The Decision-Making Paradigm of Organizational Design

This paper introduces and explicates the decision-making paradigm of organizational design. We argue that the domains of existing design paradigms are declining in scope, and that the nature of current and future organizational environments requires use of a design paradigm that responds to the increasing frequency and criticality of the decision-making process. In particular, we argue that the decision-making paradigm is applicable when the organizational environments are hostile, complex, and turbulent.

The focal concept of the decision-making paradigm is that organizations should be designed primarily to facilitate the making of organizational decisions. The paper sets forth the paradigm's six major concepts and discusses the principal domains of its application. The paper also examines the relationships between the decision-making paradigm and the literatures on (1) organizational decision making, (2) the information processing view of organizations, and (3) the need for compatibility between the organization's design and the design of its technologically supported information systems. The paper concludes by identifying ten organizational design guidelines that follow from the decision-making paradigm.