Policy&Strategy
Jack Welch's Boundaryless Organization
Jack Welch dreamed of an organization that would become an international leader through the implementation of boundaryless concept. What this concept basically means is that the corporate leaders would remove any barriers that limit the well-being and creativity of the employees. These individuals in turn would feel freer, more open minded, inspired and creative and would support the organization with new ideas and solutions to the incurred problems. "In order to make sure that people are free to reach for the impossible, you must remove anything that gets in their way. Boundarylessness describes an open organization free of bureaucracy and anything else that prevents the free flow of ideas, people, decisions, etc. Informality, fun and speed are the qualities found in a boundaryless organization" (100 Ventures, 2008).
The concept is rather fruitful in theory, but its practical application is quite difficult to achieve due to various limitations. For instance, there is a risk that the employees will increase procrastination and will decrease the quality of their operations; then, the control and supervision of the staff would be reduced and this would also negatively impact the organization. However, in the abstract idea that all limitations are overcome and the top management succeeds in creating the boundaryless organisations, the company would be met with several advantages. For instance, the staff members would be more ingenious and more eager to help the employer resolve any impending problems. The company would benefit from more dedicated staff, which is free to come up with strategies and solutions and which in the end add more value to the entity.
JetBlue has taken the first steps in becoming a boundaryless organization when they encouraged the employees to become more involved in the decision making process. The HR strategy could carry on retrieving the most beneficial outcomes. The control over the staff members is however a boundary that is difficult to eliminate as the corporate success directly depends on how the staff interacts with the customers; and these interactions must be clearly supervised and improved as to achieve the organizational goals.
2008, 25 Lessons from Jack Welch, 1000 Ventures, http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/mgmt_new-model_25lessons-welch.html#Boundarylessness, last accessed on May 26, 2008
