Optimizing Organization Design: A Proven Approach to Enhance Financial Performance, Customer Satisfaction and Employee Engagement

Optimizing Organization Design: Executive Experience "With the full benefit of hindsight I can only reiterate the statement I made to you following your final presentation, 'This is the best value for money I have ever experienced from any consultant.'" —Isadore Sharp, Founder and Chairman, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts , and author , Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy "We are now in the eighth year from the time that you initially supported us with an organization design assessment and implementation ... all of the key foundational organization design principles have remained intact within Allstate ... in 2013, we have been selected by AON Hewitt as one of the Best Employers in Canada ... In addition, over the last three years, we have outperformed the industry on all key performance metrics." —Eric Pickering, Vice President, Human Resources, Allstate Canada Group "We have recently been awarded the Great Workplace Award by the Gallup organization. The award positions LS as being one of the most engaging companies in the world. In 2013 only 32 companies globally received this special recognition, with LS being the sole retailer in the group ... we believe that our organization design practices have provided an important foundation for the deployment of our employee engagement initiatives and would like to thank Capelle Associates for their support in that regard." —Gerry Savaria, President & CEO, LS travel retail North America "The organization assessment you carried out provided excellent insights, and your recommendations set a baseline for improvements that we have made to the organization. In addition, the implementation consulting support provided us with methods, materials, and training, so we did not have to 'reinvent the wheel.' There is no question that you have helped us to achieve the significant improvements in our organization." —George Weber, President & CEO, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group

Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1 Why Organization Design Matters. 1.1 Employee Satisfaction. 1.2 Customer Satisfaction. 1.3 Financial Performance. 1.4. Competitive Advantage. 1.5 Significant Return on Investment 1.6 Foundation of Strategy Implementation. 1.7 Foundation of Human Resources Management 1.8 Executive Success. 1.9 Research Support 1.10 Special Topics. 1.11 Conclusion. 2 Organization Design Assessment: How Organizations Function. 2.1 Organization Systems Functioning Model 2.2 Organization Systems Change Model 2.3 Organization Alignment Model 2.4 Vertical Alignment of Positions. 2.5 Functional Alignment of Positions. 2.6 Aligning Accountabilities and Authorities. 2.7 Aligning People with Positions. 2.8 Aligning Deliverables. 2.9 Aligning Tasks. 2.10 Organization Design Principles. 2.11 Conclusion. 3 Organization Design Implementation: How Organizations Change. 3.1 Objectives of an Organization Design Implementation. 3.2 Organization Design Implementation Components Model 3.3 Organization Design Implementation Process Model 3.4 Organization Design Implementation Principles. 3.5 Strengthening the Organization Design Implementation. 3.6 Internal – External Team Approach. 3.7 Conclusion. 4 Optimizing Organization Design: An  Overview.. 4.1 Initial Discussion, Proposal and Contract 4.2 Assessment, Report and Meetings. 4.3 Implementation. 4.4 Sustainment 4.5 Conclusion. 5 Additional Topics of Importance. 5.1 The Role of the Board: Governance. 5.2 Project Management 5.3 Process Management 5.4 Compensation. 6 Conclusion. Appendix A: Executive Success. A.1 Introduction. A.2 Executive Comments. A.3 Conclusion. Appendix B: Research. B.1 Overview of Capelle Associates Research on Organization Design. B.2 Research Papers. B.3 Conclusion. Appendix C: Case Studies. C.1 Allstate Insurance Case Study. C.2 Canadian Pacific Case Study. C.3 Capital Power Case Study. C.4 Royal Ottawa Health Care Group Case Study. Appendix D: Glossary. References. Index 

Ronald G. Capelle has been helping executives for over 35 years to improve organization performance by optimizing organization design. His clients have included virtually all types of organizations in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. He has supported global clients with operations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.