Governmental Action During and After Hurricane Katrina - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1105 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/02/15 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: Federalism Essay Did you like this example? Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive hurricanes to ever hit the US. Hurricane Katrina formed on August 23, 2005, and in less than a week, it became a Category 4 hurricane causing more than $108 billion in damages. Subsequent flooding caused the destruction of more than 200,000 homes and the deaths of at least 1,836 people. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Governmental Action During and After Hurricane Katrina" essay for you Create order By August 31, 2005, the city of New Orleans was completely submerged under water. Many faulted the immense destruction on the local, state, and federal government because of their delayed and inadequate response. The government’s failure to deliver assistance to citizens due to their lack of communication and preparedness caused a delayed and weak response. Hurricane Katrina illustrates the importance of federalism, and how combining and sharing national, state, and local government powers is crucial during times of distress. The local government is responsible for creating and executing an emergency evacuation plan. During Hurricane Katrina, the local government failed to execute the the city’s disaster plan. On August 28, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin issued an emergency evacuation order, however, it was issued less than 24 hours before Hurricane Katrina would hit landfall. This delayed action caused thousands of citizens with no way to evacuate. More than 1.5 million people evacuated, but approximately 150,000 residents were either resistant to evacuate or unable. Additionally, Mayor Ray failed to use the school buses available to assist in evacuating residents which was something already established in the New Orleans Disaster plan which he chose to ignore. Mayor Ray opted instead to send those who could not evacuate to the Louisiana Superdome without providing any food, water, or security. Once the the government realized that the superdome was ineffective, there was another delay because both t he federal and state government could not agree on whose responsibility it was to transport the citizens. Disaster continued when the local government of New Orleans attempted to manage the disaster from a hotel ballroom with undefined communications plans instead of having properly staffed and functioning Emergency Operation Center. On September 1, almost a week after Hurricane Katrina hit landfall, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin finally issued an SOS for help from the federal government. On August 25, Governor Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency in Louisiana. The main criticism involving the state government was the governors slowness in requesting federal troops. Governor Blanco did make a request to the National government for additional troops, however, the request to the Federal National Guard Bureau was not made until three days later after the most of the city was already flooded. Governor Blanco defended herself by arguing that she was unaware of the specific types or number of troops needed. Additionally, the task of body recovery was slow and unclear as bodies went uncollected for several days. The state and federal government remained indecisive on a recovery plan casuing bodies decaying in the streets of New Orleans. While FEMA claimed they were waiting for a request from Governor Blanco, Governor Blanco blamed FEMA for the delay. The state government proved to be inefficient and unprepared for the mass destruction Hurricane Katrina brought. While local and state governments, who have primary responsibility for local disasters, were under heavy scrutiny, President Bush received the most criticism. Many believed that rather than utilizing all of the resources at his disposal, Bush continued to view the issue from afar and waited for it to sort itself out. After four days of the hurricane, President Bush signed a $10.5 billion bill and ordered active-duty troops to assist with relief efforts. However, many units were short staffed because some National Guard units were deployed overseas. Furthurmore, New Orleanss emergency operations executive, Terry Ebbert blamed the inadequate response on the federal government stating that FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. Many questioned the federal government as billions of dollars had been devoted to emergency preparedness since 9/11. The national government failed to lead and work together with the local and state government which lead to confusion and slow response. The failures of governmental action during and after Hurricane Katrina were a result of the structure of federalism. The state and local government relied too much on the national government causing unpreparedness and lack utilities to deal with catastrophic events that happened during Hurricane Katrina. A White House report found that there was â€Å"a complete breakdown in communications that paralyzed command and control and made situational awareness murky at best.† There were various problems with equipment functionality and usage that led to miscommunication. The federal system divides powers and responsibility between national, state, and local governments, but because the lack of communication, the boundaries between these areas of responsibility were not always clear. Another issue was the interpretation of the Posse Comitatus Act which is a federal statute prohibiting use of the military in civilian law enforcement. President Bush tried to use the Necessary and Prope r Clause to fix the problems. During emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina, the president is permitted to deploy federal troops. In the days following Hurricane Katrina, there was concern as there was no security in New Orleans. The White House considered invoking the Insurrection Act so that he U.S. military could legally perform enforce the law in the New Orleans. It is noted that the delayed decision to invoke the Act was due to Mayor Blanco uneasiness was due to â€Å"federalism concerns—in particular, concerns about intruding on Louisianas sovereignty.† Hurricane Katrina exposed many major flaws in the government’s approach to disasters at each level. Katrina made it clear that the government’s emergency response system was inadequate as each level of government was unprepared and unable to communicate and cooperate efficiently amongst each other. Katrina and its effects really exposed the nature of opportunistic federalism. Opportunistic federalism is a system where governments try to pursue their own immediate interests with little regard to the other levels of government. This failed during the Huricane Katrina as seen by lack of communication and the confusion of powers distributed between not only the different levels of government but insititutions like FEMA. The state government and the local government had both different ideas and approaches to the Katrina crisis which only was not helpful as the federal government experienced confusion. If the different levels of government were able to coordinate between each other better and coordinate with the other institutions better in case of an emergency,the situation would have been relieved more rapidly and efficiently. Their approach proved to be ineffective as Hurricane Katrina had more problems than it should have. Hurricane Katrina proved that cooperative federalism is crucial in relieving and recovering from natural disasters.

