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IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

 

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Knowledge Solutions

July 2010/88

 

Bridging Organizational Silos

By Olivier Serrat

http://www.adb.org/documents/information/knowledge-solutions/bridging-organizational-silos.pdf

[full-text, 5 pages]

 

Abstract:

To develop and deliver products and services, large organizations rely on teams.

Yet, the defining characteristics of these often hamper collaboration among

different parts of the organization. The root cause is conflict: it must be accepted then

actively managed. Promoting effective cross-functional teams demands that an

enabling environment be built for that.

 

[excerpt]

What’s in a Word?

A silo is a tall, self-contained cylindrical structure

that is used to store commodities such as grain

after a harvest. It is also a figure of speech for

organizational entities—and their management

teams—that lack the desire or motivation to

coordinate (at worst, even communicate) with other

entities in the same organization. Wide recognition

of the metaphor intimates that structural barriers

in sizable organizations often cause units to work

against one another: silos, politics, and turf wars

are often mentioned in the same breath.

 

An organization is a social arrangement to pursue a collective intent. Coordination,

and the requisite communication it implies, is fundamental to organizational performance

toward that. Yet, many organizations grapple with the challenge of connecting the

subsystems they have devised to enhance specific contributing functions.

 

AND MUCH MORE….

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Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
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