Traditional corporate hierarchies tend to rely on static design. There’s the CEO at the top, followed by directors and managers. Red tape and inefficient processes can bog down decisions. 

Dynamic work design is a more effective method of managing workflow, especially intellectual work, says MIT Sloan senior lecturer Donald Kieffer. Using four underlying principles, it defines two distinct types of work for both physical work and intellectual work: “factory” and “studio.” Kieffer began his career as a pieceworker on a factory floor and rose to become vice president of manufacturing excellence at Harley Davidson.

In his MIT Sloan Executive Education course, “Implementing Improvement Strategies: Dynamic Work Design,” Kieffer offers practical tools and methods for sustainable improvement efforts of any scale, across industries. These tools and methods are from work Kieffer conducted with MIT Sloan professor and associate dean Nelson Repenning.

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