A Practitioner’s View of the Future of Organization Design: Future Trends and Implications for Royal Dutch Shell

Abstract

<p>Humanity is facing an increasingly challenging outlook for energy needs and the planet. Royal Dutch Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemicals companies with approximately 100,000 employees in more than 80 countries that is committed to help meet the challenges of the new energy environment in a sustainable and responsible manner. My statement will present some of the future trends and possible implications which can be seen for organization design within Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) and which are applicable to other large, complex enterprises. It largely represents the personal views and reflections of a practitioner both inside and outside of Shell’s human resources (HR) function in the United States. Using the lens of organization design, we will review the themes that emerged from the Shell Energy 2025 and Shell Energy 2050 global scenarios. Next, we will discuss Shell’s previous experience, challenges, and issues related to organization design, and how the recent redesign of the HR function has provided wider space and crisper focus to meet the challenges of the future. Finally, we will review the design challenges that the future trends impose upon the organization design practice. Although these challenges and implications are derived from experience working in Shell and its joint ventures, they are not confined solely to Shell. Because many of the challenges discussed below would benefit from scholarly research, the statement represents a practitioner’s view on how the future of organization design may play out.</p&gt

Organizing for Competitiveness – Structural and Process Characteristics of Organizational Design

“…They must focus on increasing the capacity of existing resources as an additional strategy for meeting the resource demands of the business (Steinmetz, Bennet, & Hakonsson, 2012). Although such organizational goals require very broad systemic efforts and call for numerous organizational interventions, differentiation and integration of activities can be recognized as one of the most relevant design issues (e.g., Dougherty, 2001;Lawrence & Lorsch, 1967; dium and large organizations, determined by heavy information processing requirements, higher differentiation, and a large division of labor, and supplemented with diverse workforce and narrow job specialization.…”

“…A turbulent and highly competitive business environment accompanied by a constant interplay of rising complexity and interdependence creates an ongoing demand for organizational designs that can respond to new and more powerful coordination mechanisms (Galbraith, 2012). Additionally, contemporary organizations must be efficient, effective, flexible, agile, innovative, fast-cycled, responsive, and aligned.They must focus on increasing the capacity of existing resources as an additional strategy for meeting the resource demands of the business (Steinmetz, Bennet, & Hakonsson, 2012). Although such organizational goals require very broad systemic efforts and call for numerous organizational interventions, differentiation and integration of activities can be recognized as one of the most relevant design issues (e.g., Dougherty, 2001;Lawrence & Lorsch, 1967;Raisch et al, 2009 …”