In a dynamically changing marketplace, the need to be faster and more agile has become an organizational imperative. Since change is inevitable, an organization’s transformation strategy has to be taken into account when designing a winning business model. As we point out in our book, Mastering the Cube, one of the most challenging things facing leaders is this reality: while … Read more
Many companies are setting up internal centers of expertise (COE) to help do and manage the work of implementing organization change. Having these capabilities in house can be an efficient and cost effective way to manage change within an organization. However, COEs that operate in isolation or as a bolt-on to the organization often struggle to gain the traction needed … Read more
All great accomplishments start with great ideas and/or plans, but it takes action to bring them to reality. When we redesign an organization’s business model or its organization design, it’s one thing to blueprint or architect it to create a good approach for achieving marketplace success, yet it is another thing altogether to bring the organization to the point where … Read more
The right organization alignment tools and methodologies are indeed valuable; they can help you see things you can’t otherwise, and provide a framework for solving problems. However, the right tool in the wrong hands won’t lead to success. When building capability in others, consider these factors to help them learn to use available tools in a way that makes sense for the organization.
In a recent post, we addressed the topic of linkages within an organization. Linkages, or informal relationships within an organization, make up the organization’s “unseen,” informal structure: how people relate to and work with each other across organizational boundaries. Linkages often have as much or even more impact on organizational alignment and the way an organization functions and delivers value … Read more
In the book “Mastering the Cube,” we emphasize the idea that all aspects of an organization must be aligned to strategy for a company to be healthy. One of the components of strategy alignment is how well an organization utilizes metrics to determine what is working and not working. For many people and organizations, using data to understand performance is … Read more
Any organization, regardless of its size, type, or industry, must constantly undertake change and transformation. With the need for change comes the need for effective organization design and change transformation management to support these initiatives and ensure that they meet with success. While these functions can be and often are outsourced, many companies are setting up internal centers of expertise … Read more
The design of commercial organizations inside of companies brings unique organization alignment challenges for executives and practitioners alike. Because most sales and marketing functions touch the end-customer in very real and tangible ways, the design of these functions must create an extraordinary experience for customers and also deliver differentiated marketplace value for the company. Organization design choices for commercial organizations … Read more
Over time, every industry develops its own set of truisms. In organization design circles, two that come to mind are: “Organizations are a reflection of the collective logic of the organization’s leadership,” and “Organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they’re getting.” Put the two together, and you can infer that if an organization is not getting its desired … Read more
By taking the time to plan the linkages you can avoid wasting a lot of resources trying to adjust your formal structure to deal with what could easily be addressed in your company’s informal structure.