Question

Valve is a company that makes world-class computer games such as Half-life, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Team Fortress and creates world-leading game distributing platform known as Steam. This organization has been working boss-free which translates into “everyone is equal and managers don't exist” for years and still performs excellently on the digital game market. Here are some insights from its employees:

- “We're free to choose to work on whatever we think is interesting.”
- “We form into teams based on need to complete a feature or complete a game, and then we disperse into new teams.”
- “People ask you questions about what you are working on. And the response is not to get defensive but to have that conversation and make sure that we're all invested in each other.”
- “I think the fact that we're not managed by people and we're not managing people and you're able to formulate your own ideas and work with whoever it is to come up with a project or feature - that's empowering”
- “It's a community of respect and the best idea wins no matter who it comes from, whether they've been at Valve for a year or founded Valve.”

Use the knowledge you have earned to identify the type of organizational design of Valve. Explain how Departmentalization, Chain of command, Span of control and Formalization works in this organization

Answer 1

Valve has a flat organizational structure. As a result, the following features of a hierarchical organization are turned upside down:

1. Departmentalization: Valve is not organized in departments but has dispersed teams that are freely formed based on need. Employees are free to choose the jobs that they do and the teams that they join based on their personal interests.

2. Chain of command: Valve lacks the strict chain of command that is visible in hierarchical organizations where instructions are issued from the top and reports are sent from the lower cadre to the upper echelon. Therefore, employees are not managed by others.

3. Span of control: Valve is recognized as a community of respect where the best idea wins without the observance of seniority.

4. Formalization: The working culture is informal and casual. This has enabled people at Valve to be invested in each other. Questions are freely asked to solicit and share ideas. There is self-discipline.

Step-by-step explanation:

Valve, owned by CEO Gabe Newell, has created a model flat organization where managers are not prominent. There are no formal positions and no centralized plans. Even the CEO does not interfere in the daily management of the organization. Thus, decision-making is improved, and there is a high sense of personal responsibility by employees.