Successful Initiatives Start with a Solid Infrastructure

Use your head—and not adrenaline—to build your base

by Bill Koch, Editor, definingINSIGHTS

Beware of an Improper Design  

Many executives and managers have built enterprises with all the forethought of a reality show contestant madly completing a task to avoid getting voted off the island or fired in the boardroom. In the heat of chasing after a new idea, a new trend or an opportunity to crush an opponent, marketing plans are rolled out without much thought to the infrastructure that will be necessary to maintain the quality of the product.

The rush to take advantage of the marketplace has been overwhelming, and enterprises have been put in place without the proper design or architecture to withstand the challenges of an ever-changing business environment. These design decisions have been curtailing the success of many businesses around the world. 

Many enterprises have made design decisions as a response to outside stimuli such as acquisitions or mergers, executive hirings or firings, or an internal rivalry among C-level executives.   

Design decisions originating from internal rivalries tend to create weak enterprises. If the redesigns are structured for the advancement or preservation of the person making the recommendation, they are not necessarily good for the company. Astute leaders will seek out alliances with other members of the management team or opinion leaders. Involving others will provide them with credibility and build support among others who will also benefit from the new organization. 

This approach among leaders is not all bad. These are the same qualities of successful businesses everywhere; however, they are not the best criteria for designing effective enterprises. The effect often is a revolving door of change that keeps everyone and everything in the company off balance. 

An Effective Design 

Highly effective enterprises consist of three interdependent components—process, technology and organization.  

• Process consists of the way a company provides goods and services. Changing a process can change the way a company operates. For example, when a company makes the move from individual to team selling, eBusiness or eCommerce, it must also change the way it provides incentives to selling teams and the software solution technologies needed to support the selling process.

• Technology consists of tools and techniques that enhance the efficiency of the processes. When a company implements sales force technology, the sales people must change the way they work internally and the way they relate to others outside the enterprise. This shift in fundamental relationships changes how the company must be led, redirects the flow of communication within the organization and raises questions about the “ownership” of customers. 

• Organization refers to management style, knowledge, skills, incentives and control systems. A change in management often leads to changes in reporting relationships, management styles and the administration of rewards—all components of corporate culture. Over time, management changes can result in the need for process and technology changes as systems become lethargic and conflict with one another.

Putting it into Practice 

Each component has specific design criteria but, even more importantly, each component depends on the others. Putting them into place requires an effective leadership team, an enterprise architect and a cross-sectional team of influential members of the business. The cross-sectional team should be involved in the detailed design of the new work processes and the selection of any new technologies used to support the work processes.

When an enterprise is properly designed, it becomes a bastion of stability that others look to with envy. You might not win a million bucks or get to work with the Donald, but it will protect you while your competitors are forced to scramble.