• QUESTION: Rewrite these texts:

• Cisco System changed its structure from a mechanistic approach (control and command) toward a more organic approach (collaborative) which allowed the lower-level managers to be involved in top-level decision making. The mechanistic approach was much focused on monitoring how fast the new products were developed and sold, instead of developing new ideas resulting from the collaboration of cross-functional teams. The top managers who used to strive for control and command of the team and divisional managers, now share responsibility for one anothers success in the new collaborative approach because the new purpose is to get new products development to market faster. The CEO, Chambers, believed in the companys change of structure from control and command to an organic and collaborative approach, empowering low-level managers to develop new products that will make Cisco System the global leader in the IT market.

• Larry Greiner has suggested 6 step approach to evaluate the organizational strength and growth of any enterprise. In his paper, he suggests that any organization grows through a process that can be categorized into phases or steps. Each phase has its own rate of growth, evolution, and downfall due to subsequent crises. Out of crisis, there evolves a situation for the next phase to take off and so on. These phases or steps and their respective crisis points can be generalized as follows:

• Phase 1: growth through creativity:

With the internet boom, Cisco was able to provide the necessary HW (routers and switches)to businesses and personal users that were used to connect to internal. Cisco was tremendous growth up to the 2002s dot.com bubble crisis.

• Phase 2: growth through direction:

Ciscos model of control and command had its top 10 business managers create strategies and plans for new products. The lower-level managers were to only implement this plan and adhere to it. This results in a vertical hierarchy in their structure and reduced the time to market the products.

• Phase 3: growth through delegation:

This is the phase where decentralization happens. John Chambers changes the structure of the top business management and formed a cross-function team of managers to collaborate3

CISCO Systems amongst different teams and divisions. Also, the lower-level managers were involved while deciding on the plan and strategy of new products.

• Phase 4: Growth through coordination and control:

In this phase, more importance is given to coordination and collaboration. The new duties and roles created because of the inclusion of the cross-functional roles to managers resulted in about 15% of top managers quitting the company within a year.

• Phase 5: growth through cooperation:

In this phase, the employees interact and depend, more than earlier, on each other growth and success. Employees help and collaborate in order to accomplish the overall success of the team.

• Phase 6: Growth through alliances:

In this growth through undertaking phase the organization only requires good external contacts and alliances. These can be found in mergers, alliances, and extensive networks.

• According to Greiners model, Cisco is in Stage 5 which focuses on growth through collaboration. Ciscos control and evaluation systems in the light of Greiner's Growth Model:

• Up to 2010, Cisco passed the initial three stages of Greiner's growth model. Under the leadership of founders, Cisco grew rapidly and became a leading enterprise in IT networking hardware. As the internet grew Ciscos products and a solution found their way into the market and the organizational structure of Cisco changed from the stage of creativity to stage of direction. The dot com boom of the 90s made Cisco a fully hierarchical corporate organization that practiced delegated directional management approach with greater command and control at a higher level. Such structure for Cisco was fine until the dot com crises where Cisco reported the negative growth in business due to the inability to adapt to new market conditions.

• Under the leadership of CEO John Chamber, Company again moved her organization structure from Greiner's stage of delegation to stage of coordination where the hierarchical groups were changed to product groups assisted by a cross-functional team that provided coordination between groups. This organizational change facilitated the various teams to work in coordination that delivered the new products and solutions as per the new market demand and pace.

• Cisco moved from a mechanistic structure to an organic structure. With this change, the company was able to make and produce quicker innovative ideas. The organic structure has been working well for Cisco. Since this change, about 20% of the management group left the company. The departures of these managers have positively helped the company. There are more defined roles and responsibilities for all the workers down the hierarchy. Moreover, the company was able to develop strong leadership teams that are quick-witted in finding solutions to problems and create a one-company culture.