→ 10 Rules for Building a High-growth Business

 

 

 

Strategy at the Business Unit Level

At the business unit level, strategy formulation and implementation are about both practical coordination of operating units and about developing and sustaining a → competitive advantage for the products and services that are produced... More

 

 

Case Studies Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments fundamentally believes that employees practice → Kaizen most enthusiastically when they feel a deep sense of ownership in the work.

Fidelity fosters this feeling of ownership by dividing power in the company among small divisions (each called a company or a business unit) with aggressive → entrepreneurial leadership Download PowerPoint presentation, pdf e-book.

Each of these Fidelity companies is responsible for its own management systems, its own strategies and activities – and its own→ results... More

Case Studies Konosuke Matsushita

In 1933, Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Panasonic, devised a new management system, dividing the company into three autonomous business units: radios, lighting & batteries, and synthetic resins/electro-thermal products... More

Case Studies 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 Download PowerPoint presentation, pdf e-book, customer intimacy and satisfaction, he found Hewlett-Packard to be the best.

 

  

Case Studies British Petroleum

To enhance organizational capability, BP reduced or removed central functions, and business units were empowered to chose their own routes to implement changes. The units aim at accomplishing the overall strategy of BP, but enjoy complete autonomy in their operations. They are free to develop their own processes and solutions according to their local requirements.

In order to integrate the efforts of the business units engaged in the same business activities, they were organized into peer groups. They met periodically to discuss the performance of their businesses. The purpose of the reorganization was to facilitate knowledge sharing and build synergies, i.e. to exchange knowledge and synergize creative capabilities and expertise of the employees working in different business units of BP.

→ Master of Business Synergies Download PowerPoint presentation, pdf e-book

Case Studies Dell

At Dell, segmentation initially started as a sales concept to most effectively meet the needs of different groups of customers. It soon evolved into a series of complete business units, each with its own sales, service, finance, IT, technical support, and manufacturing arms.

"It really makes sense for our business," says Michael Dell, the Founder of Dell Computer Corporation.3 "Our direct connection to our customers enables us to understand the different needs of different customers. Segmentation takes closed feedback loops and makes it even smaller and more intimate. It refines our relationship with our customers."