Solutions’ White Papers

Solution provides a number of white papers on a variety of change and organization design topics.

Click on the title to view the paper.

Getting Results through Organization Design

A critical success factor for organizations today is the ability to adapt their structures, systems and processes to capture new markets and expand existing ones. A critical determinant of strategic competitive advantage is organization design. This paper demonstrates the strategic importance of organization design for business leaders; the impact effective design has on the bottom-line; and tips on how to design organizations for flexibility.

This white paper provides:

  • Some key warning signs that indicate when an organization redesign is required
  • Tips for seniors leaders and executives for leading that redesign
  • Guidance for determining which business design is right for your company.

Successfully Managing the Integration of Mergers and Acquisitions

Despite their prevalence, few mergers actually achieved the expected results. This paper describes the critical factors for successful mergers.

Some of the factors include:

  • Conduct a thorough assessment prior to the merger
  • Create an integration task force
  • Maintain visibility of leaders from both organizations
  • Understand the business metrics of both companies

A checklist of critical tasks to complete is provided.

Using Collaboration to Reduce Time-to-Market in a Software Development Company

The software development industry is one of the most dynamic, fast-paced industries in the world. New versions of software can be released every six to twelve months. New technology renders existing software systems obsolete overnight. Strategic alliances form and disband rapidly. Technology components are licensed to apparent competitors. A competitor one month is a collaborator the next. Consider the technology startups…Netscape, America Online, Iomega, etc. All have experienced rapid growth and success. This case describes how one software development company utilized teams to reduce its time-to-market for new products. It is the story of an entrepreneurial startup that transformed itself into part of a multi-billion dollar international corporation. It is the story of survival….creating robust, efficient processes to support the company’s growth. It was critical to be able to get new products and enhancements to customers. This paper will discuss the transition from a functional organization to a product aligned team-based organization.

Opportunities and Limitations of a New Technology for Organization Design

Traditional organization design/redesign methodologies rely on an “expert” or relatively small cross-functional group to conduct selected analyses and develop design recommendations. The experts may be a consultant with organizational design experience, a senior human resources executive, and a staff person. This white paper describes an alternative approach, one using a larger number of people to develop the organization structures and systems. The nomenclature “large-scale” or “high involvement” will be used when describing this approach.

This white paper features:

  • The basic approach for using a large scale methodology
  • How and where the large scale approach has been used
  • The advantages and limitations of utilizing this approach.