HAX AND MAJLUF MODEL: WHAT IT CONSISTS OF, ADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGES - DUDAS - 2025

The Hax and Majluf model places special emphasis on the need to establish correlations between what is the culture, the strategy and the structure of any organization.

Although the particular cases of companies can be very diverse and therefore do not lend themselves to the preparation of recipes, it cannot be denied that the coherence that may exist between the three elements indicated above is a condition that is part of a truly effective organization.

The authors of this model are two Chilean engineers:

Arnoldo Hax, engineer and professor at the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), born in 1936. Worldwide known in the industrial area for being the author of the book "Delta Model" and a recognized integral authority on the topics of organizational strategy, entrepreneurship and technological innovation.

Nicolás Majluf, engineer and professor at the UC School of Engineering and director of the Executive Class, researcher and consultant born in 1945.

What is the

Hax and Majluf's work is primarily geared toward building an enlightened approach to strategic management.

From this work we can distinguish a model for organizational design that has a clear utility for the analysis and diagnosis of organizations.

The model indicates that the strategy of an organization should be underpinned by its culture. Culture shows the identity of the organization and is what guarantees the transfer of beliefs shared by all members of the organization to new collaborators in it.

The members of an organization act not only as individuals, but also as a group. They react to formal and informal mechanisms, which will influence their behavior.

As a result of this, an organizational climate is generated that can contribute to the achievement of particular objectives and those of the organization.

Strategic management must also seek permanent development, which implies organizational learning, through training and development for all members of the organization.

The role of an organizational structure

The authors estimate that there are two main roles that an organizational structure must fulfill:

• Support the implementation of strategic programs.
• Facilitate normal conduct in the operational activities of the organization.

The organization must have the ability to integrate all those who comprise it and to achieve a strategic vision that they share and based on previously agreed values.

To achieve this it is necessary to share, record and disseminate a vision, which will result in a definition of the objectives for the total organization.

The strategic platform will be the vehicle that allows to communicate the action programs that may arise from this organizational vision.

For the vision to be recorded, two processes are required in it:

• Adequate management of administrative processes (information and communication systems, human resource management, planning, etc.).
• An adequate understanding and use of informal processes. This refers to the existing relationships with natural leaders, as well as the psychological mechanisms that affect the way they behave, such as obedience, empathy, etc.

This will create an organizational climate that will allow both individual and collective objectives to be achieved.

Applications

One of the most important applications of this model refers to how to make a global design of a business organization.

How to design an organization

According to Hax and Majluf, if you want to design an organization, it is valid to take the following steps:

First, a basic organizational structure must be defined, made up of the main business divisions found in the organization.

This defined basic structure must show how authority is delegated, the existing departmentalization and how it is hierarchical

The next step will be to make a much more detailed definition of the organizational structure. For this, the basic organizational structure defined in the first step must be covered with all the specific operational details that make it up.

The objectives, operational execution times and existing agreements between each area must be included

Finally, a comparative study must be created and completed between the defined organizational structure and the management processes that accompany it: planning, information and communication systems, management control, and reward and human resources systems.

External and internal changes will require continuous adjustments to this organizational structure, but it is also possible that the organization will gradually lose its potential and therefore must be periodically reviewed.

Symptoms of an inadequate organizational structure

Another very important application of this model is that it allows us to discover if any organizational structure is inadequate, through the analysis of certain symptoms that reveal it.

The symptoms indicated by the Hax and Majluf model are the following:

-Very little time available for strategic thinking, since too much time is spent on purely operational matters.

-Lack of opportunities for executive advancement, which makes the members of the organization unable to move up the existing hierarchy.

-Lack of coordination between the divisions, which indicates the existence of a failure in the integration mechanisms.

-Conflictive work environment, mainly due to not taking into account that the motivational and reward system must be in line with the structure.

-Lack of definition in business planning and neglect of particular markets, which are indicators that the organizational structure does not respond to the strategic position of the company.

-Low performance in profits and low expectations of return.

-Huge duplication of functions in the different areas of the organization.

-Excessive dispersion of functions in one unit of the organization.

Advantage

Thanks to the Hax and Majluf model, the elaboration of adequate strategic plans that respond to the main strategy of the company is facilitated.

The model helps us to carry out an analysis of any organization and from there to obtain an excellent diagnosis of it on its particular situation.

Other of its advantages are:

-Allows the methodological creation of an efficient organizational structure.

-Adapts the organizational culture in the creation of a functional structure, without affecting the employees.

-Favors human development, seeking the improvement of people.

-Reveals the symptoms that reveal an inadequate structure.

-Gives a fairly practical sense to strategic management.

-Generates a very favorable organizational climate towards the achievement of the specific objectives of the organization.

Disadvantages

Some of its disadvantages are:

-It is advisable to implement this model through an external consultant to avoid any type of subjectivity. This implies an outlay of money that may not be budgeted.

-Requires a very detailed and meticulous analysis, involving the entire organization, which can take a long time to establish results.

-The practical changes proposed to carry out can be very difficult for the people involved to accept. Not all organizations are willing to make changes in their structure, for different reasons and interests.

References

1. José Antonio Sánchez Cortés (2018). The Importance of Organizational Development in a Public Institution of Higher Education. 2.2.7 Analysis models. Eumed.net Virtual Encyclopedia. Taken from: eumed.net.
2. Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (2001). Current Thinking on Strategic Planning and Implementation - Operating Principals. Taken from: operatingprincipals.com
3. Arnoldo C. Hax, Nicolás S. Majluf (1991). The strategy concept and process: a pragmatic approach. Prentice Hall. Taken from: books.google.co.ve.
4. Ximena Villalón (2014). Arnoldo Hax and Nicolás Majluf share their “Lessons in Strategy”. Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Taken from: uc.cl.
5. Arnoldo C. Hax, Nicolás S. Majluf (2015). Strategy for competitive leadership. From vision to results. Prentice-Hall. Taken from: books.google.co.ve.
6. Milagros Montell and Joaquín Barsanti (2013). Tools to operationalize the strategy in structures organized in business units. PlanUba. Taken from: planuba.orientaronline.com.ar.
7. Arnoldo Hax. Taken from: es.wikipedia.org.