10 Principles Of Effective Organizations Harvard Business Review

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Oct 23, 2025, 6:17 PM

10 principles of effective organizations harvard business review

As organization development evolves alongside institutional practices and insights into human behavior, a big piece of the field is still missing: a set of principles that convey what organizations must do well to thrive. Organizations are adept at identifying specific problems and have at their disposal a host of interventions designed to resolve them, but they operate without broader developmental criteria, or goals, that must be satisfied to... Accordingly, below are 10 principles to guide developmental initiatives within your organization. I enjoy the Harvard Business Review for the thoughtful articles. I recommend this article in particular as a way of gauging organizational health; how is your organization doing, if you compare it against these principles? “Organizations are pretty good at solving specific problems as they arise, but many lack a set of criteria and goals to meet in order to maintain their ability to compete and grow.

The author identifies 10 research-backed principles from the field of organization development to guide companies: 1) Encourage cooperation, 2) organize for change, 3) anticipate the future, 4) remain flexible, 5) create distinctive spaces, 6)... Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. How organizations compete and grow long-term. President & CEO at United Homes Enterprises Inc.

Fine products, fair pricing, after sales and personal contacts along with annual gifts and more!🥂🎩❤ Where Others See Conflict, I Help You See Opportunity—For Connection, Culture & Collaboration Some really valuable insights here, appreciate you sharing it! By Michael O’Malley, Harvard Business Review As organization development evolves alongside institutional practices and insights into human behavior, a big piece of the field is still missing: a set of principles that convey what organizations must do well to thrive. Organizations are adept at identifying specific problems and have at their disposal a host of interventions designed to resolve them, but they operate without broader developmental criteria, or goals, that must be satisfied to...

Accordingly, below are 10 principles to guide developmental initiatives within your organization. The central objective of organization development is to achieve a cooperative institutional order and quash destabilizing self interest. Can you imagine a company that could survive with members having divergent motives and antagonistic goals? And yet, the temptation to act in ways contrary to the purposes of organizations is high. Indeed, often the easiest and most lucrative course of action is to accept the benefits of group accomplishment such as compensation while contributing little to the group’s cause in return — much like a... (Or, as often happens in technology companies, to benefit from the corporate association while concealing one’s best ideas that might personally pay off later.)

One way companies try to solve this “free-rider” dilemma is by changing the calculus of the relationship through rewards and punishments. A company might, for example, reward employees’ displays of cooperation or provide public accolades for teamwork, or censure against a lack of cooperation. A more effective and lasting strategy, however, is to change the nature of work relationships. Friends cooperate more than strangers, where the allure of self-maximizing behaviors is high. Consequently, good companies expend a great deal of energy creating strong social bonds among employees. Group activities that forge strong interpersonal connections may seem superfluous to the Type A ilk who do not think socializing constitutes real work; however, just as the games children play are not just games...

They are affective bridges back to the organization that positively build relationships and influence performance. Summary. Organizations are pretty good at solving specific problems as they arise, but many lack a set of criteria and goals to meet in order to maintain their ability to compete and grow. As organization development evolves alongside institutional practices and insights into human behavior, a big piece of the field is still missing: a set of principles that convey what organizations must do well to thrive. Organizations are adapt at identifying specific problems and have at their disposal a host of interventions designed to resolve them, but they operate without broader developmental criteria, or goals, that must be satisfied to... Accordingly, below are 10 principles to guide developmental initiatives within your organization.

The central objective of organization development is to achieve a cooperative institutional order and quash destabilizing self interest. Can you imagine a company that could survive with members having divergent motives and antagonistic goals? And yet, the temptation to act in ways contrary to the purposes of organizations is high. Indeed, often the easiest and most lucrative course of action is to accept the benefits of group accomplishment such as compensation while contributing little to the group’s cause in return — much like a... (Or, as often happens in technology companies, to benefit from the corporate association while concealing one’s best ideas that might personally pay off later.) One way companies try to solve this “free-rider” dilemma is by changing the calculus of the relationship through rewards and punishments.

