Creating a Process-Driven Organization at Agcredit
Background
AgCredit, a financial institution focusing on agribusiness, is at a crossroads after an effort of three months of planning. Kate Longair is orchestrating critical restructuring in the IT system to support the company’s growth and operations. The current IT system lacks integrity and support from the many leaders and users in the organization. Project delays, bad information, customer complaints and managing human capital are contributors to the current environment. Kate faces a lack of time and appropriation of talent from the current organizational structure. Kate must form a team, tackle multiple challenges and develop a path to achieve systems integration.
The Structure
Silos and barriers within organizations are often a result of employee comfort and security within their own department or specialty. Greater success comes from breaking down these barriers, sharing information and working as a team for a unified vision or goal. Decentralized structures can create control issues amongst business units, where managers feel they must own an IT function in order to effectively get the results they desire. This also may lead to the purchase and design of incompatible systems within the organization. It may work for the particular area, but not for the entire company.
A centralized IT structure would best meet AgCredit’s future transformation. A centralized structure supports a greater chance for more continuity and collaboration across all divisions. In contrast to the decentralized structure that AgCredit has experienced, the centralized structure should provide increased communication, leading to a greater sharing of knowledge. This will further develop an understanding of the business as a whole and when issues arise, all areas can be alerted and involved in the solution. As a result, countermeasures can be addressed quickly and effectively, instead of recurring in separate areas.
Under a centralized structure, the model
AgCredit, a financial institution focusing on agribusiness, is at a crossroads after an effort of three months of planning. Kate Longair is orchestrating critical restructuring in the IT system to support the company’s growth and operations. The current IT system lacks integrity and support from the many leaders and users in the organization. Project delays, bad information, customer complaints and managing human capital are contributors to the current environment. Kate faces a lack of time and appropriation of talent from the current organizational structure. Kate must form a team, tackle multiple challenges and develop a path to achieve systems integration.
The Structure
Silos and barriers within organizations are often a result of employee comfort and security within their own department or specialty. Greater success comes from breaking down these barriers, sharing information and working as a team for a unified vision or goal. Decentralized structures can create control issues amongst business units, where managers feel they must own an IT function in order to effectively get the results they desire. This also may lead to the purchase and design of incompatible systems within the organization. It may work for the particular area, but not for the entire company.
A centralized IT structure would best meet AgCredit’s future transformation. A centralized structure supports a greater chance for more continuity and collaboration across all divisions. In contrast to the decentralized structure that AgCredit has experienced, the centralized structure should provide increased communication, leading to a greater sharing of knowledge. This will further develop an understanding of the business as a whole and when issues arise, all areas can be alerted and involved in the solution. As a result, countermeasures can be addressed quickly and effectively, instead of recurring in separate areas.
Under a centralized structure, the model