Five Questions Every Leader Should Ask About Organizational Design

80-john-beeson by John Beeson

A few years ago Dave Ulrich, a management thought leader from the University of Michigan, made a comment I found both insightful and profound: “Every leader needs to have a model of organization design.” Typically a graphic depiction of the organizational components to be addressed in a redesign (for example, McKinsey’s 7S model, which includes strategy, structure, systems, staff, skills, and so on), every consultant and his brother flogs an organization design model. Dave didn’t advocate any particular design model, just one the leader knows how to employ and one flexible enough to be applied to the range of organizational situations a leader faces in the course of a career. Continue reading

Inside with Jonathan M. Shean, President, Continuum

Interviewed by Larry Janis, Managing Partner, Integrated Search Solutions

 

LJ:  Please share an overview of the services and processes that your firm offers.

JS:  Continuum is a professional services organization that helps Fortune 2000 companies buy and manage their print more effectively, thus reducing their costs and enabling them to better focus on their core business. 

Our primary offering is Continuum OnSourcing™, a turn-key print management solution that features a dedicated on-site team, transparent open-book model, shared economic incentives, and contractually guaranteed savings.  Continuum OnSourcing allows us to become a true extension of our clients’ organizations.  And the work we do day-in and day-out on behalf of our clients helps to minimize their costs while increasing the visibility and control they have over a critical area of spend.   Continue reading

The Masters of the Mix

by Michael J. Salvino, Walter G. Gossage, Mary Lacity

The benefits of effective change management in BPO are measured both an individual and an organizational  level. Companies that are attentive to transition issues and supporting the retained workforce can drive topline benefits from a more effective functional  organization.

Imagine your chagrin: You bought a sophisticated new audio system for your home, and all the electronics retailer did was deliver it, plug it in and leave. Continue reading

What to Do When You Fear Your Leadership Is Failing

By Les McKeown

You’re a good leader, and you don’t take the possibility of failure lightly. You realistically assess the possibility of failure in advance of any new initiative. You’ve set clear milestones that will help alert you when something is going off track. You’re accountable for evaluating the relevant data accordingly, and you don’t blanch at objectively assessing the situation.

Now, (gulp), something has indeed gone wrong. Your new product launch has flopped, perhaps, or the fire marshal has just handed you a list of code violations that means the hospice won’t open on time, or your team of anti-logging activists hasn’t received the visas they need to go on-site in Venezuela. Continue reading

Brazil: Leveraging the Potential of the World Cup

By Steve Rudderham

All eyes will be on Brazil next summer as it hosts the soccer (real football) World Cup. This is then followed by the Olympic and Paralympics games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. But beyond the ‘razzmatazz’ and festivities that both tournaments will bring, how will the country benefit economically, and how can the outsourcing industry leverage this focus? Continue reading