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1、MlANOTETOTHEREADERWhatcouldbemoreimportanttotheeffectivefunctioningofourorganiza-tions—fromrepairshopstoautomobilecompanies,policeforcestona-tionalgovernments—thanthedesignoftheirstructures?Yetwhatdowereallyknowaboutsuchdesign?Ironically,weknowagreatdeal,butnotinaformacces
2、sibletothosepeoplewhomustcreatesuchdesigns—managers,staffspecialists,andconsultants.Thevastliteratureonorganizationalstructuring,muchofitbasedonsystematicempiricalresearch,haslargelyescapedthepracti-tioner,fortworeasons.First,itismostlycontainedinarticlesandbookswrittenina
3、nacademicstyle,forotherresearchers.Thosepractitionerswillingtoworkthroughthejargonfoundthattheorientationofsuchwritingswasmoreonwhatisthanwhatshouldbe;inotherwords,onwhattakesplaceinorganizationsratherthanonhowtodesignaneffectiveorganization.Second,despitethevastnessofthel
4、iteratureanditsmanyavailableinsights,whatitlackedwassynthesis.Thepractionercouldfindtheseinsightsinnooneplace;heorshevirtuallyhadtowadethroughtheentirerangeofliteraturetofindoutwhatithadtosay.Andeventhen,thesynthesiswaslefttothereader.Contradictionsaboundintheresearchfindi
5、ngs,withlittlerealreconciliationevenattempted.Sowhoeverhadthepatiencetogothroughallthisliteraturewasapttoemergemoreconfusedthanbeforeheorshebegan.Inthemid-1970s,Isetouttotrytoorderthisliterature,toextractitskeymessagesand—aboveall—tosynthesizethemintoanintegratedpic-tureof
6、thestructuringoforganizations.Theresultofalmostthreefullyearsofeffortwasabookbythattitle,publishedbyPrentice-Hallin1979.Thatbookcontainted512pagesofverysmalltype,butitsatisfiedmyintentions:tosynthesizetheresearchliteratureonorganizationalstructuring(itwassubtitled,"ASynthe
7、sisoftheResearch")andtoaddresstheissuesofwhatmakesanorganizationaldesigneffective.SinceIhadinmindasreadersnotonlystudentsandpractitionersbutalsomyacademiccolleagues,theVViANotetotheReaderbookcontainedathoroughreferencingoftheevidenceforeachofthefindings,sprinkledgenerously
8、withquotationsfromtheliterature.Theargumentswere,inotherwords,supportedasmuchaspossible,s