Managing Organisations,
Innovation and Sustainability
Week 4 Workshop
Dr Ping-Jen Kao
Lecturer in Information Systems
Workshop Activity 1:
Role Playing Exercise
Each group will play the role of one of the four companies listed
below:
Google, HSBC, IKEA, Ernst & Young
Each company needs to hire graduates for its internship scheme
and conducts interviews to fill the following positions:
• Software designer (for Google)
• Investment banker (for HSBC)
• Interior designer (for IKEA)
• Management consultant (for Ernst & Young)
In Groups (20 minutes)
• Find a way of testing the knowledge and skills of the
prospective candidates in line with the ideal profile they
identified.
• Explain what the test will be about, how it will test
candidate’s knowledge (tacit/explicit) and provide a
sample of your test (e.g. it could be an interview; a task; a
case etc.)
• Write it down (will be used for interviews)
Self-Reflection (5 minutes)
• How did you decide to test tacit and explicit knowledge?
• What were the most significant challenges you encountered when you
had to identify tacit/explicit knowledge of the ideal candidate? Give
examples
In Groups (15 minutes)
• Conduct the interview with the candidates.
• One group acts as interviewers and another group acts as candidates.
• What were the most significant challenges you encountered when you
tried to test tacit knowledge of the candidate you interviewed?
713N1 Team Formation
(10 minutes)
(5 people in each team)
Workshop Workshop Workshop Workshop Workshop
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5
PIN:
Workshop Activity 2:
ScienceCo Case Study
ScienceCo Case Study
Case study – ScienceCo: Managing an expert workforce.
• A medium-sized, technology-based consultancy company
• Operates today on a global basis.
• At the time of its inception, the founder wished to create a consultancy
environment that would not only develop solutions in response to client
problems, but also stimulate invention and innovation more generally.
• 85% the workforce are highly educated – knowledge intensive
• Scientists and technologists
• Employing a handful of scientific consultants specializing in engineering
and communications
• International
Group Discussion 2 (20 minutes)
1. Define and explain five critical organisational factors
that have contributed to ScienceCo’s growth and ability
to retain an expert workforce.
2. What are the potential organisational problems that
might arise over time in this organisational context?
ScienceCo CSFs
Organisational structure – adhocracy
Recruitment and selection
Performance management system
Continued professional development (talent management of all)
Culture – high-trust (but ambiguous)
Organisational Problems for ScienceCo
• Organisational growth has put strain on informal communication and
co-ordination norms
• Informal power structures develop that show the beginnings of empire
building and inclusion/exclusion dynamics
• Both limits to flexible adhocracies that may struggle to sustain
democratic principles
Summarising Key Concepts
• Organisational design influences innovation
• From bureaucracies to adhocracies
• Flexibility/innovation means having more open organisation (customer
alignment)
• Management implications of new organisational forms – managing ‘gold
collar workers’ is not easy
• Cultural/normative control more important than direct control
• Are likely to be limits to organisational flexibility as organisations grow in
size
• Need to examine organisational boundaries and identify how to manage
across boundaries
Q&A
Dr Ping-Jen Kao
Lecturer in Information Systems
[email protected]
