Strategy 13

1
Johnson, Whittington and Scholes, Exploring Strategy, 9th
Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 13.1
Strategy in Action
13: Organising for Success

2
Learning outcomes
• Identify key challenges in organising for success,
including ensuring control, managing knowledge,
coping with change and responding to
internationalisation.
• Analyse main organisation structural types in terms of
strengths and weaknesses.
• Recognise key issues in designing organisational
control systems (such as planning and performance
targeting systems).
• Recognise how the three strands of strategy, structure
and systems should reinforce each other in
organisational configurations and the managerial
dilemmas involved.

3
Structures and systems
• Structures give people formally defined roles,
responsibilities and lines of reporting with
regard to strategy.
• Systems support and control people as they
carry out structurally defined roles and
responsibilities.
• Configurations are the mutually supporting
elements that make up an organisation’s
design.

4
Organisational configurations
Figure 13.1 Organisational configurations: strategy, structure and systems

5
Structural types
Functional Multidivisional
Matrix
Multinational/
Transnational
Project-based

6
The functional structure
The functional structure divides
responsibilities according to the organisation’s
primary specialist roles such as production,
research and sales.

7
A functional structure

8
Functional structures
Advantages
• Chief executive in
touch with all
operations.
• Reduces/simplifies
control mechanisms.
• Clear definition of
responsibilities.
• Specialists at senior
and middle
management levels.
Disadvantages
• Senior managers
overburdened with
routine matters.
• Senior managers
neglect strategic
issues.
• Difficult to cope with
diversity.
• Coordination between
functions is difficult.
• Failure to adapt.

9
The multidivisional structure
The multidivisional structure is built up of
separate divisions on the basis of products,
services or geographical areas.

10
A multidivisional structure

11
Multidivisional structures
Advantages
• Flexible (add or
divest divisions).
• Control by
performance.
• Ownership of
strategy.
• Specialisation of
competences.
• Training in strategic
view.
Disadvantages
• Duplication of central
and divisional
functions.
• Fragmentation and
non-cooperation.
• Danger of loss of
central control.

12
The matrix structure
The matrix structure combines different
structural dimensions simultaneously, for
example product divisions and geographical
territories or product divisions and functional
specialisms.

13
Matrix structures (1)
Figure 13.4 Two examples of matrix structures

14
Matrix structures (2)
Figure 13.4 Two examples of matrix structures (Continued)

15
Matrix structures
Advantages
• Integrated knowledge.
• Flexible.
• Allows for dual
dimensions.
Disadvantages
• Length of time to take
decisions.
• Unclear job and task
responsibilities.
• Unclear cost and
profit responsibilities.
• High degrees of
conflict.

16
Multinational structures
Figure 13.5 Multinational structures
Source: Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business School Press. From Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Corporation, 2nd
edition by C.A. Bartlett and S. Ghoshal, Boston,
MA, 1998. Copyright © 1998 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved

17
Transnational structures
The transnational structure combines local
responsiveness with high global coordination.
Key Advantages include:
 Knowledge-sharing.
 Specialisation.
 Network management.

18
Project-based structures
A project-based structure is one where teams
are created, undertake the work (e.g. internal or
external contracts) and are then dissolved.

19
Comparison of structures
Table 13.1 Comparison of structures

20
Design tests for
checking structural solutions
 Market-Advantage.
 Parenting
Advantage.
 People.
 Feasibility.
 Specialised
Cultures.
 Difficult Links.
 Redundant
Hierarchy.
 Accountability.
 Flexibility.

21
Types of control systems
Table 13.2 Types of control systems

22
Types of control systems
• Direct supervision – direct control of strategic
decisions by one or a few individuals, typically focused
on the effort of employees.
• Cultural systems aim to standardise norms of
behaviour within an organisation in line with particular
objectives.
• Performance targets focus on the outputs of an
organisation (or its parts) such as product quality,
revenues or profits.
• Internal market systems – a formal system of
a) ‘contracting’ for resources or inputs and b) for
supplying outputs to other parts of an organisation.

23
Balanced scorecards
Balanced scorecards set performance targets
according to a range of perspectives, not only
financial.
Typically combine four specific perspectives:
 financial,
 customer,
 internal and
 innovation and learning.

24
Strategy maps
Strategy maps link different performance
targets into a mutually supportive causal
chain supporting strategic objectives.

25
A strategy map
Figure 13.6 A strategy map
Source: Exhibit 1, R. Lawson, W. Stratton and T. Hatch (2005), ‘Achieving strategy with Scorecarding’, Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, March–April, 62–8: p. 64

26
Planning systems
Planning systems plan and control the
allocation of resources and monitor their
utilisation.

27
Strategy styles
Figure 13.7 Strategy styles
Source: Adapted from M. Goold and A. Campbell, Strategies and Styles, Blackwell, 1989, Figure 3.1, p. 39

28
Configurations
Configurations are the set of organisational
design elements that interlink together in order
to support the intended strategy.

29
McKinsey 7-S framework
Figure 13.8 The McKinsey 7 Ss
Source: R. Waterman, T. Peters and J. Phillips, ‘Structure is not organization’, Business Horizons, June 1980, pp. 14–26: p. 18

30
Configuration dilemmas
Figure 13.9 Some dilemmas in organising for success

31
Summary
• Successful organising means responding to the key challenges
facing the organisation. This chapter has stressed control, change,
knowledge and internationalisation.
• There are many structural types (e.g. functional, divisional, matrix,
transnational and project). Each type has its own strengths and
weaknesses and responds differently to the challenges of control,
change, knowledge and internationalisation.
• There is a range of different organisational systems to facilitate and
control strategy. These focus on either inputs or outputs and can be
direct or indirect.
• The separate organisational elements, summarised in the
McKinsey 7-S framework, should come together to form a coherent
reinforcing configuration. But these reinforcing cycles also raise
dilemmas that can be managed by subdividing, combining and
reorganising.

Strategy 13

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Strategy 13

Similar to Strategy 13 (20)

More from TechXpla

More from TechXpla (16)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Strategy 13

Editor's Notes