ODC has learned that Jay Galbraith, one of our founding members, passed away last week. That same week, the Journal of Organization Design published a special issue on big data and organization design with the lead article written by Jay. The special issue was the culmination of the World Summit on Big Data and Organization Design, held in Paris in May 2013. Jay was one of the keynote speakers in Paris. Also, the third edition of his book Designing Organizations was published just a few weeks ago.

Jay’s name is synonymous with organization design theory and practice. His concept of information processing as the basis of organization design and capability has been the inspiration for many researchers in organization design. Jay developed his widely recognized Star Model (TM) for analyzing organizations in the 1960s, and it is a framework that any company can use to make its strategic design choices. His work has received more than 10,000 Google citations, and he was a consultant to many of the world’s leading companies. Numerous organizations have benefitted from his insights and writings – particularly about how to master the difficult task of getting a global matrix structure to work.

Jay loved his research and consulting work, and he was active until the end. His contributions to the field of organization design are immense, and he will be greatly missed in our community.

Børge Obel & Charles Snow