exible and shared services. It has also been called "molecular," in reference to the shift from the rigid, hierarchical organization to a more free-formed and fluid structure. Whatever titles or classifications the change process is given, it is certain to mean that people will be dealing with entirely new organizational designs."Flattening the hierarchy may not be enough" (Greco PG) when it comes to designing the organization of the 21st century. Processes such as broadening definitions of what constitutes a "customer" and adopting the mindset of flexibility will ultimately serve as the true indicators of the attributes of a successful (and profitable) organization. The term "molecular" as applied to an organization serves to describe one of the most clear-cut of changes of a change in organizational thinking from a rigid, hierarchical structure to a more fluid, free-formed one. "Molecular" suggests a DNA-like configuration with interrelated links of a connecting chain, all of roughly equal length (read: importance) and all are of vital concern to the whole. "The company of tomorrow is already here, and it offers a new picture of the way businesses are structured and organized, how employees report and relate to each other, and how they serve their varied constituents" (Greco PG). Organizational Design at MicrosoftBy virtue of the size of Microsoft, it has evolved as its own unique hybrid of organizational design. Like the old joke of "where does an 800 pound gorilla sit -- anywhere he wants to," Microsoft has been able to "sit" anywhere it wanted to. As early as 1994, Microsoft was pointed to as an example of the way high-tech companies "management practices and organizational designs spawned within the cinder blocks of Silicon Valley and among the evergreens outside Seattle -- the importance of blowing away hierarchy, for example -- have already become conventional wisdom" (Deutschman and Moore 197). For example, the concept of organ...
