Organizational design: A dynamic simulation comparing classical and emergent-network model

Many contemporary practitioners and organizational theorists are predicting the demise of the classical model of organizational design, resulting from its incongruities with the sociological changes of the information age. Rather than attempting to improve the classical model, this research juxtaposed the emergent-network model as a potential replacement. The research question confronted by this study sought to identify the differences between the classical model and the emergent-network model with regard to eight measures of organizational activity.;The comparison of the two organizational design models was undertaken through a dynamic simulation of prototypical organizational activities. During the simulation, employee attributes such as employee proficiency and employee knowledge, skills, and abilities were experimentally modulated. Organizational activity, approximating one year, was simulated in each of five organizations under constant baseline conditions and over one hundred experimental design conditions. When the results from all simulation runs were aggregated, analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted in order to identify the factors and combination of factors producing statistically significant effects on each of the dependent variables. The emergent-network model manifested higher levels of goal attainment, better utilization of resources, and a higher organizational capacity for accommodating change. Increases in employee proficiency and employee knowledge, skills, and abilities did not produce significant differences in organizational measures in either the classical model or the emergent-network model.;Notwithstanding the inherent limitations of a simulation study, the results provide insight for the design of contemporary organizations. The evidence suggests that organizational designs conforming to the principles of the emergent-network model have relevant advantages over the classical model. The emergent-network model may arise as the touchstone of organizations in the information age.