How We Serve You : White Papers
From the Boardroom to the Shop Floor and Back:
A Framework for Achieving Organizational Alignment
Vertical and Horizontal Alignment
Previously, managers relied on hierarchical rules and policies to exercise control and keep the organization moving in the required direction. With constant change, this approach is a liability as there is a need to keep the company focused and, at the same time, allow it to be creative and flexible. Organizational alignment is the ability to clearly articulate what is important and then to allow this to be the main driver of all activities performed. One can consider two aspects of alignment: vertical and horizontal alignment.
- Vertical alignment involves communicating and deploying the strategy, in a structured form, from the top of the organization to the shop floor. The deployment process translates the strategy into clearly defined tactics that can be monitored and influenced daily. This fosters an understanding of the overall direction of the company and enables everyone to appreciate the integration of different activities and initiatives. It is also important that managers, who set the strategy, receive feedback from the organization on the effectiveness of their approach. This two-way process of setting strategy and receiving feedback, provides information on organizational capability. Thus, the framework for alignment should address a continuous two-way process- top down and bottom up.
- Horizontal alignment ensures that the organization is ‘hard-wired’ to the needs of the customer. The achievement of customer satisfaction has constantly been the mantra of most companies. However, internal units who do not serve the external customer directly have often experienced difficulty in understanding and interpreting the expectations of the external customer. Functional units within the company need to ensure that they are creating value by satisfying the needs of their internal customers. If this mind-set is not embraced, then units tend to generate waste. Internal units can begin to facilitate horizontal alignment by ensuring that their processes are defined starting with the needs of the external customer and deploying this throughout the organization. In addition, individuals need to address the following questions:
- What is the purpose of the unit or department?
- Who are my internal customers
- What do I deliver to the internal customers
- What do the customers expect
- What measures could be used to demonstrate customer satisfaction
Alignment must be structured, consistent and continuous. Just as a ship at sea has to continually make adjustments to compensate for the wind and the strength of the ocean, so too must the organization constantly monitor and modify its strategy and tactics in response to changes in the external environment. Organizational alignment makes these changes possible.
