Wf. Joyce et al., DESIGNING LATERAL ORGANIZATIONS - AN ANALYSIS OF THE BENEFITS, COSTS,AND ENABLERS OF NONHIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATIONAL FORMS, Decision sciences, 28(1), 1997, pp. 1-25
Twenty-first century organizations will require designs that enable th
em to cope with turbulent environments, Organizations have experimente
d with lateral organizational designs for this purpose, but research e
vidence concerning these forms is sparse. We analyzed data obtained fr
om 512 employees within eight diverse organizations implementing flexi
ble lateral organizations. Using a sequence comparison methodology, we
were able to identify and categorize the major costs, benefits, and e
nablers associated with implementing these forms of complex organizati
ons. Propositions for effectively managing lateral relations were test
ed and managerial implications were explored.