Archive for the 'Organization Methods' topic

Separate organization and management structures have always been laid over the business causing complexity

Since the beginning, enterprises have implemented organization, process, account, performance, project, IT architectures, administrative functions, and other structures. Each of these many structures must be maintained and managed producing business complexity. Many conflicting entities that define each structure produce information complexity, prevent consistent and accurate management information, and require high-cost information technology overheads. Each structure is fixed and rigid and conflicts with the ever-changing business. Periodically, reorganization and change management is required to bring the fixed structures into closer alignment with the business.

Experts have wanted to find one structure to organize and manage the enterprise as one consistent whole

Over the years, there have been many efforts to create one simple and consistently-defined structure for complete and consistent business data capture, reliable communications, accurate management information, use of common solutions, business collaboration, and other needs. The answer, so far, is to lay higher-level management structures over existing structures to reconcile data from various unrelated structures and to consolidate information. However, until now, no one has defined the one integrated structure that can replace all existing structures and be used to organize and manage any enterprise in any industry.

The one integrated structure has existed all along; it is the business

There is one structure. It has been there all along! That structure is the business itself! [more...]f!

20^th century enterprise management problems are caused by rigid structures laid over the business

The generally accepted “business enterprise” definition is the activity of providing goods and services. The failure of 20^th century management to organize and manage the business enterprise in the activity of providing goods and services creates unsolvable management, business, and performance problems.

The fatal error of 20^th century management, employed by all companies, corporations, and other enterprises today, is laying a rigid enterprise organization structure over the business, rather than organizing the business. Since the business is not organized, the business cannot be managed. Therefore, rigid enterprise management structures for planning, processes, systems, financial and cost accounts, quality, administration, performance, reporting, etc must be contrived and laid over the business. Structures laid over the business conflict with the actual business, restrict business flexibility, move out of “alignment” as the business changes, prevent direct business data capture and management, and do not provide the direct management information needed to manage the business.

20^th century enterprise management improvements can never solve unsolvable problems

We continue to teach 20^th century enterprise management, contrive new 20^th century structures and “business solutions” to lay over the business, and write more 20^th century management books, but we have never solved the top ten problems of 20^th century enterprise management.

1. Reorganization: The business changes while the organization structure remains rigid, causing upheavals to lay a new rigid organization structure over the business and repeat the cycle
2. Accounting and Financial Management: Historic legacies focus on cash control and prevent professional records management and modern capital management of the actual business increasing financial risk and preventing accurate business management information
3. Investment Analysis and Development Project Management: Investments and projects are managed separate from the business, rather than itemizing, planning, and managing the costs, benefits, and return of capital development investments, as part of the business
4. Administration: Performing functions, while leaving tangible and intangible capital utilization and improvement unmanaged
5. Performance Management: “Performance” definitions mix actions executed with the result accomplished, so business processes, performance management, and KPIs mix results and performance and manage “performance quality”
6. Business Complexity: Each organization, plan, processes, system, administration, or other structure is defined separately with different definitions creating business and information complexity and preventing business collaboration and common solutions applicable to any business
7. Information Technology: Business systems, data, information solutions, networks, and architectures are designed to process overlaid structures and managed as technology, not capital, creating costly IT infrastructures and continuing capital management problems
8. Change Management: Change management addresses the conflicts between structures laid over the business and the actual business to change structures, while the business remains undefined and unmanaged
9. Corporate Governance: Problems are addressed from the governance side to restrict and control management, rather than organizing the business to be governed by management on the corporate side
10. Alignment: Rigid overlaid structures go out of alignment as the business changes requiring continual changes to the structures to align closer to the business

These and other unsolvable 20^th century enterprise management problems are discussed, in detail, here at the Business Change Forum.

Solutions to he top 10 management, business, and performance problems of 20^th century enterprise management are described in a referenced article.

The top 10 problems are eliminated by 21^st century business management

20^th century enterprise management problems are unsolvable, because they can never be solved by laying new or improved structures over the business. [more...].

Reorganization is one of the top 10 problems of 20^th century enterprise management

The enterprise organization structure is the fatal error of 20^th century enterprise management

Why do we have to reorganize every few years? Why not organize just once and reorganize gradually as the business changes?

There are many 20^th century business organization theories and methods. Hundreds of books have been written on how to organize the enterprise, organization development, and organization change. There are many so-called business organization methods and structures, but these structures organize the enterprise and are laid over the business. The structures do not organize the actual business, causing the unsolvable reorganization problem. If the business is not organized the business cannot be managed. Additional management structures must be laid over the business to manage the enterprise. This is why the enterprise organization structure is the fatal error of 20^th century enterprise management.

Organizes the business for one business organization structure used for all business management

The business enterprise is defined commonly as “the activity of providing goods and services“. [more...]

20^th century enterprise management used today does not organize the business

20^th century enterprise management lays a contrived enterprise organization structure over the business, instead of organizing the business. This is the fatal error of 20^th century management. If the business is not organized, the business cannot be managed.

The contrived organization structure follows one of many 20^th century organization theories to organize the enterprise. The business, which we have defined as “investments in capital as solutions of worth utilized for cost and effectiveness of performance to produce value and quality in results” is not organized. The rigid organization structure goes out of “alignment” with every new or closed result or change to a capital solution utilized. Eventually there is need for reorganization to contrive a new organization structure that is closer aligned to the actual business, and the cycle is repeated.

