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The Unyielding Persistence of ConventionalOrganizationsConventional forms of organization will continue to persist not just because ofhuman resistance to change but because there are merits that those of us

pursuing novelty and innovation fail to see. There are three fundamentalconsiderations a firm has to pay attention to, to survive and remain profitable,they are: efficiency, innovation and adaptability Child, J (2005: 378) andefficiency is perhaps the most critical of the three, the most constant need of theorganization so to speak and the strength of conventional organizations is in theirefficiency and we can safely conclude that conventional organizations arestructured for efficiency. Child, J (2005: 379).

Innovation is another critical strategic consideration for the success of anorganization and it will appear that new forms of organizations support innovationmore than conventional forms but we need to note that innovation has twocomponents: exploration and exploitation. Child, J (2005: 380). Exploration is thesearch and generation of new knowledge while exploitation is the application ofknowledge and the commercialization of such new knowledge. Organizationsstructured to explore knowledge such as Bell Laboratories of the AT&T andXeroxs PARC, have not made money from all the wonderful and greatinnovations that emanated from the organizations mainly because they were notdesigned to exploit the innovations generated. Roberts, J (2004: 254). Theexploitation of knowledge requires a focus on current realities with the energiesof the organization aimed at effectiveness and execution of the idea and thisrequires a structured organization with clearly defined roles and responsibilities

and reporting structure. Roberts, J (2004: 255). This is another reason for thepersistence of conventional organizations.

The third consideration for organizational success is adaptability, which is theability of the firm to be responsive to changes within its environment and adjust tonew circumstances. This requires rapid communication of new information and astructure that will allow the firm to act and respond to that information Child, J(2005: 381). Adaptability breeds confusion and chaos without a structure in placedelegating authorities, a system specifying actions to be taken in response tonew developments or procedures as to the dissemination of information.

Despite postulations and practice of new organizational forms, it is clear that theconventional forms of organizations will continue to persist for reasons ofefficiencies, exploitation of innovation and effective adaptation. Though I mustsay that I am a great believer in novelty and I believe that the new forms oforganization will mature and evolve to provide a means to handle these issues

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but in the meantime conventional organizations are better structured to provide aframework for these important organizational considerations.