Don't homogenize, synchronize.

摘要: To be more responsive to customers, companies often break down organizational walls between their units--setting up all manner of cross-business and cross-functional task forces working groups promoting a "one-company" culture. But such attempts can backfire terribly by distracting business functional units contaminating strategies processes. Fortunately, there's better way, says the author. Rather than tear walls, company make them permeable information. It synchronize its data on products, filtering information through linked databases applications delivering it in coordinated, meaningful form customers. As result, organization present single, unified face customer--one that change as market conditions warrant--without imposing homogeneity people. Such synchronization lead not just stronger customer relationships sales but also greater operational efficiency. allows company, for example, avoid high costs maintaining many different systems with redundant data. The decoupling product control from synchronized reflects fundamental fact about business: While have focus creating great customers think terms activities they perform benefits seek. For companies, products are ends, means. disconnect how organize themselves is what leads inefficiencies missed opportunities, that's exactly problem solves. Synchronized get closer sustain innovation, improve efficiency--goals traditionally been very difficult achieve simultaneously.