy Edmondson
Provides the foundational research and practical steps for creating psychological safety, which the book identifies as crucial for reducing interpersonal anxiety and encouraging people to speak up.
- Mindset · Carol Dweck
Explains the difference between a 'growth mindset' and a 'fixed mindset,' which is presented as a key tool for helping employees manage perfectionism and see failures as learning opportunities.
- Crucial Conversations · Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, et al.
Recommended as a resource for employees to learn how to navigate difficult, high-stakes conversations, directly addressing the book's theme of moving from conflict avoidance to healthy debate.
- Better Allies · Karen Catlin
The author is quoted on specific, actionable steps for allyship, making her book a practical guide for implementing the principles in Chapter 7.
- Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People · Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
Explains the science of implicit bias, which is central to the book's argument that leaders need to be proactive allies because 'not being racist/sexist' isn't enough.