Business strategists and corporate leaders face a unique era where the business landscape is being disrupted by radical digital transformation and new business models are overlapped with an important generational change in consumers and employees

To thrive in times of change, organizations need to continually evolve their business model and strategies. This may be through the development of new products/services, expansion to new geographies, or integration of new technologies for example. However, in the shift towards these new models and strategies, old ways of working may no longer work. Indeed, they may in fact hinder progress and generate inefficiencies.

Integration believes that organizational design and the governance model are key aspects to support the organizational strategy and culture and, for this reason, they must evolve and be reviewed whenever there is a change in these areas. Depending on the size of the change, revision of the organizational design may be necessary within the entire organization or in specific business units and/or areas.

However, it is not a trivial task to define an organization model that guarantees efficiency in the processes and decision making of a company. Many challenges and trade-offs need to be evaluated, such as:

• Efficiency and flexibility in the day-to-day vs maintaining visibility and control
• Integration vs autonomy and associated authority limits
• Pace vs risk management
• Career paths vs project orientation
• Matrix vs siloed structures in team cooperation
• Coexistence of traditional structures with flexible and agile teams
• Multifaceted roles vs specialized roles

Our methodology helps our clients to define an efficient organizational structure, that supports decision making and is aligned with culture and business strategy.

Finding the correct balance considering these trade-offs requires a tailor-made solution. We believe that each organization has a specific DNA and is made up of unique individuals and teams and has specific needs. There is no ‘one size fits all’ package of deliverables in this context and so we help organizations answer varied questions such as:

• Which organizational model is best considering the strategy defined?
• How should the business portfolio be organized? Which areas must be stand-alone and which areas must be part of a shared services center?
• What kind of governance is required in this new organizational model? Which rituals need to be established?
• What should the decision-making model and authority limits be?
• What profile and competencies are needed for each position?
• What should be the size of my organization and the ideal span of control of each area?
• What are the steps to conduct the organizational structure transition? How can I be prepared for the main risks and challenges?

• Establishment of an organizational model that enables the business strategic objectives, reducing internal friction and improving productivity.
• Greater alignment between stakeholders, structure, processes and governance, increasing the likelihood of delivering the desired/planned business results.
• A clear and efficient decision-making model
• Improvements in both direct and indirect costs
• Ability to leverage hybrid structures, which take advantage of the benefits of merging more fixed/traditional structures, with more flexible/agile structures
• Clarity of competencies required to support the strategy and sizing for each organizational function
• Reduced resistance during the organizational model transition as a result of clear communication and detailed transition planning adherent with client reality

Across the project we aim to balance important trade-offs which are authentic to your context and needs (e.g. centralized vs. de-centralized, streamlined vs. customized, downsizing vs. investing, control vs. bureaucracy).

Our methodology goes through 4 steps:

We start our approach with a deep understanding of the company strategy and culture and of what motivates the organizational adjustments. This gives us the key drivers which inform our approach e.g. If the company needs to strengthen its digital capabilities to address a new market, we may look to the capabilities which are currently missing and whether a new area is required to centralize product innovation. Our ability to connect with other experts across Integration’s practices is a key differentiator in this context.

From here we define, alongside the client and considering its context, the organizational architecture and governance model in the detail level that is needed; designing rituals, committees, authority limits, macro policies, procedures, structure sizing, job descriptions etc. This is followed by a pragmatic implementation plan to actually embed these changes in reality and without disruption to the company’s operations.