What Does Your Franchise Fee Pay For? Work Levels 5, 4, and 3

By Michelle Malay Carter on October 18, 2009 

The franchise model has been responsible for many an American dream (insert your country here as well).? And what are you buying when you purchase a franchise? Level 5 – The brand, the business model, the strategy Level 4 – The infrastructure, the future focus strategic work, operational change decisions Level 3 – The operational […]

Filed Under Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management, Work Levels | 2 Comments

Operations Can Only Do So Much – When Will Boards Hold Executives Accountable for Executive Level Work?

By Michelle Malay Carter on September 23, 2009 

Clarifying Accountability When will we fully appreciate that the operational levels, aka work levels 1-3,?within an organization can only work within the confines set at the executive/strategic levels? Who Sets the Conditions? What do the executive levels directly control?? Executive levels: Create the strategy Decide the “business brand” Obtain the funding Select the geographic markets […]

Filed Under Requisite Organization | 6 Comments

Face to the Customer Organization Design – A Critical Decision. Farewell to Circuit City

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 25, 2009 

A Solid Relationship Two decades ago when I graduated from college and moved 10 hours from home with nothing more than what would fit in my car, Circuit City and I built a relationship.? As my paycheck would allow, I would visit my favorite salesperson, Darren, and add electronic items to my entertainment center.? I […]

Filed Under Accountability, Executive Leadership, Felt Fair Compensation, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management, Work Levels | 4 Comments

When the Student is Ready, the Management Consultant will Appear

By Michelle Malay Carter on October 13, 2008 

How often do consultants get paid not to do the client’s work but rather?to act more like athletic coaches?? Coaches get to know their players and their competition.? They help clients build a repertoire of knowledge and skills and then lie-in-wait in order to?suggest the right context within which to use those skills. What is […]

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Most Viewed, My Favorites – Mission Minded Management Turns One

By Michelle Malay Carter on September 22, 2008 

Mission Minded Management turns one today.?? Thank you for your readership, your support, comments, and link love! I thought I’d do a mini year in review with links to my top five viewed posts and some of my personal favorites. Most Viewed Posts I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money – Why You Should Deliver […]

Filed Under Requisite Organization | 6 Comments

Web 2.0 is a Business Initiative, Not an IT Initiative

By Michelle Malay Carter on August 12, 2008 

I often find myself underwhelmed by survey results, responding to survey result reports?with the thought,?well duh!, rather than ah-ha!? You? McKinsey’s latest, Building the Web 2.0 Enterprise: McKinsey Global Survey Results, had a few well duh’s for me as well.? I thought I’d share. “A higher level of usage is found at companies that encourage […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 2 Comments

Driving Ineffective Productivity

By Michelle Malay Carter on July 9, 2008 

The problem with blind ambition toward measuring performance is that systems drive behavior.? When cold calculations take the place of managerial judgments, the system is sending a message.? “We don’t have time to look at the prevailing circumstances surrounding your work situation to judge whether your problem solving and decision making was effective, just make […]

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Organizational Structure – What If…

By Michelle Malay Carter on June 18, 2008 

Jack Fallow had this to say about my lamentation on organizational structural failures:? Yes it is a problem that we under-engineer work environments and structures. Typically, the engineer, first decides that weight bearing strength of 1000lbs is necessary, then adds 50% for security. Next, they choose the best material to carry the strain. Then, they […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | 2 Comments

Intuiting Work Levels – Justin Foster’s Strategy Hierarchy

By Michelle Malay Carter on June 3, 2008 

Jamie Notter mentioned coming upon Justin Foster’s idea of Strategy Hierarchy.? Justin does a great job of describing work levels 5, 4, and 3. Here’s Justin’s description: Vision – Develop the simple idea. This is very likely the original reason a venture or effort was started. In addition, the Vision is the picture of success […]

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So Just What is a Democratic Workplace?

By Michelle Malay Carter on April 29, 2008 

Competitive Elections and Majority Rule? I’ve been pondering this for a while. I looked up the definition of democracy on wikipedia, and unfortunately, there is no three sentence definition. However, it states, that competitive elections is the most common thread. Additionally, majority rule is the next usual predominant feature. (FYI – The USA is a […]

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | 11 Comments

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