Synergistic Organization
 

Innovation-friendly Organization:

Employee Empowerment

Flat Organizational Structure

Empowering People and Making Faster Decisions

By: Vadim Kotelnikov

Founder, Ten3 Business e-Coach – Inspiration and Innovation unlimited!

 

"Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." ~ George S. Patton

 

 

Flat Organization Flat Organizational Structure FLAT ORGANIZATION: Divisional Structure

9 Signs of a Losing Organization

  1. High Bureaucracy: bureaucratic organizational structures with too many layers; high boundaries between management layers; slow decision making; too close monitoring of things and subordinates; too many tools and documents discouraging creative thinking; bureaucracy is tolerated... More

7 Dimensions of Strategic Innovation

  1. Organizational Readiness – the ability to take action ... More

 

Managerial Leadership 25 Lessons from Jack Welch Develop a Vision GE Values Guide Eliminate Bureacracy Employee Empowerment Efficiency Improvement Eliminate Boundaries GE - case study Flat Organization Case Studies Winning Organization Jack Welch (success story)

25 Lessons from Jack Welch

Build a Winning Organization

  • Delayer, create a flat responsive organization. "Every layer is a bad layer. The world is moving at such a pace that control has become a limitation. It slows you down." Without all those layers, your company can become lean and agile. Do everything you can to simplify, remove complexity and formality, and make the organization more responsive and agile... More

25 Lessons from Jack Welch

 

Why Flat Organization?

Market leaders win by building an adaptive, innovation-friendly organization, establishing an inspiring culture and empowering employees.

 

One key to successful business evolution and growth in today\'s rapidly changing economy driven by knowledge and innovation is to let go of centralized control. People who stay closer to customers know better the market needs and can respond faster to rapidly changing customer requirements. In flat organizations, decisions are made faster, entrepreneurial creativity of employees is released, and ideas are managed better.

The Jazz of Innovation

Why Divisional Structure?

When organizations get large, they become slow, awkward, unmanageable, inflexible, and difficult to focus. They distance people from each other, and consume more energy than they release.

Division Defined

Division is a business unit having a clear set of customers and competitors. A division can be independently planned for within the organization and has profit and loss responsibility.

 Case in Point:  Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard set the pattern for a divisional structure of an innovative organization long ago. Divisions aggregated into units such as Test and Measurement Organization are the core dominant organizational entities of the company. When John Chambers, President and CEO of Cisco Systems looked around for large-scale organizational models that sustained innovation, customer intimacy and satisfaction, he found Hewlett-Packard to be the best.

 Case in Point:  Cirrus Logic

To improve communication and cooperation between divisions, Cirrus Logic use cross-divisional councils as a platform for defining new technologies and developing business strategy.

 Case in Point:  Cisco Systems

When Cisco Systems divisionilized, they established councils that operate across business units to force cooperation on key innovations, customers and markets. These councils are composed primarily on marketing and sales people. Furthermore, the company continued to reward key executives on the company’s overall performance in order to prevent competition and promote cooperation between divisions.

Innovation Management Policies for Large Corporations

By: Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft

  • Keep a flat organization in which all issues are discussed openly... More

Building an Innovation-friendly Organization

Leaders of successful, high-growth companies understand that innovation is what drives growth, and innovation is achieved by awesome people with a shared relentless growth attitude and shared passion for creative problem solving and for turning ideas into realities.

Companies that continuously innovate will create and re-invent new markets, products, services, and business models – which leads to more growth. Innovation is founded on your enterprise's ability to recognize market opportunities, your internal capabilities to respond innovatively, and your knowledge base... More

 Case in Point:  Quantum

Quantum launched Plus Development division to create an upside opportunity for people after the growth of the parent company has slowed. Using vehicles such as phantom stock it provided a feel and reward of a startup and helped Quantun retain key staffers who might have left the company and formed a startup of their own.

29 Obstacles To Innovation

  • Hierarchy — over-management and review of new ideas... More

Problem to Address

Divisions can create internal competition that ruins cooperation, cross-pollination of ideas, and learning within your firm.