Blogs & Articles
Transforming Global Functions
We regularly work with leaders of complex, global companies who want to transform one or more of their functions (Finance, HR, Marketing, Supply Chain, etc.). The objective is typically to build new capabilities that will fuel growth while configuring the function to...
Organization Design in China
Organization design and development are relatively new fields in China. But, as leaders of local companies become more sophisticated in their strategies and expand outside of their domestic markets, they are facing the same issues we see elsewhere: legacy companies...
The Fit Between Talent and Organization
Talent is priority number 1, 2 and 3 in most corporate human resources functions today. It’s no surprise, forced by a tsunami of tech-enabled business change and global competition and intensified by one of the tightest labor markets in decades. The investment of...
The Tower and the Square in the Collaborative Organization Model
We recently had the opportunity to speak at a conference of the top 300 leaders in one of our client companies. They are 14 months into completing a major realignment toward global brand business units as well as the redesign of all enterprise functions, aimed at...
Sequencing a Complex Enterprise Design Initiative
Global companies are typically composed of three dimensions: Geographic market units (regions, countries, or country clusters) Global business units (products, brands, categories, or customer segments) Global operating and support functions (R&D, Supply Chain,...
Agile is not the same as Agility
I was recently invited to speak to a leadership team and explain the difference between Agile and Agility. The company is a traditional financial services company, providing trading services to other companies. New product and market opportunities, customer...
Moving Past the Decentralization vs. Centralization Debate
A recent survey of clients conducted by Mercer earlier this year focused on the types of organization change that business executives are planning to make in the next two years. Eleven different design options were covered in the questionnaire, ranging from flattening...
Structuring a True Global Network
Networks, councils, and teams are not a new idea in business. Too often they are set up with good intentions, but not well-designed, or they are allowed to outlive their purpose. When these horizontal teams are empowered to deliver business results and designed and...
Talent Prediction 2017: The Ability to Navigate Complex Organizations
Organization design is the number one topic on the mind of business and HR executives who responded to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital report. We are not surprised. Over the past 10 years, we have witnessed a tremendous increase in strategic complexity across the...
Design an Operating Model that Ties the Organizational Piece Parts Together
We recently worked with the CEO of a company who, supported by a large consulting firm, had launched heavy-weight business units in an effort to create greater accountability and agility. An articulate white paper was distributed across the leadership team that argued...
The Design Process for Activation
The design and activation of a global operating model is a major undertaking that deserves a well–thought-out process and project infrastructure that is likely to be in place for two or more years. We are often invited to work with an executive team on a new...
The Role of Rewards in Unrewarded Complexity
We work with complex organizations with equally intricate business strategies, but not all complexity results in better returns for shareholders. Simplifying portfolios, processes, and structure seems like a logical way to optimize efficient delivery of strategy....
Kates Kesler named to Forbes Best Management Consulting Firms List
Kates Kesler has been named to Forbes magazine’s list of Best Management Consulting Firms for 2016 in the Organization sector. The selection of the best management consultancies is based on two surveys; one of 7,286 partners and project...
Center-Led Functions
We look at functions as “capability builders” – charged with building the processes, systems, and talent that can identify and move knowledge, ideas, and insights into the strategic decision making of the company. Therefore, the thoughtful design of business...
10 Common Derailers in Organization Design
The work of organization design benefits from a thoughtful, inclusive process where leaders can iterate and explore alternatives and align on a path forward. The reality is that tight deadlines, fear of broad involvement, and a too-narrow view of the problem to solve...
Developing Leaders and Organization at the Same Time
The best global leadership systems develop people and the organization simultaneously. No other business process has more impact on shaping culture than company-wide talent development forums. Calibration and development councils can become the control centers for...
The Anchor Layer
Activating global collaboration is difficult and expensive to engineer under the best of circumstances. Unnecessary vertical layering of business units and functions and proliferation of profit centers make it even more difficult. Horizontal connections are more...
Rewarded vs. Unrewarded Complexity in Organizations
Complex organizations are a result of complex business strategies. But not all complexity is equal. Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips, makes a case for distinguishing between what he calls rewarded and unrewarded complexity. Rewarded complexity drives a...
The Role of the Executive Team in an Integrated Company
We work with many large, global organizations as they move toward more integrated operating models. One of the key levers in creating real connections across business units, regions, and functions is the redesign of the executive team. It is perfectly appropriate for...
Bridging Organization Design and Performance Webinar
The economic recovery of 2010-2015 has triggered a number of high-profile mergers, but even more break-ups and spin-offs among large global companies, particularly those based in the US. Between 2012 and 2014 alone, Kraft, Royal Dutch Philips, Hewlett Packard,...