This document discusses how technological and socioeconomic forces are reshaping business structures from silos to streams. It notes that while social technology gave people a voice, changing underlying structures is also needed. The research found that business structures have shifted from vertically integrated models in the 1900s-1980s to today's virtual value chains and brand orchestrators. However, management structures still use silo approaches despite the move to real-time, distributed models online. The document argues transforming five key dimensions together - people, performance, policy, process, and platform - is needed for businesses to gain situational awareness and agility to adapt.

1. From Silos to Streams:
How technological and socioeconomic forces
are reshaping the structure of business.

2. Social Technology
(Where the research
started…) What is this research about?
• Where I started: The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall
Street puts social technology in the global spotlight…
?

3. Social Technology
(Where the research
started…) What is this research about?
• Where I started: The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall
?
Street puts social technology in the global spotlight…
?
• Realization #1: Social technology alone cannot bring
about the desired transformation without changing the
Enterprise structure...
Structure

4. Social Technology
(Where the research
started…) What is this research about?
• Where I started: The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall
?
Street puts social technology in the global spotlight…
?
?
• Realization #1: Social technology alone cannot bring
about the desired transformation without changing the
Enterprise structure...
Structure
• Realization #2: The structure of business is as much,
or even more of an outcome that reflects the broader
socioeconomic values than it is the result of an explicit
design by business architects…
Socioeconomics - Society & Business
(Where the research led..)

5. Society Business
Having a voice is good. Being heard is better.
• Social technology is about “giving a voice”…
“having a voice”
Social Technology

6. Society Business
Having a voice is good. Being heard is better.
“incumbent powers” • Social technology is about “giving a voice”…
• Hope and enthusiasm ran into the reality of structure
and incumbent powers…
• How much of this is relevant to business?
“structure”
“democratization”
“having a voice”
Social Technology

8. 1900 – 1980s: Vertical Integration
The enterprise structure continues to change…
Ford Model-T
• A 100-year perspective shows the shift…
AT&T phone
• …from a vertically-integrated model…
1980s – Present: Virtual Value Chains
“Brand
Orchestrators” • …to the virtual value chain structure that is typical of
the global multinational brands…
• …that are the “brand orchestrators” who design and
deliver “experiences” (e.g., Starbucks) as opposed to
just products and services.

9. 1900 – 1980s: Vertical Integration
The enterprise structure continues to change…
Ford Model-T
• A 100-year perspective shows the shift…
AT&T phone
• …from a vertically-integrated model…
1980s – Present: Virtual Value Chains
“Brand
Orchestrators” • …to the virtual value chain structure that is typical of
the global multinational brands…
• …that are the “brand orchestrators” who design and
deliver “experiences” (e.g., Starbucks) as opposed to
just products and services.
Future: ??
• In a physical sense, the “silo to stream” shift has already
happened!

10. …but the silo approach to management has not.
• The management structure is essentially a set of
functional boxes organized within a pyramid…
• It is a design that precedes the IT era by almost a 100
years.
• Why change this? And why now?

11. IT structure: From snapshots to real-time streams
• The first generation of enterprise systems (like ERP)
largely institutionalized the “boxes within a pyramid”
design…
Functional Managing via Centralized
Today silos “snapshots” (Enterprise-centric)

12. IT structure: From snapshots to real-time streams
• The first generation of enterprise systems (like ERP)
largely institutionalized the “boxes within a pyramid”
design…
Functional Managing via Centralized
Today silos “snapshots” (Enterprise-centric)
Virtual value Managing in Distributed
Future? streams “real-time” (Network-centric)
• Another architecture is emerging in parallel…one that
is real-time, network-centric, and virtualized.

13. How the value stream is evolving thus far…
• The Flow of Money (Cash Out-to-Cash In)…
• The Flow of Material (Design-to-Fulfill)…
• The Flow of the Buyer (Desire-to-Purchase)…

14. STRATEGY EXECUTION
[Upstream  Downstream]
Who? Promote Sell …and how it needs to continue to evolve
Where? (Marketing) (Sales)
What? Source/Make Fulfill • Convergence has many obstacles...
How many? (Purch./Production) (Logistics)
How much? Pay Collect • …so will it be worth the effort?
What terms? (Payables) (Receivables)
• It all depends on how “situational awareness” can
change the game for your business or industry?

16. Transformational change is multidimensional
• The technology is the least of the obstacles…
• The five dimensions of transformational change…
Today Future
Thinkers Informed and
People vs. Doers empowered workers
Shareholder “Shared Value” of
Performance value all stakeholders
Enterprise Enterprise + Ecosystem
Policy perspective perspective
End-to-end means End-to-end means
Process order-to-cash dirt-to-dirt
Platform Digital silos Digital streams

17. The risk of not changing the structure
• Inhibitors to visibility…
• Inhibitors to velocity…
• Inhibitors to innovation…
• Inhibitors to agility…

18. The big unknown…
• How will the post-internet generation, the “digital
natives” shape this future?
• How will they reconcile the differences in their
experience as digital consumers vs. corporate
employee?
• How will they reconcile the dissonance between their
social values and the business values?

19. Sree Hameed
sreehameed@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sreehameed