Managing The Matrix

A comprehensive guide to excelling in a complex matrix organization Debra was not in a good mood as she entered Johann’s office for their third meeting. One of her colleagues had just been promoted and, although the guy who got it was good, she didn’t think he was any better than her. Well, except at one thing, he was always playing politics - sucking up to the more senior guys and volunteering to be on any committee going. Debra knew the type - went to the same school, belonged to the same club - she didn’t have a hope against the kind of connections he had so she might as well give up. It seemed doing a good job just wasn’t enough around here. Debra and Johann work in an environment with multiple and complex reporting lines – in other words, a matrix. There’s room to “slip between the cracks” – if a person wants to take advantage of confusion over who is managing performance; or if they can’t make the necessary transition to self-management. Communication can be difficult even when there is an apparently shared language. Read how Johann and Debra work together to identify the skills needed to succeed in a matrix, and how using Emotional Intelligence (EI) can develop specific behaviours you can incorporate in your daily job. The result will help reduce stress and increase your chances of success. Dawn Metcalfe, Managing Director of PDS, based in Dubai, uses her experience as a coach and trainer to give us a behind the curtain look at how mentoring can help an individual develop the skills they need to survive and thrive in today’s complex work environments.

Gives individuals and managers working in the matrix the tools to take control of their own goals and support others

Based on the experiences and ideas of over 100 matrix practitioners ... the frameworks, ideas and tips provided are shaped around the [seven] ... matrix mastery techniques"--Page 4 of cover

Organization structures do not fail, says Jay Galbraith, but management fails at implementing them correctly. This is why, he explains, the idea that the matrix does not work still exists today, even among people who should know better. But the matrix has become a necessary form of organization in today's business environment. Companies now know that if they have multiple product lines, do business in multiple countries, and serve many customer segments through a variety of channels, there is no way they can avoid some kind of a matrix structure and the question most are asking is "How do we learn how to operate the matrix effectively?" In Designing Matrix Organizations That Actually Work, Galbraith answers this and other questions as he shows how to make a matrix work effectively.

This book describes the use of matrix structures in large, complex organizations such as MNCs. Using an information-processing perspective of organization design, it develops a more comprehensive theory for fitting the structural configurations of matrix structures to key characteristics of firm strategy. Empirical research by the authors supports this theoretical framework. In addition to structural configuration, Understanding Matrix Structures identifies and develops the mode of decision making within a matrix as an important second dimension of matrix structure design. It can be either balanced (joint) decision making by the two dimensions of a matrix or rule-based decision making, where rules pre-assign certain decisions to one dimension or the other for unitary decision making. Recent exploratory research by the authors supports this conceptual framework and provides the potential to create a more flexible matrix structure- one that facilitates a more ambidextrous organization.

This book answers the question for the matrix organization. Matrix management is more than "dotted-line" relationships or "sharing staff." It's about the roles, rules, and tools required for success. This book spells out the design of the matrix organizat

Monograph on the matrix model of multiple-command management approaches to top management decentralization - describes features of a command system designed to solve the freedom-order dilemma encountered in all forms of social organization, deals with implications for team work, and includes case studies relating to enterprises in the USA and selected other countries as well as concerning multinational enterprises. Bibliography pp. 233 to 235, diagrams and references.

Almost all leadership books assume that the leader has authority over their team members. The challenge of project management in a matrix-structured environment is that this is not always the case. A whole new plan of attack has to be executed for the project manager to deliver in an organization where they do not have formal authority. This book t

This book introduces state-of-the-art models and methods based on the matrix in the field of product design and change management. It develops several types of matrix models for a broad range of applications, with the goal of efficiently finding product design solutions and proactively analyzing design change propagation. The book offers readers an extensive introduction to design automation, highlighting fundamental and innovative concepts, as well as cutting-edge technologies. Further, it familiarizes them with the latest advances in design change propagation and prediction. Lastly, the book puts forward design change-oriented matrix models and includes a proactive analysis of change propagation. The book offers a valuable resource for graduate students, researchers and engineers in the fields of product design and methodology, design automation and related areas.

A Washington Post Bestseller Three Principles for Managing—and Avoiding—the Problems of Growth Why is profitable growth so hard to achieve and sustain? Most executives manage their companies as if the solution to that problem lies in the external environment: find an attractive market, formulate the right strategy, win new customers. But when Bain & Company’s Chris Zook and James Allen, authors of the bestselling Profit from the Core, researched this question, they found that when companies fail to achieve their growth targets, 90 percent of the time the root causes are internal, not external—increasing distance from the front lines, loss of accountability, proliferating processes and bureaucracy, to name only a few. What’s more, companies experience a set of predictable internal crises, at predictable stages, as they grow. Even for healthy companies, these crises, if not managed properly, stifle the ability to grow further—and can actively lead to decline. The key insight from Zook and Allen’s research is that managing these choke points requires a “founder’s mentality”—behaviors typically embodied by a bold, ambitious founder—to restore speed, focus, and connection to customers: • An insurgent’s clear mission and purpose • An unambiguous owner mindset • A relentless obsession with the front line Based on the authors’ decade-long study of companies in more than forty countries, The Founder’s Mentality demonstrates the strong relationship between these three traits in companies of all kinds—not just start-ups—and their ability to sustain performance. Through rich analysis and inspiring examples, this book shows how any leader—not only a founder—can instill and leverage a founder’s mentality throughout their organization and find lasting, profitable growth.