Case Study: Is Holacracy for Us?

Experts who shared their views about decentralization in a construction firm are presented. Peter van Mierlo, senior partner of PWC, said that demographic developments and other megatrends such as urbanization, improved technology, and the strength of Asian markets make decentralization a more desir...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Harvard business review 2017-03, p.1
Main Authors: Roelofsen, Erik, Yue, Tao
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Construction companies
Construction industry
Decentralization
Leadership
Project management
Technological change
Urbanization
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Experts who shared their views about decentralization in a construction firm are presented. Peter van Mierlo, senior partner of PWC, said that demographic developments and other megatrends such as urbanization, improved technology, and the strength of Asian markets make decentralization a more desirable option than ever before. Technology has boosted transparency and changed the way people do business across the globe. Urbanization is having a material effect on the complexity of construction projects. It's not just construction companies that should be pushing decisions down as close to the customer as possible; it's all companies. That said, decentralization is no excuse for lack of accountability or control. Leaders at headquarters still need to know what's happening in all the units and in their largest projects. Ben Noteboom, former CEO of Randstad, said that in the construction industry one unit's failure can taint a whole company. So leaders need to scrutinize assignments and contract terms to reduce risk. They must know whether projects are on schedule and prevent potential manipulation by governments or other local actors. It's possible for Contect to monitor these things while continuing to respect the integrity of local managers.
ISSN:0017-8012