Designing Organizations is a leader’s concise guide to the process of creating an organization that is specifically suited to the rapidly changing demands of business strategy and its external environment.

he book describes Jay Galbraith’s Star Model and how the various policy areas of strategy, structure, processes, rewards and people must be actively designed to work together in order to create an effective and competitive organization. Galbraith explains differences between functional, hybrid, product, front-back, matrix and complex five-dimensional organizations.

Unlike many other organization design books, he also details the trade-offs involved in choosing and operating these types of organizations. This book is small but packed with both theory and explicit case studies of actual companies, such as Apple Computer, 3M, Intel, Motorola and Toyota.

“This book is the ultimate corporate reference guide for the organization design practitioner. Jay Galbraith’s book provides detailed logic and examples of when to consider a particular organization design, such as a front-back organization, and what the relative costs of choosing that organization are. We highly recommend it to our members.”
— Association for the Management of Organization Design

“A must-read for anyone who is ready for a dose of clear thinking on organizational strategy and design. Jay Galbraith understands strategy and structure better than anyone I know.”
— Edward E. Lawler III, Director, Center for Effective Organizations.

“Jay Galbraith is the architect for CEOs, human resource executives, and all others responsible for building organizational capability. His design principles and models are an excellent foundation for shaping an effective organization.”
— Stephen Balogh, Vice President, Human Resources, Raychem Corporation.