Re-structuring

The previous section established that it is when challenge is at its greatest that is the principle source of creativity (Levitt, 1960, Handy, 1995, Amabile et al., 1996).

Therefore rather than considering restructuring due to a challenging market as a disadvantage, it is potentially a contributor to increased organisational creativity. In a challenging marketplace, companies are required to restructure due to a change in strategy and it is these ‘fluctuations, disturbances, and imbalances in organizations that are the primary sources of creativity’ (Kouzes and Posner 2003, p. 186).

Irish architectural practices expanding their number of geographic locations may need to restructure or downsize due to market change at home. During restructuring, these practices can take advantage of the opportunity presenting itself and gain competitive advantage by enhancing their organisational creativity by considering those aspects of structure identified above that improve or impede organisational creativity.

The ways companies restructure is linked to global development as boundaries change and new commercial relationships develop. Companies can move away from traditional bureaucracies towards working with business partners as referred to in

Chapter 2 through strategic alliances in networks across distant locations given the requirement for flexibility and global learning (Bratton et al., 2007, Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2002). Companies can elect to set up virtual organisations where people are connected through teleconferencing, the internet and computer-aided design systems but may rarely meet (Bratton et al., 2007). These are new ways of working which reflect changes in global capitalist development.

Decision making

Figure 13 Types of Organisational Restructuring

Source: Adapted from Mabey, Salaman and Stored, Cited in Bratton et al 2007, p. 399 Figure 13 above highlights these new ways of working as they have evolved and changed over the past century. The literature suggests that low formalisation, complexity and de-centralisation provide the optimum conditions for creativity but this presents a challenge for managers of architectural practices with multi-city offices who need to ensure that these dimensions of structure do not get in the way of the efficient running of the business.

When restructuring the span of control of managers increases with downsizing:

organisations then become flatter and herein lies the opportunity for a company to become more creative with a flatter structure (Bratton et al., 2007). There is a paradox in the argument that at the very time companies are ‘off balance’ they can be at their most creative but this is what the literature is consistently attesting.

The literature suggests that restructuring is required when the span of control decreases due to downsizing. Downsizing itself creates a flatter organisation thereby increasing the creative potential of the organisation as highlighted above. Therefore what can be concluded is that, as opposed to considering restructuring due to turbulent

Bureaucracy 

times as a disadvantage, evidence suggests that it during these times, when challenge is at its greatest, that is the principle source of creativity.

How staff either moving or joining overseas offices maintain collaborative relationships with others across the organisation needs to be considered. Strategic alliances with business partners and networks can be considered by those companies entering new locations, however in order to maximise the knowledge and expertise of existing staff the literature would suggest that a blend of formal structures with informal structures would better maintain the collegiate relationships across the organisation so important to the development of new ideas, products and services.

4.10 Summary

Competitive advantage should be a consideration for Irish architectural practices that need to think creatively order to secure new products, services and markets and also maintain and build their reputation for innovative high quality design in order to grow business abroad. Innovation based strategies allow companies leverage their organisations’ creativity for competitive advantage. Creativity relates to the production of novel and useful ideas and is required by companies to innovate new products or services in order to deliver competitive advantage. In an organisation it is influenced by various dimensions of an organisation’s structure which can enhance or impede creativity. Elements of organisational structure identified which affect the work environment for creativity are centralisation, complexity and formality. As a result of major shifts in the market place architectural practices may now consider the re-structuring of their organisations at the present time due to downsizing. Irish architectural companies can consider various elements of their structure in relation to organisational creativity for competitive advantage particularly when re-structuring.

How this can be achieved is explored in this thesis in order to make recommendations for best practice.

Various themes emerge in this section, which are explored in the enquiry. Strategies for competitive advantage for those practices seeking work overseas are explored in the primary research. How Irish architectural companies address creativity in their

organisations and whether or not they have strategies around creativity for staff and/or clients are explored as part of this study. Whether or not pressure to deliver at speed during the boom has been replaced with another pressure to find new markets, products or services and the potential impact on creativity will explored. The research explores if there is evidence of the work environment effecting creativity and how that manifests itself. How complex and centralised Irish architectural practices are is considered. The opportunities that a combination of formal and informal structures practice can provide companies is explored. The collegiate relationships that build up through colleagues assisting each other informally in ways that deliver unexpected benefits to the organisation will be considered as part of the primary research. The approach undertaken in that research is outlined in the following chapter.