Author: | Raynor, M. E. Bower, J. L. |
Title: | Lead from the Center: How to Manage Divisions Dynamically |
Journal: | Harvard Business Review
2001 : MAY, VOL. 79:5, p. 92-105 |
Index terms: | COMPANIES DIVERSIFICATION CORPORATE STRUCTURE |
Language: | eng |
Abstract: | Conventional wisdom holds that a company's divisions should be given almost total autonomy because they are closer to emerging technologies, customers, and competitors than corporate headquarters could ever be. But the authors' research suggests that the corporate office should be more, not less, directive in turbulent markets. Through an examination of four corporations - Sprint, WPP, Teradyne, and Viacom - the authors challenge traditional approaches to diversification in which a company's divisions are either related or unrelated. They argue that companies should adopt a dynamic approach to cooperation among divisions, enabling varying degrees of relatedness between divisions depending on strategic circumstances. The authors offer four tactics to help executives manage divisions dynamically. |
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