Fall 2006 - Air & Space Power Chronicle - Air Force Link

88 AIR & SPACE POWER JOURNAL FALL 2006ing to make major changes in the functions(which are related to the end product) andorganizational structure. A transforming organizationwill make radical, fundamental changesin the entire organization to ensure relevancyin the marketplace, which requires an assessmentof what the latter requires. As such, atransforming organization may well dropfunctions, add functions, and modify existingfunctions; it will also necessarily modify resourcesand the means—but the emphasis remainson the end product or the very purposeof the organization. A transforming organizationmay even have a “driver” of a new resourceor a new means, but in true transformation,the purpose or ends of the organizationquickly becomes the principal concern. Duringtransformation, one considers the ends,ways, and means but keeps the strategic focuson the ends—the goals or end product.The second approach to changing an organizationcalls for reengineering—a processthat considers ways and means but does notaddress the purpose or end state. Reengineeringis not transformation; it is organizationalchange that falls short of true transformation.During this process, one addresses functionalrequirements by assessing specific functionswithin the organization and modifying the organizationalstructure. Reengineering effortsmay also look at the methods used, such asimplementing doctrinal changes and alteringthe systems within an organization. Such actionsmay result in a downsizing of some functionsand the organizational structure, as wellas “upsizing” other functions and structures.Normally, reengineering requires not onlychanges in the ways or methods used in theorganization but also modifications in its resourcesor means. But this process considersonly ways and means, emphasizing the former—howone organizes and applies resourcesto functions or functional areas.Like reengineering, downsizing or rightsizing—thethird approach—falls short of truetransformation. This process attempts to domore with less, often using technology as aforce multiplier. Downsizing organizationsrarely reexamine functions; instead, they tryto gain efficiencies in organizational structureby consolidating functions and personnel. Ofcourse, one of the common pitfalls of this approachis that the organizations indeed doless with less—and thereby frequently lose efficiency.This is particularly true when organizationsreactively adopt a “cookie-cutter” or“salami-slice” approach to downsizing. A variantapproach, though rarely used, involves upsizingor doing more with more—for example,President Reagan’s military buildup in the1980s, which escalated the arms race at all levelsto bankrupt the Soviet Union. Thus, downsizingor rightsizing considers only the means—the resources available to pursue objectives.To go one step further, an organizationundergoing downsizing attends only to themeans—shortfalls in resources. Downsizingorganizations rarely, if ever, heed the ways andends. A reengineering organization focuseson the ways and, therefore, must also addressthe means to effect those ways. A transformingorganization concentrates on the ends and, inturn, must emphasize the ways and means ofaccomplishing those ends.Most of the changes taking place in organizations,particularly in the business world, addressmanpower shortfalls—only the resourcesor means within the organization. By concentratingsolely on resources, one may rightsize—makesome people work harder to getthe same job done—but neither the ways ofdoing the organizational mission nor theproducts change. Of course, many organizationswill say that they are transforming whenin reality they aren’t considering their purpose;in fact, those organizations are eitherreengineering or rightsizing. A transformationalapproach requires that the ends, ways,and means tie together in a coherent fashionwithin the strategic context of the organization.Transformational RealityIn a perfect world, organizations shouldaddress change with a transformational approach,focusing at the strategic level on theend product. After clearly communicating theends (the product or purpose of the organization),one can identify the ways and means. Of