infonet-economy

Profitable growth requires organizations to simultaneously increase the efficiency of their current operations and to develop and launch innovative products to ensure future growth. This requires an organizational design that pursues seemingly contradictory demands at the same time: bureaucratic structures to ensure efficiency and organic structures to allow for innovation and growth. Unfortunately, there is still little known about how organizational structures address the paradox between efficiency and innovation. In this paper, four alternative design paths are presented that enable organizations to balance the conflicting organizational requirements of profitable growth. The paper draws upon longitudinal case studies and empirical findings from a research program currently underway at the University of St. Gallen's Center for Organizational Excellence (CORE).