India Inc may undergo structural change

Challenges include lack of adequate functional experts, reveals study

New Delhi, March 11: About 31 per cent of companies in India are considering a different organisational structure as they look at creating a performance-driven culture and meet changing customer demands, a joint study by Willis Towers Watson and CII said on Sunday.

About 49 per cent of respondents said they were considering this change to create a performance-driven culture, while 41 per cent it would help in meeting changing customer demands, the report titled ‘WTW-CII study on organisation structures in India’ said.

Other drivers included supporting change in strategy (36 per cent), changing the behaviour and mindset of the workforce (34 per cent) and cutting costs (30 per cent), the study added.

The study, which polled senior executives from over 100 organisations, analysed if and how current organisational structures in India are aligned to growth-enabling business strategies. It also examined a range of indicators of any impending challenge that could arise due to ineffective and misaligned structures.

The study revealed that companies are making or planning to make efforts to fix organisational structure-related challenges over the next three years. About 73 per cent said they are paying more for certain skills, 60 per cent said they are deploying work to other locations and 57 per cent are focusing on workplace flexibility.

“Organisations today face significant challenges understanding the implications and risks associated with the future of work,” WTW India Head of Talent and Rewards Sambhav Rakyan said.

He added that the future of work is driving companies to re-design their organisation structures to be nimble and flexible to cater to the speed of change. “This is the right time for organisations to undertake a structure re-design exercise along with strategic workforce planning and key responsibility area (KRA) setting,” he said.

Stating the top challenges resulting from an unsuitable organisation structure, respondents identified a lack of adequate functional experts, greater focus on meeting functional goals instead of customers/organisation wide goals, being middle management heavy and lack of innovation.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said the study findings are significant, especially at a time when Indian companies are expanding their global footprint and catering to a new and expanding domestic consumer base in a rapidly changing business environment.

“It seems evident that organisations need to get the basics, like their organisational structure, right, to ensure they are well placed to cater to a changing business strategy,” he added. — PTI