Company transformation: organisation and support on the shopfloor

Business transformation: the 5 management organisation models

Organisational models differ according to the authority exercised within them. This is where the links between the company’s various stakeholders are established. Authority may be in the hands of one or more people, and may be exercised with varying degrees of leeway for the members of the structure.

There are 5 main models of organisational management

Personalised organisation is where power is concentrated in the hands of a single person: the leader. He exercises his personal authority over the people who carry out his decisions.

The bureaucratic organisation is a variant of the personalised organisation. It is also owned by a single person (or by a very small group of people), but it differs in that it is formal: the boundaries are clearly defined and the processes are tightly controlled

Pyramidal organisation is characterised by the delegation of power by managers, whose legitimacy is based on their management style. This style can be demonstrated by pedagogical actions such as explaining the usefulness of a task, listening to what team members have to say, involving all employees, valuing their work, taking the time to give them constructive feedback to help them progress and showing them recognition.

The dual organisation consists of sharing power between the person in charge of results and the person in charge of the proper management of resources, without any notion of hierarchy. The organisation is matrix-based and in this case employees must report to a line manager and a functional manager.

Finally, in the cellular organisation, power is decentralised and is exercised by all the members of the organisation. The roles of managers are ephemeral and they bend over backwards to serve the employees, in contrast to the personalised organisation.

Change management to transform the company on the shop floor

In reality, the company is a complex system with several types of organisation within it. Let’s take the example of a large company operating in a competitive market. The global level is often organised in a dual way (there is a guarantor of the result and a guarantor of good resource management). Production operates on a pyramid system, with managers holding the authority. Support functions are run by a single leader, and so on…

This interweaving of several organisational systems helps us to understand that each structure is unique. To successfully transform the companies we work with, we don’t just rely on theoretical organisational models. We take into account the complexity of the organisational system and use our interpersonal skills to encourage cohesion between teams and communication between managers and operational staff.

To sum up, here are the 3 keys to bear in mind to ensure that business transformation is synonymous with productivity and efficiency:

• Adopt an organisational model for each collective problem encountered (flexibility)
• Create links and encourage cohesion between all the company’s employees (communication)
• Connecting top management with the field to create a bottom-up dynamic (participative)

To find out more about our change management methodology, we invite you to talk to our Spirit Advisors consultant partner, who is an expert on the subject. You can also read our article on the blog and subscribe to our newsletter via the insert on the right to keep up to date with Spirit Advisors news.