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> According to AT&T reorganizes many of its corporate services and units. However, Technology Standards and Solutions Organization will be highlighted for the structural changes. In July 1997, there was a significant change in the Technology Standards and Solutions Organization. These changes were designed to facilitate improvements in the overall quality of technology use in the business units for clients and to more efficiently and cost-effectively deliver solutions. These strategic imperatives are essential in ensuring the long-term viability of AT&T, J. Golden, M. Haas, R. Ochal, G. Stam, C. Struck, and G. Thomas (personal communication, May 2008). According to Robbins & Judge (2007), “organization's structure is a means to help management achieve its objectives. Because objectives are derived from the organization's overall strategy, it's only logical that strategy and structure should be closely linked” p. 554.

Organizations can response to changes and modifications in a four ways according to Stensaker and Falkenberg, (2007): transformation, customization, loose coupling, and corruption. These changes and modifications are referring to the four responses (p.140). The responses are shown in Figure 1. Each response is briefly defined to obtain a better understanding on how corporate response to changes.

Transformation means when new ideas are implemented a major change occurs so that changes can apply to the theory behind the method. Next is customization, managers within organizations are labeled as customization because they respond to corporate change initiatives by making the new ideas more compatible with the organization without tearing down the main plans behind the change. The third response is loose coupling which is defined as “a change that is adopted superficially, retaining only a ritual function” (p.140). The last response is corruption, which means that changes become evidence symbolically and at the operational level.

组织设计——矩阵结构Organizational Design - matrix structure

The structure of the team within the TSS organization at AT&T is that all members are on one team. However, each unit is interdependent on other teams. There are fifteen units with numerous teams on it. The example with TSS required solutions director from various teams to make decisions on improving the quality of the standards of technology tools. To assure a smooth communication of tasks, each unit is design as matrix structure. This organizational design is “a structure that creates dual lines of authority and combines functional and product departmentalization” (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p. 549).

Using the example of the TSS, the line of authority for team leaders is created on the second line of the organizational chart (see figure 2). In the matrix structure, TSS has five initiative managers. All five act as a team leader who has been given authority from the second line of authority to be over the team. The team leaders assume responsibility for any action of the team.

The team leaders' role as a team member in leadership has special requirements. They are to:

Lead others by example to work together cooperatively.
Facilitate team processes and suggests how to improve team effectiveness.
Encourage open discussion by drawing in those with alternative viewpoints.
Systematically share