Alignment of Strategy with Structure
Executives of multibusiness firms are increasingly using management control systems (MCS) to align corporate strategy with organizational structure to create synergies across business units. Senior managers find that it is no longer practical to expend vast resources to continually restructure their organizations in order to align with changes in strategy and environmental conditions (Luke, Walston and Plummer, 2004). Instead, more organizations are learning a far more effective approach–choose an organizational structure that works without major conflicts, and then design MCS to align that structure with strategy (Kaplan and Norton, 2006).
To survive in today’s marketplace, a company cannot afford to choose between low costs on the one hand, and high quality, innovative technology, quick delivery, or high variety on the other. A hybrid strategic approach is needed, teaming high quality or the latest technology with a strong cost position.
Mass customization is the perfect way to bridge the gap between cost pressures and customer-specific requirements. This strategy combines customer-specific products
and services with the efficiency of mass production. The customer who previously bought a standard product can now walk away with a tailored solution. Similarly, companies that traditionally produced custom-made solutions can still manufacture to order, but on a large scale, thanks to powerful new processes and product structures. Naturally, this cuts costs. Furthermore, mass customization provides the basis for successful customer relationship management (CRM)