War on Terror The Rise of the US PATRIOT Act Essay example

â€Å"The War on Terror: The Rising of the US PATRIOT Act† America, once considered the land of the free and the home of the brave. That was until, September 11, 2001 when terrorist succeeded with a planned attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. That day â€Å"the United States government announced its intentions to begin a War on Terrorism (or War on Terror), a protracted struggle against terrorists and states that aid terrorists† (WAR ON TERROR). I think the terrorist attack that took place that day demanded for a response like the one given. America knows the face of war and that face is usually seen on the battlefield, not in the streets of a highly populated city. The 11 Hijackers that executed the attack on September 11 were not†¦show more content†¦In it he states â€Å"Tonight, we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done† (George W . Bush After September 11) .A demand for a war on terror made perfect sense. American people around the world wanted justice to be served. We wanted to hold someone accountable for the destruction on that horrific day. We wanted to be insured that such devastation would not happen again or at least not as easily the next time. One month and three days later Bill â€Å"H.R.3162, Titled: To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes† (USA PATRIOT Act), was proposed to congress. The USA PATRIOT ACT which stand for â€Å"Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism† (USA PATRIOT Act). Was revised on the 24th for only one hour and passed through the house with a yea and nay vote of 357 to 66. On October 25th it passed through the senate without an amendment with a record vote number of 98 to 1. The bill was pushed through the house at record breaking speed, the reason being that this bill was needed to fight terrorist and prevent future attacks. The US PATRIOT ACT when passed gave the federal government what it has always wanted. For yearsShow MoreRelatedThe war on terror Essay1291 Words   |  6 PagesEver since the beginning of the terrorist attacks on American soil, the War on Terror has been involved in the lives of Americans and nations near us. The War on Terror’s background originated through conflicts between warring countries in the Middle East; U.S. involvement started when a terrorist guided plane crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The attack was suspected to be the work of the middle-eastern terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The U.S. military, underRead MoreThe Importance Of The Salem Witch Trials And The Cold War1454 Words   |  6 Pagesquestioned; to answer this question, we must ask ourselves how these hunts have kept us safe. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller describes the â€Å"perverse manifestations of panic† in Salem, MA, as Puritans accuse their neighbors of practicing witchcraft (Miller 5). Miller sarcastically reveals the true motives of Salem’s judicial system and accusers, creating an allegory between the Salem witch trials and the Cold War â€Å"red scare†. Although Miller mocks the idea of witch-hunts, are they completely unwarrantedRead More Stopping Terrorism Worldwide Essay953 Words   |  4 Pagespeople can remember, has been on the rise for the past ten years. Terrorists usually use murdering, kidnapping, hi-jacking and bombings to achieve their political purpose. 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Irredentism abounds†. (Lereche, p.117) On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists attacked the United States. People around the world turned on their televisions and became spectators to one of the most devastating terrorist acts ever carried out on U.S. soil. The terrorists hijacked four airplanes in midair. Two of the planes flew into two skyscrapers at the World Trade Center in New York City. Another plane demolished part of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The lastRead MoreEssay about American Jihad: Homegrown Terrorists1716 Words   |  7 PagesLiving in America, we are given the freedom to practice the faith of our choice, but at the same time it does not give us the right to violate our laws or to organize, finance or develop a group whose motives are to attack and destroy the country they claim to be a citizen of, while practicing that faith or religion. We are now in the midst of a movement where homegrown American jihad will be the destruction of the United States. In the United States, we have Americans that are waiting and wantingRead MoreHow 9/11 Changed the World1522 Words   |  7 Pagesplane take off; now, you have to plan on being at the airport two hours in advance and only ticketed passengers can pass through security. And pilots can now apply to become a federal flight deck officer, which allows them to carry a loaded gun and act as a federal flight deck officer aboard the aircraft. Therefore, there is a major difference between then and now. After 9/11, Americans had been unfriendly to Muslims and Middle Easterners making it very difficult for them to be in the United StatesRead MoreAmerican Sniper Essay1331 Words   |  6 Pagespresents the gripping and unforgettable accounts of his extraordinary battlefield experiences through paper and pen and now ranks to many people as one of the greatest war memoirs of all time but to few a man representing immorality and death. The major question that is being asked is, â€Å"Killing people is wrong, so why is it okay in war?