Evolving corporate ‘Landscape’

Organizations frequently survive the people who establish them. At some point it becomes the case that such organizations have been designed by one group of people but are being operated or run by another. Other people then have to live with the change challenges where the design and, the ends may have already been established. These people are then chiefly concerned with means. This is why so many problem-solving efforts start out focused on means. Some organizations are designed to buffer their core operations from turbulence in the environment. In such organizations all units fit into one of three categories: core, buffer, and perimeter. In core units (e.g., systems and operations), coordination is achieved through standardization, that is, adherence to routine. In buffer units (e.g., upper management and staff or support functions), coordination is achieved through planning.
In perimeter units (e.g., sales, marketing, and customer service), coordination is achieved through mutual adjustment. People in core units, buffered as they are from environmental turbulence and with a history of relying on adherence to standardized procedures, typically focus on “how” questions. People in buffer units, responsible for performance through planning, often ask “what” questions. People in the perimeter units are as accountable as anyone else for performance and frequently for performance of a financial nature. They can be heard asking “what” and “how” questions. “Why” questions are generally asked by people with no direct responsibility for day-to-day operations or results.
The group most able to take this long-term or strategic view is that cadre of senior executives responsible for the continued well being of the firm: top management. If the design of the firm is to be re-structured – these are the people who must make the decision to do so. Finally, when organizational redefinition and redesign prove necessary, all people in all units must concern themselves with all three sets of questions or the changes made will not stand the test of time.

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