3

With the current pace of technology, modern

organisations need to adapt to keep them-
selves abrest of it. This implies that orga-
nisations of the future must be structured
differently from what they are today in order
to survive.
D
own the ages, man has been characterised
by his incessant search for information
and knowledge. Since the time the primates
began to walk, the sheer force of his intellect
set man apart from other species. And, as he
began to walk more erect, his ambitions, too,
began to soar even higher his ultimate goal
became the conquest of nature. From caves to
computers, man has come a long way since his
first tentative steps towards this goal. Each
time the wheels of progress seemed to slow
down, new technologies were discovered to
keep them spinning at their unflagging rate.
Indeed, the pace of technology seems only to
rise, growing exponentially. New wonders are
being unfolded, even while you are reading
this.
So What Are these New Technologies?
To understand how they work and what they
do, one must first take a brief look at the na-
ture of matter.
A Matter of Organisation
All the things we see are made out of atoms,
tiny particles which are, for all practical pur-
poses, invisible and form the basic blocks of
matter. Together di fferent types of atoms
constitute all the elements we know. Although
their number is little, the vast diversity around
us is due to their combining with each other
in order to form aggregates of atoms called
molecules. Together thousands and millions
of these molecules form the objects that we
touch and see everyday.
The arrangement of the atoms in a mole-
cule is strictly ordered and even a slight change
i n the pl acement can l ead to a compl ete
change in the nature and properties of a mole-
cule. If the change is not in accordance with
physi cal and chemi cal l aws, the structure
becomes unstable and the molecule may be
destroyed, thus putting an end to the sub-
stance itself.
What is even more interesting is that cer-
tain types of atoms can be arranged to give
rise to extremely complex molecules, which
form the very basis of life itself. Such mole-
cules are called organic, and what they have
i n common i s that one speci al atom, the
Carbon atom, must be present.
With this little bit of knowledge, we can
now understand what exactly the new tech-
nologies are and what they do.
Ray Amit *
4
The Human Genome Project (HGP) essentially
attempts to locate and map each of the over
80,000 atoms present in the human genome
(the little DNA strand that is the nucleus of
l i f e). Nanotechnol ogy essenti al l y tri es to
devel op techni ques of handl i ng and ma-
nipulating matter at the atomic level so that
we are able to build anything we want from
the bottom up . Conventional techniques
like lithography (which is used, for example,
to etch out patterns in silicon chips for use in
computers) use a top-down approach of
manufacturing. Although we have refined this
technol ogy enough to work at submi cro
levels, it is still too crude for working at atomic
levels.
What Are their Prospects?
The technology is so revolutionary that it will
not only open new markets, it will change
them. The twin breakthroughs of HGP and
Nanotechnology will allow us to create, from
the very atoms, everything that we can pos-
sibly imagine. Name the market and an ap-
plication for Nanotechnology can be found to
satisfy it. In fact, Nanotechnology can give rise
to prospects we can only dream of. The limits
are set only by the boundaries of our ima-
gination.
But Why Put All this in a Paper on
Management?
New technologies and new markets require
organisations to keep up with rapidly chang-
ing environments and to change their methods
and outlooks accordingly. They require the
development of new skills or the refinement
of already existing ones. Management is the
art of control l i ng and usi ng, among other
things, manpower, methods and markets. As
such, the onus is on it to deliver the goods.
How Can We Relate these Technologies to
Management?
First, let us look at the basic structure of an
organisation. A very conventional one would
have groups of peopl e worki ng i n each of
several departments that make up the com-
pany.
Now suppose we replace the people with
atoms, the groups with simple molecules, the
departments wi th compl ex mol ecul es, l i ke
DNA, and the company with a simple form of
life, like a cell. We would then have the fol-
lowing structure:
Simple molecules made up of atoms, form
complex molecules like DNA that make up a
cell an amazing analogy.
The next step is to extend the analogy to
tackling the technological changes that con-
front organisations.
Look at what the technol ogi es do. The
Human Genome Project strives to look at the
basic unit of life, DNA, and to find out exactly
how it is structured. Once this is known, the
helix can be replicated through Nanotech-
nology to create more of such structures. Each
of these clones will be just like the original
and just as effective. In fact, by rearranging
and experimenting, one can even eliminate
the defects inherent in each of those macro-
molecules and give rise to a daughter mole-
cule that will be perfect in every way.
Thus, instead of using the equivalent of
managerial lithography by tackling things at
the department level, analyse the departments
themselves to see exactly how they work and
then restructure them, starting from their bas-
ic unit, the person, to eliminate all its defects
and give rise to a new super-organisation.
The Atomic Model and the
Super-organisation
Conventional ways of looking at organisations
see them as being living, growing beings capa-
ble of adapting themselves to their environ-
ment and, indeed, adopting a proactive ap-
proach to change. The smallest units of an or-
ganisation that are capable of providing this
are its departments. To guarantee the contin-
ued smooth functioning of the organisation,
one must ensure that they are faultless and as
perfect as we can make them. For the purpose
of explanation, the model proposed is along
the lines of the atomic model discussed.
