Business transformation takes the business from one stage to another to achieve strategic performance objectives.
Business transformation is different from the regular continual organizational improvement as business transformation involves updating one or more of the organization's core elements. Business transformation covers entirely what is familiar as digital transformation.
A company comprises many elements we refer to as the organization's design elements. Those elements are inherently driven by the organizational design model used while designing an organization. So, transforming a business is fundamentally the update of one or more of those elements. The best performing organizations are those with all organization design elements that are well designed, are aligned, and work in harmony.
What are the organization's design core elements?
Through my research on organization design and alignment that spanned over 12 years, I identified 22 elements (see table below). The core elements are those selected and considered the driving ones for the rest of the elements. For example, McKinsey's model developed by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman focuses on seven core elements: goals, strategy, structure, systems, staff, style, and skills. Mckinsey 7s has been widely criticized as it ignores other core parts of the organization we understand.
Defining which elements of an organization as core tells something about the business model and strategy. However, when studying an organization from design and business transformation perspectives, we should have a holistic approach and this is what we do.
What is the comprehensive list of elements of an organization?
In my extensive research on the subject that lasted more than 12 years, I identified 22 core elements listed in the below table. If interested, fill out the form below and I will send you the PDF infographics version.
Traditional drivers of business transformation?
The majority of business transformation initiatives start with a management decision driven by one or more of the following conditions:
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Unsatisfactory overall business performance
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Turn around the business to become more responsive, lean, and efficient
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Enhancing the broad core organizational capabilities like going through strategic digital transformation
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Adapting to specific situations like Covid-19
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Mergers and acquisitions or others.
Our approach to business transformation
Our approach to business transformation is very effective because of our holistic change management framework. We simply deal with the entire list of 22 elements of the organization when working on any transformation project. During a project, we study the influence of one change on the rest of the organization's 22 elements. Such change is identified and dealt with accordingly. Stepwise refinement is used to reach conclusions.
According to a recent Harvard Study, more than 70% of business transformation projects do not achieve their desired goals or completely fail. This is of no surprise to us and we see most transformation initiatives try to change one element in the organization and ignore the rest. Our intensive knowledge of the subject of organization design and transformation gave us unquestionable evidence that an organization is a complex model and dealing with it has to be based on a holistic approach. Complexity theory in business was originated from biology where you can not deal with one human organ in isolation from the rest of the body.
During the transformation project, we fill specific tables showing impact analysis of one initiative on each of the core elements we identify. Accordingly, the project activities are put taking into account the required changes to be implemented in each element required to change.
If you are considering a business transformation project, feel to contact us.
Download the business transformation white paper.
"The business transformation from A to Z"
