Organization Design: Case Study 2

Define required corporate structure and staffing to facilitate growth of highly decentralized 40 market advertising company.

Client

Largest US Outdoor Advertising Company

Business Challenge

• Stagnant growth rate in most of the 40 geographically dispersed business units
• With field staff of 2,400 people, corporate staff was less than 35 people – major functions were understaffed (e.g., HR, IT, Finance). Correct staffing and skills were unknown as was exact benefit increased corporate staff would bring to business units.
• Anticipated local office resistance to growth in size and control from larger corporate staff

The Solution

• Analysis of existing organization.
• Interviews and focus groups with employees from front-line to executives.
• Assessment of unmet needs — factors constraining growth.
• Design of new organization.
• Facilitated meetings with senior executive team where analysis and recommendations were provided.
  

Results

• Corporate staff was right-sized to meet organizational needs — in some cases this meant additional of complementary staff in large markets.
• Certain functions that were needed to support growth — e.g., revenue analysis, IT, sales operations — were added with specific role definitions.
• Certain processes were put in place that substantially increased performance and accountability..
  

Company was able to grow at a faster pace than the industry while retaining the best elements of its existing culture and adding significant management expertise.

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