What non-profit organizations do you know?

What are the factors that drive increasing organizational complexity when organizations grow? When do you know that there is too much complexity?

• We all know that successfully 'expanding' organizations tend to grow in employees that require more 'bureaucratic' coordinaton and control and hence increasing hierarchical layers to ensure attainment of common goals. On the other hand, modern communication technologies allow easier identification and exchange of relevant information across silos and hierarchical layers of coordination and control. As new technologies (potentially) lead to the breakup of traditional hierarchical, bureaucratic forms of organization, organizational complexity (seen as interwovenness) increases, while organizational flexibility may increase as well (if the positive effects of new technologies are garnered). The overall effect seems to be a paradox or contradiction, however. So, what are the factors in traditional organizations that need to be dealt with or could be 'tuned' to achieve organization growth with less 'negative effects' of bureaucratic forms and silo effects?

• Answer:

  When your people are spending more time talking to each other, in a service industry, than to talking to people actually willing to give you money, your organization has become doomed by its complexity. Also, when you build a new headquarters building.