“Most companies have good strategies, but they struggle to actually make them
happen. The problem is often the organization’s structure—specifically, who is in
charge, how decisions get made, and how teams are organized. In today’s
fast-moving world, if leaders treat the company chart as something fixed rather than
a tool to help them reach their goals, they create a gap between what they plan to
do and what they actually achieve.
A mid-sized business that wants to sell directly to customers online. The leaders
make a plan and invest in the necessary technology. However, the responsibilities are
scattered: online sales are handled by the Sales department, the website is run by IT,
and advertising is managed by the Brand team. No single person oversees the entire
customer experience. As a result, each department focuses only on its own goals,
while customers face delays and confusion as they get passed back and forth
between disconnected teams.
In this situation, the digital strategy is not failing because of technology or intent; it is
blocked by an outdated structure. A strategy built on integrated journeys is being
executed through disconnected departments, unclear decision rights, and legacy
reporting lines. The organization is effectively asking yesterday’s structure to deliver
tomorrow’s results.
Treating structure as a strategy lever means consciously redesigning the
organization to match how value is created today. For a mid‑size company, that may
involve giving one leader end‑to‑end accountability for the digital business, forming
cross‑functional teams, and aligning measures of success across functions. Done
well, restructuring improves efficiency, clarifies ownership, and increases adaptability
to change, without necessarily adding complexity.
We have seen the impact created when we help our clients realize that many
performance problems are structural, not just operational. By aligning structure,
roles, and decision rights with current strategy, organizations close the execution gap
and move from “strategy on paper” to strategy in action.”