11 Posts found for Author: Suzanne Heywood

Only 8% of crisis-driven reorganizations deliver as planned. Based on an extensive Quartz/HBR database as well as their personal consulting experience, the authors offer seven strategies for companies looking to reorganize in response to a crisis. They suggest that the most successful reorgs move quickly, but with a plan; they benchmark internally; they set different targets for different departments; they involve the full leadership team … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Matthias Qian, Peter Buchas, Stephen Heidari-Robinson, Suzanne Heywood | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Under nearly any circumstance, reorganizations consume a great deal of time and energy, including emotional energy. When proper communication plans are in place, though, leaders can at least reduce unnecessary anxiety and unproductive wheel-spinning. Planning should start long before employees get word of the changes, include constituents well outside the boundaries of the company, and extend far beyond the announcement of the concept design to … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Rose Beauchamp, Stephen Heidari-Robinson, Suzanne Heywood | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Change Management, Management, Organizational Behavior

… the matrix organization […] gained favor in the 1970s as a solution for large organizations struggling to coordinate decision making and activities that cut across functional and business-unit lines. The theory was strong, but when Tom Peters appraised the scene, in the late 1970s, “the matrix ‘solution’ had brought with it problems at least as knotty as those it was supposed to cure.”

The quest … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Suzanne Heywood, Wouter Aghina | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior, Strategy

After more than 50 years of trying, the search for an ideal model of the global organization remains elusive. But intriguing new experiments are under way.

Content: Article | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Suzanne Heywood, Wouter Aghina | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: International, Management, Organizational Behavior

Employees and managers should be measured as much on their contribution to an organization’s long-term health as to its performance.

Content: Article | Authors: Matthew Pettigrew, Suzanne Heywood, Toby Gibbs | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

The structures, processes, and communications approaches of many far-flung businesses have been stretched to the breaking point. Here are some ideas for relieving the strains.

Content: Article | Authors: Leigh Weiss, Suzanne Heywood, Toby Gibbs | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: International, Organizational Behavior

As the economic spotlight shifts to developing markets, global companies need new ways to manage their strategies, people, costs, and risks.

Content: Article | Authors: Jonathan Harris, Martin Dewhurst, Suzanne Heywood | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: International

Downsizing all parts of a company equally may seem fair, but it doesn’t make sense. Targeted cuts and capability-building efforts do.

Content: Article | Authors: Dennis Layton, Risto Penttinen, Suzanne Heywood | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Management

Companies should start any cost-cutting initiative by thinking through whether they could restructure the business to take advantage of current and projected marketplace trends (for instance, by exiting relatively low-profit or low-growth businesses) or to mitigate threats, such as consolidating competitors. An important part of the analysis is to understand a company’s financial situation and the range of potential outcomes under a number of different … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Dennis Layton, Risto Penttinen, Suzanne Heywood | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Management

Not all complexity is bad for business—but executives don’t always know what kind their company has. They should understand what creates complexity for most employees, remove what doesn’t add value, and channel the rest to employees who can handle it effectively. This article recounts the experience of a multinational consumer goods manufacturer that applied this approach in several regions and functions and consequently halved the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Julian Birkinshaw, Suzanne Heywood | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Organizational Behavior

There are two types of complexity. Understanding where to intervene is the key to managing them to create value.

Content: Article | Authors: David Turnbull, Jessica Spungin, Suzanne Heywood | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Management