A company might, for example, reward employees’ displays of cooperation or provide public accolades for teamwork, or censure against a lack of cooperation. A more effective and lasting strategy, however, is to change the nature of work relationships. Friends cooperate more than strangers, where the allure of self-maximizing behaviors is high. Consequently, good companies expend a great deal of energy creating strong social bonds among employees. Group activities that forge strong interpersonal connections may seem superfluous to the Type A ilk who do not think socializing constitutes real work; however, just as the games children play are not just games... They are affective bridges back to the organization that positively build relationships and influence performance.

Individual behavior is complicated enough. Organizational behavior is a whole other beast. It's no small feat to design an organization that's both effective and conducive to its employees' well-being. Over the past few decades, behavioral research has enriched our understanding of organizational psychology. This article from Harvard Business Review boils down those insights into 10 key ingredients for organizational success. Give it a read to understand what needs to happen in order for your company to compete, grow, and thrive.

#organizationalbehavior #peopleandculture #organizationalpsychology #behavioralscience #management #leadership #managementconsulting #research Experienced Corporate Leader | Creative Legal Advisor | Tenacious Business Litigator | Shareholder @ GableGotwals Leading an effective organization. Yesterday, Harvard Business Review published a well-written article: "10 Principles of Effective Organizations" by Michael O'Malley. As someone who really enjoys both organizational development and Top "X" lists, I found many insightful principles listed in Mr. O'Malley's article: (1) Encourage Cooperation; (2) Organize for Change; ...

(6) Diversify your Workforce and Create an Inclusive Environment; (7) Promote Personal Growth; and (8) Empower People. I would recommend this article to any leader seeking to elevate their organization's effectiveness. . . . However, I also found something missing in the 10 principles: a focus on ethics and integrity.

I believe leading an effective organization requires an intentional focus on building a culture that promotes and rewards ethical decision-making. Promote a speak-up culture where it is psychologically safe to speak up. Ensure the organization's culture does not place excessive pressure to reach unrealistic goals. Set a positive example in placing ethics and integrity first in discussing corporate direction and decision-making. #organizationalculture #ethicsfirst In our age of discontinuity, you need the ability to continually shift.

by Ram Charan Organizations succeed over time only when they adapt to the speed and character of external change. Every aspect of an organization — from how it operates and is structured to how it is led — must match the current yet ever-shifting context in which it exists. Last week we lost Vin Scully, this week we lost David McCullough. McCullough was one of America’s greatest living historians. He worked in a variety of formats, including non-fiction books, television and movies.

He was a great writer, winning numerous national awards for his books. According to his New York Times (NYT) obituary, “McCullough won Pulitzer Prizes for two presidential biographies, “Truman” (1992) and “John Adams” (2001). He received National Book Awards for “The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal” (1977) and “Mornings on Horseback” (1981), about the young Theodore Roosevelt and his family.” Many others knew him from his television work, most notably on Ken Burns The Civil War, and as the host of the American Experience. Not exactly John Facenda-like (i.e., the Voice of God) but as Gary North said, “not imperious, yet not exactly soothing, either — comes on, and we become more calm.” He also noted, “Incredibly, you... As for my favorite books, probably No.

1 is The Path Between the Seas. Book about places are a notoriously tricky thing but it was great history, wrapped in a great biography all the while telling a great story. My co-favorite (1A) was his biography John Adams, first and foremost because of the love story between Adams and his wife Abagail, who was truly his partner in his entire life’s work. It also set a standard for telling the story of how Founding Fathers created a new nation in the midst of a bitter war. I thought McCullough was a good introduction to start a two-part series on business approaches to create an effective compliance. I recently saw an article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR), entitled 10 Principles of Effective Organizations, by Michael O’Malley which also intrigued me about this topic.

The effectiveness of a compliance program is an ongoing dialogue but what business strategies can you use to do so. Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs) are good at using the Hallmarks of an Effective Compliance Program, as delineated in the FCPA Resource Guide 2nd edition, as a guide but in this article, the author articulates... He identifies 10 research-backed principles from the field of organization development to guide companies and I have adapted them for the compliance professional. Today we take up his first five and we conclude tomorrow with his final five. The central objective of every compliance program is to achieve a cooperative ethical order in an organization to do business ethically and in compliance. From the organizational behavioral perspective, this means removing “divergent motives and antagonistic goals” in an organization.

While getting everyone to row in the same direction is one part, the second part is to keep some group of employees, a business unit or geo-region, from breaking off and taking a short...

10 Principles Of Effective Organizations Harvard Business Review

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