† To begin, here is a background of the character that I have chosen to analyze. Chris Kyle was a native Texan, born in Odessa, Texas, and was the son of a Sunday schoolRead MoreThe American Sniper By Chris Kyle1307 Words   |  6 Pagespresents the gripping and unforgettable accounts of his extraordinary battlefield experiences through paper and pen and now ranks to many people as one of the greatest war memoirs of all time but to few a man representing immorality and death. The major question that s being asked is, â€Å"Killing people is usually wrong, so why is it okay in war?† To begin, here is a background of the main character. Chris Kyle was a native Texan, born in Odessa, Texas, and was the son of a Sunday school teacher and a deaconRead MoreThe War On Terrorism And The World Trade Center3580 Words   |  15 Pagesin said â€Å"war† (â€Å"War on Terrorism†). Congress later approved forty billion dollars’ worth of emergency funds to aid reconstru ction and prepare for military action. A law was passed in order to allow presidents to â€Å"use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attack†¦or harbored such organizations or persons† (â€Å"War on Terrorism†). Americans are now asking: â€Å"What is expected of us?† America

Competitive Dynamics Strategic Planning

Question: Discuss about theCompetitive Dynamicsfor Strategic Planning. Answer: Introduction The competitive analysis of an organization is important for the strategic planning and providing a future growth direction to the company. It denotes assessment of the strengths and the weaknesses of an organization and evaluation of opportunities and threats to the organization. The competitive analysis is also significant in the strategy development, implementation and monitoring. It is also important for the defining the corporate strategy and development of the competitive advantage (Fleisher Benoussan, 2015). In this regard, in this report, the competitive analysis of Wattpad, an online reading community is conducted. The company was founded in 2006 by Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen and since then emerged as one of the most famous online reading platform in the world (Rochester, 2012). In this storytelling community, the users can post their works, articles, stories, fan fictions and poems through mobile app or the website. Other users can read, like and post comments on the work of others. All the data, stories and the articles are user generated and all the users are provided equal chances to write popular work. About half of the user base of the company is from the USA, and the other users hail from the countries such as the UK, Canada, Philippines and Indonesia (Alexa, 2017). Due to its unique and innovative concept, the company is obtained awards as the hottest digital media company is the Canadian Innovation Exchange. Ivan Yuen, the founder of the company is also awarded as a top Canadian entrepreneur at the Impact Infused Awards (Jackson, 2011). Competitive Analysis Wattpad was founded in 2006 and since then has become an immensely popular publishing success story all across the globe. It has customer base in all major countries and about 30 million regular users. Although, the beginning of the company was slow, its growth and popularity both have grown in the last few years. Several venture capitalists have invested in the growth of the firm (Ingram, 2014). The success of the company is due to its global outreach, connectivity with the customers and the social element. Its core competency is the free availability of the stories in almost every country in more than 50 languages. It has implemented various tactics that makes it stand out from its competitors such as chapter-by-chapter serialization, sending notifications to readers in case of new chapters or stories and providing an easy platform to publish, comment and share stories. It also provides an opportunity for the writers to immediately connect with the users and exploits the social rea ding phenomenon. Currently, the company has a staff of 80 people which is an asset to the company as it is diversified workforce. Wattpad is a global company and culturally diverse workforce will prove beneficial in assessing and examining the needs of thee customers who are culturally diversified (CBC books, 2014). It is pioneer in the online book publishing industry and provides opportunity for young and talented writers to reach global audience and promote themselves. It has also implemented strategies to protect the copyright infringement and rights of the writers. The primary users of the company are under the age of 25 and tap this market by offering free stories in different genres. The current visitors of the company rival that of Pininterest, a popular social media website (Bello, 2012). Another competency of the company is that it was the first to venture in the market of online book publishing. The company was introduced before Kindle, Nook and Kobo ventured into the market of e-books (Hoffelder, 2011). Market Commonality vs. Resource similarity: Wattpad has a global market and has customers all across the globe. Therefore, it has high market commonality where it competes with large number of organizations in the similar industry. However, it has distinguished itself from other competitors by adopting a unique business model. Its strength is the providing instant connectivity between different