The DNA of an organism determines its
look, its growth, its thinking and its behaviour.
The smallest mistake in the genetic coding can
result in catastrophic results. Modern organisa-
tions, too, balance on a fine line, the slightest
slip bringing about their downfall.
DNA is composed of several simple mole-
cules made up of varied types of atoms held
together by carbon atoms. Independentl y,
Ray Amit
5
each atom is totally different from the others.
In fact, atoms of the same ki nd can come
together to form self-contained, independent
forms of matter as, say i n the case of two
oxygen atoms combining to form the gas, oxy-
gen. However, they do not form the basis of
life. For that, one needs the essential carbon
atom. The carbon atom, again, when bound
with others of its kind, can only give rise to
the i nert mol ecul es, coal or charcoal and
diamond. But they, again, are inanimate. The
only way to guarantee that the department
l i ves, i s by ensuri ng that i ts mol ecul es are
made up of carbon atoms bound together
with other atoms in the right manner and in
the right proportions to ensure stability.
In the real world, people are different from
one another. Individually, they all look, think
and act differently. Each possesses special skills
that set him apart from the majority. The trick
is to find their right place in the department,
the role in which their special characteristics
make the difference between a job done and
one that is well done. This will involve know-
i ng the exact nature of the jobs and i den-
tifying the special skills they require. These
positions may then be filled with people who
satisfy the respective requirements exactly. It
may require extensive rearrangement but it
will ensure that the requirements of each job
are being met by those who are best suited
for i t. As an added bonus, the empl oyees
themselves are bound to perform their best
since the jobs they are assigned to are, so to
speak, tailor-made for them.
Lesson One: Identify the Atoms in the
Molecule and Find Out Where they Fit Best
The organic nature of the departments is due
to the managers who form the carbon atoms,
which hold the structure together in a stable
structure form. Management must be orga-
nised in such a way that the right mix of people
reports to its individual manager. Again, man-
agers must be spread throughout the body of
the departmental DNA in order to connect
related groups of people. This will allow an
effective communication and a strong struc-
ture. It does not need to be elaborated that a
concentration of managers will be like the
diamond, glittering, but inanimate. Again,
groups of employees without any leaders will,
like the oxygen atoms, be useful in certain
circumstances but not in the context of an
organisation. Only when employees and man-
agement come together in the fabric of the
department the whole construction becomes
the life-giving basis of the organisation.
Lesson Two: Get the Right Mix of
Management and Employees
In each macromol ecul e, speci al groups of
atoms exist which perform a particular func-
tion. We have already talked about these sim-
pl e mol ecul es. Si nce they each perf orm a
specialised function, they behave as individual
atoms. Often, the atoms in the group may be
rearranged to give rise to molecules which
perform a function that is different from the
original. Thus, in the context of the organi-
sation, we may choose to form workgroups
which comprise differently skilled people, all
of whom work together to fulfil a particular
function. While the former already exists in
practice, the rotation of personnel in order to
change the role of the group can extend the
concept. This is the only instance where the
model allows for inexact matches between
people and their tasks and, in fact, where it
calls for the use of generalists who can be
rotated between different jobs. The groups
will be most effective when each of the group
members is highly experienced and capable.
One of its major advantages is the fact that it
cuts the costs of repeated personal training for
different workgroups.
Lesson Three: Form Flexible Workgroups
Which Can Be Moulded to Different Tasks
Could you run all that by me again?
All that talk of atoms, molecules and DNA
must have been a trifle confusing. What this
paper tri es to convey i s, i n essence, that
although conventional wisdom recognises an
organisation to be a living, breathing entity,
conventional techniques only look at it from
a macroperspecti ve, tryi ng to anal yse and
structure it accordingly. The approach adopted
here is to look at it from the bottom up ,
looking at employees individual skills and
capabilities to ensure the efficient functioning
of the firm even in this age of technological
upheaval.
To summarise, we can list the following
points:
A Matter of Organisation
6
People are the atoms which make up the
organisation; departments form the DNA
that gives life to it.
Each individual department must be ana-
lysed to identify the special skills required
for each job so that the posts can be filled
by people who possess those particular
skills.
Managers should be dispersed throughout
the department structure so that they have
the right proportion of different employees
reporting to them.
Each department must have efficient com-
munication among its managers to ensure
a stable structure.
Workgroups may be formed wi th gen-
eralists who are able to perform several
different tasks so that the overall function
of the group may be changed by mere
change in the roles of the members.
* Ray Amit is a student at the Indian Institute of Ma-
nagement in Calcutta (IND).
Conclusion
The way to the future is through technological
progress. As humankind probes deeper into
the mysteries of nature, civilisation advances
steadily on the path of knowledge. We do not
know where it may lead but we soldier on,
secure in the knowledge that whatever the fun
may have i n store f or us, the road to our
destination is paved with gold. New techno-
logies, new markets are all there, waiting to
be discovered. However, discovering them is
not enough. Like uncut diamonds, they need
to be dusted off, cut and shaped by human
skill until they sparkle and shine for all they
are worth.
Ray Amit