MWH: Building a Networked Organization
MWH is a global engineering services firm considered to be a leader in water, hydropower and environmental remediation. It was trying to turn the geographically organized department into one organized by function and the reorganization will depend on effective collaboration. The existing relationships are providing through ONA analysis, a method for mapping relationships among people in a group. This case looks into the old structure under which departments are fragmented by geography and constrained by hierarchy and other gaps in connectivity. Challenges are listed for discussion and recommendations are provided for steps to be taken to align the department’s network with MWH’s business objectives.
ISSUES ADDRESSIING
1. An IT department organized by geography instead of functionality had been acceptable when MWH was smaller, which is now impossible for the IT department to deliver sophisticated, standardized solutions.
The information-seeking relationships that existed at the birth of iNet were based on shared geography, not on shared functional areas.
2. There was only limited collaboration across the IT business centers and this fragmentation results in internal customers experiencing varying levels of service, functionality and costs for technical solutions and applications. Even more crucial was service to external customers.
3. The lack of standardization. Employees had no strong process base to guide them and they got work done by turning to other people for help.
The leaders of the various IT groups met two or three times a year in an effort to drive standard approaches for the company, but the groups continued to operate independently, each serving its own master and employing its own measures and processes.
4. There was limited collaboration between some locations for MWH, this imposed a big challenge for the iNet project because some are planned to be built into important serve locations globally.
5. Some groups were not providing optimal
ISSUES ADDRESSIING
1. An IT department organized by geography instead of functionality had been acceptable when MWH was smaller, which is now impossible for the IT department to deliver sophisticated, standardized solutions.
The information-seeking relationships that existed at the birth of iNet were based on shared geography, not on shared functional areas.
2. There was only limited collaboration across the IT business centers and this fragmentation results in internal customers experiencing varying levels of service, functionality and costs for technical solutions and applications. Even more crucial was service to external customers.
3. The lack of standardization. Employees had no strong process base to guide them and they got work done by turning to other people for help.
The leaders of the various IT groups met two or three times a year in an effort to drive standard approaches for the company, but the groups continued to operate independently, each serving its own master and employing its own measures and processes.
4. There was limited collaboration between some locations for MWH, this imposed a big challenge for the iNet project because some are planned to be built into important serve locations globally.
5. Some groups were not providing optimal