BMA533E: The Structural Frame

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BMA533E The Structural Frame
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Agenda

• Theories-for-action wrap-up
• Structural introduction
• Case 1 9/11
• Case 2 Andersen Consulting
• Personal case discussion

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Theories for action

• Espoused theory the account an individual
  provides to describe, explain or predict her/his
  own behavior
• Theory-in-use the program (set of decision
  rules) that would produce an individuals behavior

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Model I Made Simple Everyones Theory-in-Use
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Ladder of inference
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Ladder of influence thinking processs

• We tacitly register some data and ignore other
  data.
• We make interpretations from these data and draw
  conclusions from them.
• Most of this occurs quickly, automatically and
  tacitly, outside of awareness.
• Hence,  our conclusions feel so obvious to us
  that we see no need to retrace the steps we took
  from the data we selected to the conclusions we
  reached.

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Our skill at reasoning is essential -- and gets
us in trouble

• If we thought about each inference we made, life
  would pass us by.
• But people can and do reach different
  conclusions.  When they view their conclusions as
  obvious, they see no need to say (or even think
  about) how they reached them.
• When people disagree, they often hurl conclusions
  at each other from the tops of their respective
  ladders.
• They talk past one another making it very hard
  to resolve differences and to learn from one
  another.

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Model II (adapted from Argyris and Schön)
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Advocacy and Inquiry
High
Advocacy
Low
High
Low
Inquiry
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A Structural View

• Metaphor complex machine
• Leader analyst, architect
• Strategy do your homework, analyze, design new
  approach, implement
• Focus data, logic, structure, plans, policies

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Structural Basics

• Theres something lost and something gained with
  every structural option
• A structure keeps doing what its designed to do
  (even if its not what you want)
• Structures fail in face of challenges theyre not
  designed for
• Core issues
• Differentiation How do we divide up the work?
• Integration how do we coordinate once the work
  is divided up?
• Information how do we get information, make
  sense of it, and get it to where we need it?

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9/11

• A System Under Challenge

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9/11 Commission

• The North American Aerospace Defense Command and
  the Federal Aviation Administration "struggled,
  under difficult circumstances, to improvise a
  homeland defense against an unprecedented
  challenge they had never encountered and had
  never trained to meet."

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9/11 Timeline Hijacked Flights

• American 11 departs Boston 8 a.m., hijacked
  around 815 a.m., hits World Trade Center 846
  a.m.
• United 175 departs Boston 15 minutes late at 814
  a.m., hits World Trace Center 905 a.m.
• American 77 departs Washington/Dulles 820,
  crashes into Pentagon 937 a.m.
• United 93 delayed on ground at Newark, departs
  842 a.m., forced down in Pennsylvania 1006 a.m.

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Primary sites in film

• FAA National Command Center (Herndon, VA),
  receives notification from Boston Air Traffic
  Control at 828 a.m. that AA 11 is believed
  hijacked
• Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), located in
  Rome, New York, regional HQ for the North
  American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD),
  receives notification of hijack from Boston
  Center at about 837 a.m.

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Key People

• Ben Sliney, National Operations Manager, FAA
  command center (hed been greeted with applause
  when he arrived that morning for his first day in
  the job)
• Colonel Bob Marr, Battle Commander, Northeast Air
  Defense Sector
• Major Kevin Nasypany, Mission Crew Commander
  (MCC), NEADS

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(No Transcript)
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(959 a.m.) Conversation between
counterterrorism tsar Richard Clarke and Dale
Watson, head of counterterrorism, FBI

• Watson We got the passenger manifests from the
  airlines. We recognize some names, Dick. Theyre
  al-Qaeda.
• Clarke How the f_ck did they get on board
  then?
• Watson Hey, dont shoot the messenger, friend.
  CIA forgot to tell us about them.

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Reflections
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Options for dividing the work
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Options for dividing the work
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Alfred P. Sloan at General Motors

• Appointed CEO 1923
• In first year, GMs share dropped from 20 to 17
  Fords increased to 55
• GM passed Ford 5 years later
• Structure Sloan inherited feudal baronies
• One option functional organization

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Andersen Consulting

• Is Ellis right in believing that AC-EMEAIs
  current structure is untenable long-term? Why or
  why not?
• What are the most important strengths and
  weaknesses of the existing structure?
• Regional structure? More autonomy for each
  country Organize by industry?
• What should Ellis do now?