Wouter Aghina, Aaron De Smet, Kirsten Weerda

The idea behind agile governance is to establish both stable and dynamic elements in making decisions, which typically come in three types. We call big decisions where the stakes are high Type I; frequent decisions that require cross-unit dialogue and collaboration, Type II; and decisions that should be parsed into smaller ones and delegated as far down as possible, often to people with clear accountability, … [ Read more ]

Agility: It Rhymes with Stability

Companies can become more agile by designing their organizations both to drive speed and create stability.

Wouter Aghina, Aaron De Smet, Suzanne Heywood

… 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 ]

The Past and Future of Global Organizations

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.