users and free of cost usage. Main Competitors for This Company: The main competitors of the company are Scribd, Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Amazon books Drivers of the Companys Competitive Behavior: The competitive behavior of the organization is driven by its unique business model in which the users can easily access qualitative stories with the Wattpad App or website. This business model is effective in tapping the users who are price-sensitive such as students or kids. It has also added features such as creating different categories such as Whats Hot, Romance, Adventure and Horror to suit the taste of different customers. The consumers browse through their favorite category and select their favorite books. Factors affecting likelihood of Competitive Attack: With the success of the organization, several online counterfeit companies have emerged to tap the online reading community. The major factors that can impact the competitive attack are providing quality content at low cost. Another factor is establishing communication between the writes and the different readers, which establishes a social community. Companys competitive advantage: Currently, the competitive advantage of the company is the free services that it is providing. It also has a loyal user base that ardently follows the stories and the books of the famous authors. External and Internal Analysis PEST Analysis: In order to evaluate the external environment of the organization, an external environment analysis is conducted through PEST analysis. Political Factors: There are several political and legal factors that can affect the online publishing companies. Firstly, the laws related to the copyright infringement and breach of rights of the writers can impact the company. Moreover, defamation and publicity rights are other significant legal factors in the publishing industry (Hawkins, 2013). Economic Factors: Since the company is operating a free access site and mobile app, the economic factors have little impact on the business of the company. However, the company is planning to raise fan-funding. Economic recession can impact on the fan-funding for the organization (Bensoussan Fleisher, 2008). Social Factors: The development of Wattpad is based on the social phenomenon of reading and the love of books. Therefore, the social factors have a huge impact on the business of the organization. The popularity of the book will be affected by the book reading habits and culture of a specific region or age group (Applegate Johnsen, 2007). Technological factors: The technological factors also have a strong impact on the business operation of the organization. The business model of the company is developed as such that the customers can access the books through online modes such as personal computers and the smartphones. Therefore, business in a specific community is dependent upon the smartphone users and their reading habits. The technology is also crucial for the organization for the development of the mobile application an advancing its features to compete with the emerging online publishing companies (Applegate Johnsen, 2007). SWOT Analysis The internal analysis of the organization is significant in the strategic planning and identifications of new business opportunities for the organization. SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is significant in the defining the core competencies of the organization and deciding which opportunities it can invest by determining the strengths and the weaknesses of the organizations. Strengths: The strength of the organization is its novel approach to the online reading community. It has developed a large user base in which different users can access books in their favorite genres at a very low cost. It is free of cost and provides opportunities for social interactions. Weaknesses: The primary weakness of the organizations is the absence of a robust revenue model. Additionally, its incompetency in the identification of copyright infringements by the user which can deteriorate its reputation and brand is another significant weakness (Romano, 2012). Opportunity: The opportunity is to exploit different geographical regions and age groups by offering readings as per their taste. Threat: The major threat to the organizations is the increased number of the competitors and counterfeit organizations. Recommendations Wattpad is a unique and innovative business model and there exist a lot of opportunities for it to exploit. In this regard, several recommendations are made for the organization to boost its relative position in the marketplace of global publishing industry. Wattpad should focus on developing a robust revenue model for the organization for its sustainable growth. It can take inspiration from other social media websites such as Facebook and invest in increasing the revenue by promoting brand promotion (Unicorn Economy, 2016). It can also charge minimal fees from the readers as well as the writers to increase its revenue. Wattpad can also increase its customer base by investing in market research at different countries and suggesting region specific books to the users. It can also focus on developing a mechanism in the app in which the customers are suggested books based on their past searches and reads (Harrison Cupman, 2017). Conclusion Wattpad is an innovative business model that offers opportunity to book lovers to read books from its large library totally free of cost. It has been identified that charging zero prices and social community is the core competency of the organization. It has been identified that several laws, social trends and technological factors can impact the business of the organization. The company has immense opportunities in the global markets and can adapt its product to increase its customer base. References CBC books. (2014). Wattpad: A Canadian publishing success story. