Requisite Organization: Theory and Validation

Many executives are diligent in their search for best practices to use in improving their organization’s performance and are frustrated as they encounter the endless management fads in business magazines and bookstores, thousands of often arcane and theoretical articles in the academic journals, and consultant promises based on questionable or scant experience or research. Some continue in the hope of finding best practices that are grounded in the best applied science. These executives demand that a candidate approach be normative rather than merely descriptive, be systematic rather than partial, has rigorously defined concepts that have been tested and validated, has implementation methods and tools that have been tested and refined, and enables situational understanding of implementation contingencies. In his article “Requisite Organization: Theory and Validation.” Kenneth C. Craddock, arguably the ranking authority on the literature pertaining to requisite concepts, describes the roots of the levels of work and human capability approach and its development in academia first in the UK and then in universities and related use around the world. His article is based on his comprehensive 4th edition, Requisite Organization Annotated Bibliography, now posted on the Global Organization Design Society’s website.