The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organizational Structure (Paperback)

by Ronald N. Ashkenas (Author), Dave Ulrich (Author), Todd Jick (Author), Steve Kerr (Author) "As the twentieth century comes to a close, a new world order has begun to emerge, replacing familiar patterns of power and privilege that have..." (more)
Key Phrases: boundaryless transformation, loosening vertical boundaries, haywire horizontal boundaries, United States, Clifford Chance, Montgomery Ward (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Most solutions being recommended today for improving corporate performance prescribe reducing hierarchy by changing organizational structure, altering boundaries, and overcoming barriers within the organization. The authors go much further, calling for a "boundaryless organization," and they consider much more than the traditional and the obvious boundaries that exist within organizations. This book grew out of work done by the authors as consultants hired by General Electric's CEO Jack Welch, who first approached them with the concept of a "boundaryless organization." Applying what they learned in the effort to transform the way GE did business and from numerous other examples, they consider the vertical, horizontal, external, and geographic boundaries that exist for organizations. The authors provide tools to help measure the degree to which boundaries exist, demonstrate the consequences of boundaries, and identify steps to eliminate them. David Rouse --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
Winner of the Executive Leadership Award

"If your organization is ready for transformation, The Boundaryless Organization will provide a simple but provocative framework either for getting started or for accelerating the pace."
— from the foreword by Lawrence A. Bossidy, chairman and CEO, Honeywell Corporation

"This is the best book on globalization and the seamless organization that I have read."
— David H. Komansky, chairman and CEO, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.

"A very important contribution."
— from the foreword by C. K. Prahalad, coauthor of Competing for the Future

"Attacks the very core of traditional management structure, with all of its walls, boundaries, and limitations."
— Quality Progress

"Outlines how companies can make the change from rigid structures to ones where ideas, resources, and information can flow freely."
— HR Strategies & Tactics

"A refreshing guide to innovative ways to do business . . . . Each part includes a questionnaire that readers can use to determine where they stand on a continuum between boundaried and boundaryless status."
— Journal of Management Consulting

"Recommended reading."
— CIO

"Outlines how companies can make the change from rigid structures to ones where ideas, resources, and information can flow freely."
— HR Strategies & Tactics

"A refreshing guide to innovative ways to do business . . . . Each part includes a questionnaire that readers can use to determine where they stand on a continuum between boundaried and boundaryless status."
— Journal of Management Consulting

"Recommended reading."
— CIO

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787940003
• ISBN-13: 978-0787940003
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #917,017 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes and No, January 21, 2000

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The title is a misnomer: Although the authors do indeed suggest how to "break through the chains of organizational structure", they provide an enlightening explanation of four different types of boundaries (vertical, horizontal, external, and geographic) which give definition to any organization. They do not advocate the total elimination of these boundaries (which is impossible, anyway); rather, they suggest how to rearrange them so that an organization can thrive. For the authors, there is what they call "A New World Order":

"In living organisms, membranes exist to give the organization shape and definition. They have sufficient structural strength to prevent the organism from dissolving into an amorphous mess....Like a living organism, the boundaryless organization also evolves and grows, and the placement of boundaries may shift....Because the boundaryless organization is a living continuum, not a fixed state, the ongoing management challenge is to find the right balance of boundaryless behavior, to determine how permeable to make boundaries, and where to place them."

This brief excerpt from the first chapter correctly suggests the purpose of this remarkable book: To explain HOW to meet that challenge.

The material is presented within four parts plus a conclusion. The first explains how to achieve "free movement up and down" by crossing vertical boundaries; the second explains how to achieve "free movement side to side" by crossing horizontal boundaries; the third explains how to achieve "free movement along the value chain" by crossing external boundaries; and in the fourth part, they explain how to achieve "free global movement" by crossing geographic boundaries." Then in the Conclusion, the authors discuss "Making It Happen: Leading Toward the Boundaryless Organization."

The authors also include a series of six questionnaires. By completing each in sequence, the reader is able to determine (a) where her or his organization is now located relative to "the boundaryless paradigm", and (b), what is needed to eliminate the "gap" between where it is now and where it should be. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to read The Boundaryless Organization Field Guide. It contains a a hands-on set of diagnostic instruments as well as exercises and tools, and a disk with presentation slides in Powerpoint format.

