Strategic Distraction: The Consequence of Neglecting Organizational Design

Abstract

It seems that something happens to the concept of design during transition from the worlds of architecture, manufacturing, and engineering to the realm of organizational leadership. The clear principles of design that give it a revered position as foundational to success in the technical world are somehow lost when the focus shifts away from schematics and micrometer tolerances. Instead of embracing a discipline that brings precision and aligns organizational actions, one finds that its exacting standards often become blurred to the point that organizational design loses its significance. This devaluation results in leaders failure to fully implement and execute organizational design, which leaves their institutions vulnerable to strategic distraction and misalignment. Even the Department of Defense (DOD), with its penchant for exactitude, has fallen prey to this neglect of organizational design and is suffering the consequences. A renewed understanding of such design is essential to ensuring that military and civilian leaders embrace and execute this critical process, thereby preventing strategic distraction.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA624692

Entities

People

  • John F. Price Jr.

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Case Studies
  • Climate Change
  • Department Of Defense
  • Emerging Threats
  • Employment
  • English Language
  • Environment
  • Information Operations
  • Information Systems
  • Language
  • Leadership
  • Media
  • Middle East
  • Motivation
  • Organizational Structure

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Strategic Security Studies