Inhibitors to agility
The following factors related to organization structure are key barriers for enterprises to enhance and sustain agility.
A "tall" hierarchy
In any system of humans, the distribution of power is seldom equal, that is, some roles have more power than others. In the absence of defined roles, a leader or leaders will emerge who voluntarily, or by force, have more power than others in the system. An enterprise is also a system of humans, and hence the existence of power centers, both formal and informal, is a reality that must be accepted. The hierarchical structures in companies reflect this reality.
However, enterprises have used hierarchy as a means to provide "growth" to their employees. The belief that "climbing up" the hierarchy denotes growth and also more power is widely prevalent in organizations across the globe. Unfortunately, in most traditional enterprises, the lure of rising in the hierarchy is generally the only way that employees are motivated. This is because...