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/07/wattpad-a-canadian-digital-publishing-success-story.html Bello, G. (2012). PW Select December 2012: Wattpad Revolutionizes Online Storytelling. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/55231-pw-select-december-2012-wattpad-revolutionizes-online-storytelling.html Rochester, S. (2012). Wattpad: Building the worlds biggest reader and writer community. THe literary Platform. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://theliteraryplatform.com/magazine/2012/10/wattpad-building-the-worlds-biggest-reader-and-writer-community/ Fleisher, C.S., Benoussan, B.E. (2015). Business and Competitive Analysis: Effective Application of New and Classic Methods. FT Press. Jackson, B. (2011). Wave Accounting and Wattpad win peoples choice awards at CIX. It Business. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://www.itbusiness.ca/news/wave-accounting-and-wattpad-win-peoples-choice-awards-at-cix/16717 Alexa. (2017). wattpad.com Traffic Statistics. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/wattpad.com Ingram, M. (2014). Collaborative-writing platform Wattpad gets $46M in financing for global expansion. Gigaom. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://gigaom.com/2014/04/08/collaborative-writing-platform-wattpad-gets-46m-financing-round-for-global-expansion/ Hoffelder, N. (2011). Amazon Hides Competitors Reading Apps on the Kindle Fire. The Digital Reader. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://the-digital-reader.com/2011/11/16/amazon-hides-competitors-reading-apps-on-the-kindle-fire/ Hawkins, S. (2013). 5 Top Legal Issues for Authors and Self-Publishers. The Book Designer. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2013/03/5-top-legal-issues/ Bensoussan, B.E., Fleisher, C.S. (2008). Analysis Without Paralysis: 10 Tools to Make Better Strategic Decisions. FT Press. Applegate, E., Johnsen, A. (2007). Cases in Advertising and Marketing Management: Real Situations for Tomorrow's Managers. Rowman Littlefield. Romano, A. (2012). The downside to Wattpads brave new digital world. The Daily Dot. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://www.dailydot.com/business/wattpad-downside-digital-publishing/ Unicorn Economy. (2016). How does Facebook Make Money. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://unicornomy.com/how-does-facebook-make-money/ Harrison, M., Cupman, J. (2017). Competitor Intelligence Research Market Intelligence. B2B International. Retrieved 19 February 2017 from https://www.b2binternational.com/publications/competitor-intelligence/

Do you have a well designed organization free essay sample

9 tests of organization design: framework to guide the evaluation of an existing organizational structure, or to create a new one. The organizational design of most companies is the result of an haphazard evolution rather than a systematic, methodical planning: as a consequence, strategic initiatives fail because responsibilities are unclear, and opportunities are not exploited for lack of managerial attention. This framework is a structured approach for analyzing all the key variables of organizational success. 4 â€Å"FIT† tests: initial screen for design alternatives, to evaluate whether the structure support the intended strategy 5 â€Å"GOOD DESIGN† tests: tool to refine a design by addressing potential problem areas, and establish the right amount of hierarchy, control and process. A] Getting the FIT right 1) The Market Advantage test (does your design direct sufficient attention to your sources of competitive advantage in each market? ) Organizational structures should be shaped in order to enable and support the market strategy, but in reality often they end up being an obstacle. Define target market segments Determine if the design direct enough attention to each market segment. The ideal situation is the one where you have a single unit dedicated to each segment/initiative. In reality, however, it is required also coordination across units, much more difficult to manage than collaboration within units. Therefore, the design should enable the unit managers to give enough attention to maintain the required cross-border links. 2) The Parenting Advantage test (does your design help the corporate parent add value to the organization? ) Corporate HQ play different roles in different companies. This test helps to make sure the design is tailored to support these roles. Define and list the corporate-level activities that provide real value to the overall company Determine if the design gives enough attention to these value adding tasks. This test helps to see more clearly the organizational implications of the strategy, in order to shape an organizational design that is aligned with the corporate-level strategy. 