The strategy focused organization pdf download

Introducing a new line of communication devices for the Asian market required reorienting its sales, marketing, and support functions. Migrating to cloud-based business applications called for changes to the IT organization. Altogether, it had reorganized six times in 10 years.

Suddenly, however, the company found itself facing a different challenge. Because of the new technologies that had entered its category, and a sea change in customer expectations, the CEO decided to shift from a product-based business model to a customer-centric one.

That meant yet another reorganization, but this one would be different. It had to go beyond shifting the lines and boxes in an org chart. This situation is becoming more typical. In the 18th annual PwC survey of chief executive officers , conducted in , many CEOs anticipated significant disruptions to their businesses during the next five years as a result of global trends.

One such trend, cited by 61 percent of the respondents, was heightened competition. The same proportion of respondents foresaw changes in customer behavior creating disruption. Fifty percent said they expected changes in distribution channels. But for that redesign to succeed, a company must make its changes as effectively and painlessly as possible, in a way that aligns with its strategy, invigorates employees, builds distinctive capabilities, and makes it easier to attract customers.

Today, the average tenure for the CEO of a global company is about five years. Although every company is different, and there is no set formula for determining the appropriate design for your organization, we have identified 10 guiding principles that apply to every company.

These fundamental principles point the way for leaders whose strategies require a different kind of organization than the one they have today. Declare amnesty for the past. Organization design should start with corporate self-reflection: What is your sense of purpose? How will you make a difference for your clients, employees, and investors? What will set you apart from others, now and in the future? What differentiating capabilities will allow you to deliver your value proposition over the next two to five years?

For many business leaders, answering those questions means going beyond your comfort zone. You have to set a bold direction, marshal the organization toward that goal, and prioritize everything you do accordingly. Sustaining a forward-looking view is crucial.

We have identified eight universal building blocks that are relevant to any company, regardless of industry, geography, or business model. These building blocks will be the elements you put together for your design see Exhibit 1.

The blocks naturally fall into four complementary pairs, each made up of one tangible or formal and one intangible or informal element. By using these elements and considering changes needed across each complementary pair, you can create a design that will integrate your whole enterprise, instead of pulling it apart. You may be tempted to make changes with all eight building blocks simultaneously.

But too many interventions at once could interact in unexpected ways, leading to unfortunate side effects. Pick a small number of changes — five at most — that you believe will deliver the greatest initial impact. Even a few changes could involve many variations. For example, the design of motivators might need to vary from one function to the next.

Fix the structure last, not first. It also carries emotional weight, because it defines reporting relationships that people might love or hate. Target marketing is effective in creating long-time customers who will retain brand loyalty and drive sales.

A good marketing strategy will take into account regional differences to different strategies in different markets. Knowing how many customers are in a region can help determine which regions are a priority. The core customer audience is the one that repeatedly buys the product and drives most of the revenue of the business. Identifying these audiences ensures that the marketing strategy is effectively targeting the population that will provide the largest ROI.

These are the aspects of the product that make it stand out from the competition and increase its value to customers. Value drivers constantly shift as market conditions change and may not even directly relate to the product. All of these need to be identified in order to take advantage of them during the marketing campaign. If a business has more than one product, it's worthwhile to see how these products compare in terms of sales. This can be useful if the core audience is the same for all products, but may also provide insight into how various customer bases react to various products.

Use this slide to identify various competitors and what they're doing better than you in the same market space. These are the aspects where your product is better than your competitors', and a good marketing strategy will leverage these as much as possible. Market segmentation analysis provides a baseline of understanding how the market uses the product and what they are seeking in similar products, essential for a great strategy. Start: November 29 at AM.

End: December 10 at AM. Download the Topic Overview. Start: May 23 at PM. End: May 27 at AM. Format: In-Person on Evanston campus. Start: October 17 at PM. End: October 21 at AM. Website Research Faculty. Kellogg Executive Education. Toggle navigation. Limiting the number of commitments requires focusing all resources on a narrowed set of priorities, intentionally deprioritizing other efforts. Despite this, most executives struggle to understand the implications of not making effective trade-offs.

Diluting the focus of an organization by overcommitting resources institutionalizes mediocrity and cynicism. People feel set up to fail. Saying no is one of the greatest gifts an executive can give their organization. In one of the largest global retail companies I worked with, executional capacity was unusually constrained for an organization of its size and margins. He guessed 20 to We did a comprehensive inventory for him — and stopped counting after we reached Failure to make intentional, hard trade-offs when executing your strategy ensures that all efforts are likely to fall short of expected results.

They leave old organizational designs in place. You should be able to look at how the organization is put together and instantly detect what it is trying to accomplish. For many leaders, the only organizational lever they know to pull is the org chart.

But great executives become organization architects, taking a systemic look at capabilities — processes, governance, culture, competencies, technologies — and build them into the organizational machine expressly designed for a particular strategy. Research confirms the importance of this.