Report: Valve's Organizational Structure, Strengths, and Weaknesses

This report analyzes Valve's flat organizational structure, focusing on its implications for innovation, employee empowerment, and potential challenges. The report examines the benefits of the flat structure, such as fostering creativity and productivity through employee autonomy and self-direction. It also highlights the potential drawbacks, including difficulties in resource allocation and the formation of teams. The report discusses the impact of the flat structure on the company's ability to scale and suggests modifications to address these challenges. It draws on the provided article and external resources to provide a comprehensive analysis of Valve's organizational model and its effectiveness.

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Which ‘mode of organising' is Valve most aligned to? [answer this after assessing Valve
along with the various dimensions of the Burns and Stalker framework, and indicate your
evidence]Which features of Valve's style of management & organisation are likely to:
promote or hinder innovation & creativity? Why?
Valve follows the "flat organisational structure" which means that no one reports to
anyone (Valve Corporation). Every employee works on their own. This empowers them to take
on the responsibility of delivering the best because their competition is with no one in the
organisation but in the market. Though each employee appears as a separate entity but the
organisation as a whole is pretty much compact. As the employees of Valve decide to work for
themselves, therefore, their interest and passion drive their work. This allows the employees to
be more creative which in return brings in innovation. This subsequently makes the employees of
Valve more efficient and productive as compared to other organisations.
Do you see any other issues with regard to this mode of organising?
An important and inherent issue prevalent in the flat organisation is finding and reaching
like-minded people. As there is no authority in charge to assign every person his or her role,
therefore, they form groups on themselves. In this scenario, teamwork requires a lot more of
perspiration as compared to ordinary organisational structure. If the employees do not find
likeminded people, then the efficiency and productivity of the work are impacted drastically
which subsequently lowers the organisation's efficiency and productivity.
As Valve grows in size and complexity, its current form of management & organisation
may be difficult to sustain. Why? What might you suggest they try and do?

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Flat organisational structure may not work for a big and expanded organisation because
as the business expands resources may become scarce (Lee). This will bring disparities between
employees. In such a condition priorities are to be set which lead to the commencement of
hierarchies. If these hierarchies are not set-up as it happens in a normal organisation, then the
utilisation of resources will not be done so effectively. Resultantly a potential wastage of all
resources bringing forth no fruits.

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References
Valve Corporation. Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/
Lee, D. Technology. Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology