| Around the world, many companies have moved away from vertical and hierarchical structures into highly flexible organizational designs frequently referred to as 21st Century Network Organizations (Miles and Snow, 1984;1992;1995; Miles, Snow, Mathews and Coleman, 1997). Network organizations involve a paradigm shift in organizational design and management thinking, a different concept of work and of being an individual in the organization.; This study raises the question “What does it mean to be an individual-leader in a 21st century network organization?” and encompasses three sources of data and insights. First, an archival data study was conducted to Hewlett Packard (HP), as a network organization, particularly in terms of the company's historical background, capabilities, organizational culture, leadership and management. Second, an in-depth interview study to five individuals of the HP organization was conducted. Participants were invited to speak about their experiences, capabilities, relationships and leadership. A pattern content analysis of their reports was conducted and illustrated through key quotations. Third, an interview with an expert and author of the network organization concept, Raymond Miles, Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, was conducted. Such an interview focused on issues relevant to individuals, leaders and managers of network organizations.; The finding of this study are that ‘constant learning,’ ‘creativity and innovation,’ ‘systems thinking,’ ‘outsourcing,’ ‘knowledge management,’ ‘consulting’, ‘orientation toward results,’ ‘flexibility in the use time, space and technology’ and ‘virtual organization’ are critical individual competencies for working and succeeding in a network organization. Additionally, ‘partnering and networking’ and ‘validating feelings’ are critical issues of relationships. Further, ‘vision and knowledge of the business’ and ‘leading as a matter of influence’ are critical issues of leadership in this organizational design. This study concludes suggesting that the dimension of ‘Individuals-Leaders’ do matter in the network organizational design because individuals and leaders are those who embody the knowledge of the business, who daily design their own work as well as the work of their organizations. |