I agree with the authors: The most restrictive organizational boundaries are in the minds of those within an organization. Organizational as well as personal wounds are usually self-inflicted.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "From Domestic Boundaries to Global Village of Tomorrow", April 22, 2001

By	Turgay BUGDACIGIL (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

"Like Marko Polo discovering a new world of trade, organizations today are exploring vast new markets throughout the globe. The process is nothing less than a revolution, breaking down once sacrosanct boundaries of space, time, and nationality...In today's world, there is no longer a dichotomy between domestic and foreign. Global boundaries between companies, markets, and people have become irrevocably blurred...For companies such as Unilever, ABB, and SmithKline Beecham, globalization has become a natural part of their business, an integral part of their culture. For most companies, however, the goal to become truly global in mindset, staff, and market seems a stretch. Although the oportunities are tempting, the effort, knowledge, and skill required are much greater than for running a domestic operation, and the risks-once you probe beneath the surface-are equally enormous"(pp.261-262).

In this context, the authors, in Chapter 8, first put forward the following ten reasons why organizations might want to become more global: competitive survival, cost spreading, trailblazing, rule of three, domino effect, evolutionary forces, technological revolution, search for innovation, ripple effect, and benchmarking against other companies. Then, they discuss seven challenges companies face in making the global leap: (1)Establishing a workable global structure, (2)Hiring global supermanagers, (3)Managing people for a global environment, (4)Learning to love cultural differences, (5)Avoiding parochialism and arrogance, (6)Designing unifying mechanisms and a global mindset, (7)Overcoming complexity.

In Chapter 9, to overcome these challenges, they show action plans, and suggest ways of moving forward, from learner to launcher and from launcher to leader into the global arena as summarized as below:

I- From Global Learner to Global Launcher

1. Human Resources Practices

* Supply language/cultural sensitivity training.

* Standardize forms and procedures.

* Set up an overseas presence via joint venture, modest acquisition, or establishment of a headquarters.

* Engage in extensive cross-border relationship building.

2. Organizational Structures

* Arrange short-term visits and international assignments.

* Staff for more diversity in management and board of directors.

* Use e-mail and videoconferencing to maintain day-to-day contact.

3. Organizational Processes and Systems

* Establish worldwide shared values, language, and operating principles.

* Conduct fact-finding missions.

* Design ad hoc transnational teams.

* Hold global town meetings and best-practice exchanges of information.

II- From Global Launcher to Global Leader

1. Human Resources Practices

* Seek complete liquidity of human resources: recruit outside the domestic base; place foreign recruits within the domestic base; promote the best people to global assignments; rotate people internationally; use twinning.

* Aim for a global structure.

* Map global processes.

2. Organizational Structure

* Provide continuing global leadership trining and regular transnational training to reinforce the global mindset.

* Remove/minimize country managers and replace with global managers and focus on global customers.

* Routinize real-time global communications.

3. Organizational Processes and Systems

* Use global reward systems.

* Multiply ongoing transnational project teams.

* Work for global integration (for example, total global sourcing, global design, global engineering, and global purchasing).

Finally, they write that "Many tools are available to organizations, and we have described a good number of them here (as summarized above). But senior management must have the skill and foresight to use the right tools in the right way, at the right time, and in the right sequence...Each stage requires structures that enable the crossing of boundaries, systems and procedures that drive global behavior, and people who can learn to extend their thinking beyond their present outlook."

Highly recommended.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A triumphant crusade against fiefdoms, August 24, 1998

By A Customer

This is a forward-looking discussion of the paradigm shift from traditional pyramidal organizations to organic, dynamic enterprises that feature permeable boundaries. The book is a triumphant crusade against fiefdoms and for freedom in inter- and intra-organizational life. It demonstrates how "boundaryless" organizations can increase the ability to respond quickly, creatively, flexibly, and in an integrated fashion to market demands. Case studies of change efforts bring the main points alive. Adding to the value of this work are self-diagnostic instruments, charts, and tables. This book is a rich source of insights about organization plus savvy guidelines for taking action. We highly recommend it.