The need for reorganization shows that the business is not organized

Some may argue that their business is organized. Ask if they ever reorganize the business, and they will answer yes, of course. Reorganization is needed because the business is not organized. [more...].

Alignment is one of the top 10 problems of 20^th century enterprise management!

Alignment covers many problems arising from conflicts between the actual business and overlaid structures

We keep hearing about alignment problems. Alignment problems are caused because the business is not organized. Alignment problems arise from actual business change in results produced and capital utilized as solutions in performance, which remain undefined and unorganized. Instead, the enterprise is organized, planned, directed, controlled, and reported through separate and distinct structures laid over the business. With every business change, rigid overlaid structures go out of alignment with the business. Many solutions are available supposedly to enable alignment. Many books have proposed alignment solutions. However, in spite of all of these solutions and books, alignment problems remain. The alignment solutions attempt to align organization and management structures with each other with nothing to align against. [more...]

The fundamental problem of 20^th century enterprise, the failure to organize the business

The generally-accepted definition of the enterprise business is “the activity of providing goods and services“. Therefore, the activity of providing goods and services must be organized in order to organize the business. However, 20^th century organization theories organize “the enterprise” into organization units, positions, functions, reporting relationships, etc. to produce a contrived “enterprise organization structure” that is laid over the business. The organization structure is the fatal error of 20^th century management. Once an organization structure is laid over the business, the business can never be managed.

The business must change continually, while the “enterprise organization structure” remains rigid. The rigid organization structure hampers business change, creates change management problems, and eventually creates pressure for reorganization to contrive a new “enterprise organization structure” that is aligned closer to the actual business. If the business was organized, the organization would change with business change.

The solution is to organize the business for 21^st century management

The only way to manage the business properly is to organize the activity of providing goods and services into a business structure. [more...].

Does your organization structure organize your business?

If you ask most managers if their enterprise organizes the business, they will answer “yes”. However, if you ask them to described how the business in organized they will say that the business is organized into departments, functions, regions, etc. But, is this organizing the business?

Look up the definition of business enterprise. You will likely find that the business is “the activity of providing goods and services”. When you organize your business, do you organize “the activity of providing goods and services”?

20^th century organization theories organize people and responsibilities

20^th century business organization theories provide all kinds of ways to organize people, regions, responsibilities, etc. but they do not organize the business. Instead, they contrive different kinds of organization structures that are laid over the business. [more...].

The organization structure is the fatal error of 20^th century management

Every day new enterprises are started-up around the world. New enterprises have the one-time opportunity to organize and manage the enterprise business from scratch. These new enterprises unthinkingly adopt obsolete 20^th century management and doom themselves to the burden the unsolvable 20^th century management problems discussed here at the Business Change Forum. They waste the precious “green field” advantage of no legacy structures and the opportunity to do it right from the start.

Conventional wisdom says copy an existing business model or organization theory and do not “reinvent the wheel”. This “wisdom” replicates other enterprises’ problems.

Many new start-up enterprises retain management consultants to conduct an organization study. Management consultants still recommend that new enterprises lay obsolete 20^th century management structures over the business, rather than organizing and managing the business for significant competitive advantage.

Do not lay an organization structure over your business!

Once a new enterprise lays a rigid organization structure over the business, the business can never be managed. The enterprise must lay additional management structures over the business. The many inflexible structures conflict with the business causing unsolvable 20^th century management problems with business change, unknown business data like costs and value creation, unknown investment data like capital worth and investment returns, excessive IT and other capital overheads, mismanaged capital development, business and information complexity, unknown business management information, unsupported corporate governance, and so on.

New enterprises must not waste that precious “green field” advantage

New start-up companies have the opportunity to do it right from the start by organizing the business for 21^st century business management. [more...].

Rule No. 1 for 21^st century business management: Organize and Manage the Business

The article of May 19, 2009 lists the ten rules of 21^st century business management. Rule No. 1 is Organize and manage the business. This rule is fundamental to eliminating 20^th century organization and management problems.

The 20^th century enterprise has never organized or managed the business creating unsolvable problems that can only be eliminated by organizing the business for 21^st Century Management.

The enterprise business is the activity of providing goods and services

Perhaps when you read the title to this article you thought “my company already organizes and manages the business”. Most people think that the 20^th century organization and management structures used today actually organize and manage the business. But, the common 20^th century definition of the enterprise business is the activity of providing goods and services. Therefore, the activity of providing goods and services must be organized in order to organize the business. [more...]>

The economic crisis arises from “failure to manage the business”

Many articles in the Business Change Forum cite “failure to manage the business” as the cause or the current and previous financial and economic crises and corporate governance scandals. What precisely is the business and why is the business not managed today?

What is the definition of your business?

Have you organized your business? Do you manage your business day by day? What is the definition of the business that you have organized and that you manage? Most managers think that they are organizing and managing their business. But when asked they cannot define the business that they have organized and are managing. They usually define the enterprise, rather than the business, since they have actually organized and are managing the enterprise, and not the business.

It is important to have a clear definition of the enterprise business

It is important to have a precise definition of the enterprise business that is organized and managed. [more...]s.