The just-in-time organization

Based on your responses, your organization is a just-in-time organizational type.

Organizations with strong execution “DNA” tend to share similar characteristics. By fostering these traits, you can improve your organizational performance. Here are a few key improvement areas customized for you:

Quickly translating key strategic and operational decisions into action
Relaying competitive information quickly and effectively to headquarters
Making good on commitments to others
Maintaining disciplined efforts where you can win
Ensuring consistent messages from top leaders
Successfully adapting to market changes
Creating clarity around roles and responsibilities
Correlating career advancement and compensation with performance
Promoting a distinctive culture that creates a competitive advantage
Encouraging leaders to "walk the talk"
Sending consistent messages to the market
Giving employees metrics to evaluate business impact
Having the right number of organization layers
Giving field employees insight into the bottom-line impact of daily choices
Consistently rewarding innovation
Pursuing and rewarding collaboration across organizational lines
Prioritizing capabilities when evaluating opportunities
Maintaining good information flow across the organization
Acting decisively
Limiting overlapping roles
Establishing influence based on reputation, credibility and relationships
Motivating people with values and pride

The just-in-time organization: “Succeeding by the skin of our teeth ...”

While inconsistently prepared for change, this organization can “turn on a dime” when necessary, without losing sight of the big picture.

Although not always proactive in preparing for change, this type of organization has demonstrated an ability to “turn on a dime” when necessary, without losing sight of the big picture. Just-in-time organizations attract talented and motivated people. They’re often fun and frenetic environments and great places to learn. There’s an adventurous attitude that infuses the office and inspires creative outbursts, frequently real breakthroughs. But in the absence of consistent, disciplined structures and processes, the organization cannot fully capitalize on these opportunities or replicate them. They often become “one-hit wonders,” rather than a reliable source of competitive advantage.

The Just-in-Time organization has a distinctive culture that gives it a competitive advantage. When big things change in its environment, it adapts successfully. People in the just-in-time organization are typically motivated more by values and pride in their company.

Although it manages to hold on to good people and performs well financially, the just-in-time organization has not yet achieved peak performance. This type tends to miss opportunities by inches rather than miles, and to celebrate successes that are marginal rather than unequivocal. Despite its frustrations, however, it can be a stimulating and challenging place to work. It just needs to transition to a more stable and sustainable management model.

The coherence index specifically measures the coherence or consistency of your organization's strategy. Most just-in-time organizations will score moderately high in this area. Coherent companies have a clear set of capabilities that are in line with their strategy and that they use over and over again in their portfolio. Please visit the coherence profiler to learn more about the strengths of coherence.

Related tools

Organization effectiveness simulator

Have you ever wondered how your organization rates in terms of getting things done? Test drive your theories real-time by using our Organization Effectiveness Simulator.

find out more >