Paul Lyons asked for some suggestions regarding his organizational behavior
course.
I'm no curriculum designer but I'd be inclined to support your intention of
shifting to a performance-focused design. In that vein, I customarily
think of three domains of performance: financial, operational (mainly
process), and individual (mainly task). These fit loosely but well with
"levels" such as organization, unit or group, and individual, but I prefer
to use "domains" instead of "levels."
You might also find some merit in revisiting the Barnard-Cyert-March-Simon
notion of "organizational equilibrium" -- that is, of achieving balance and
integration in the contributions-inducements relationships that define
membership for each of the key stakeholder groups (e.g., customers,
employees, suppliers, investors). Indeed, one of the things I'm working on
here at ETS is an "Accountability Scorecard" -- which attempt to measure
how well we're doing in that regard. (No; it is not the same thing as a
Balanced Scorecard.) James Burke, former CEO of Johnson & Johnson, once
observed that business success for an organization is defined by responding
to all of its constituencies better than its competitors can do. That
implies integrating, reconciling, and balancing what are often competing if
not conflicting accountabilities.
Anyway, these are some possible thoughts to consider...
Good luck with your redesign...
Fred Nickols, Executive Director
Strategic Planning & Management Services
Educational Testing Service, Mail Stop 09-C
Princeton, NJ 08541
Tel = 609.734.5077
Fax = 609.734.5590
e-mail =
fnickols@ets.org