3) The People test (does your design reflect the strengths, weaknesses and motivations of your people? ) When an organization has troubles, executives are often quick to point the finger at people. In reality, if an organization is not suited to the skills and attitudes of its members, the problem lies with the design. Look at your key players (top management, people with critical roles) For each, ask if the design provides the appropriate responsibilities and reporting relationships. * when creating a new structure, you also need to look at the losers: employees who will lose status or power in the new setting. Losers can become blocks to change. You need to decide how to deal with them, either trying to buy their support or letting them go. 4) The Feasibility test (have you taken account of all the constraints that may impede the implementation of your design? ) All companies have constraints, both external (e. g. laws) and internal ( e. g. information systems). They need to be assessed early in any design effort, to understand their potential role as obstacles. Constraints can be divided in 4 categories 1. Government regulations: can preclude certain design elements (ex: in some countries, it is impossible to do businesse without a JV with a local partner). 2. Stakeholders’ interests 3. Information system 4. Culture B] Refining the Design 5) The Specialist Cultures test (does your design protect units that need distinct cultures? ) Inside companies, there may be units that should maintain distinct cultures: you need to make sure that those â€Å"specialist cultures† are sufficiently insulated. Identify specialist cultures Assess wether any of them is in danger of being dominated or contaminated. If there is this risk, first look for ways to protect it without changing the basic structure, for example granting the unit more autonomy or educating the rest of the company. If these protective measures fail, you will need to change the design. 6) The Difficult-Links test (does your design provide coordination solutions for the unit-to-unit links that are likely to be problematic? ) Some collaboration among units is often necessary. The majority of these links are best handled through self-managed networking among units: whenever possible, units should be left free to set-up coordination mechanisms, rather than impose them. However, sometime can arise â€Å"difficult links†, which calls for specially designed solutions. Similarly to the case above, you can make refinement to the basic structure, but sometimes it is necessary a substantial redesign, such as brigning the units involved into the same division, or set up a new unit. ? Taken together, the 2 tests help to judge how narrowly or broadly to define unit responsibilities, getting the right balance between specialization and coordination 7) The Redundant-Hierarchy test (does your design have too many parent levels and units? ) Big companies can have many parent units: it is important to determine whether each parent level is needed and, if so, whether it has the necessary resources. Identify each level and unit in the hierarchy of the company Evaluate if each one has clear and distinct parent propositions: if a level is redundant, you should think about removing it. ? as a rule of thumb, we can assume that a new level is worth keeping if it is able to improve the performance of the units reporting to it by 10% Determine if every level with compelling parenting propositions has access to the skills and resources it needs. The purpose of this test is to spot major problems, it doesn’t require too detailed analysis. 8) The Accountability test (does your design support effective controls? ) The purpose of this test is to ensure that every unit has appropriate controls over its performance. When assessing accountability, focus on 2 common sources of problems: a. Look at units with shared responsibilities. Shared responsibilities dampen accountability: each unit can easily blame the others in case of problems b. Look at units whose performance is difficult to measure: no objective outcomes, or too costly data collection (i. e. basic research). If full solutions are not possible, you have to rely on subjective judgment, that is satisfactory only if the manager in charge of the evaluation has deep operating knowledge; otherwise, you may need to change the design 9) The Flexibility test (does your design facilitate the development of new strategies and provide the flexibility required to adapt change? ) A well designed organization is fit for the present as well as flexible for the future. Of course, to ensure innovation and flexibility organizations need flexible minds, but it is also necessary a suitable design. The test is aimed at detecting any major organizational roadblocks along the path to the future. Start by assembling a group of managers from across the company Ask them to create a list of future opportunities Check if the current design would support or impede those opportunities. If you find that the current design could be an obstacle, explore possible modifications. * It is possible to follow a similar approach in examining flexibility, identifying a bunch of organizational changes that may be required, and identifying any part of the org. that would be resistant to changes. The power of this test is given by its iterative nature: once you’ve gone through the 9 tests, coming up with a number changes, it is possible to run the test again, to ensure that the changes made to pass one test haven’t caused the design to fail in other tests. To get the best design, it is necessary to take the broad view, working step by step through the myriad of trade-offs