Quadrant 2: Coordination Model
Organizations that require high levels of data integration across business units, but low levels of business process standardization, are in the upper left quadrant. They share data because their business units share customers, products, suppliers, or partners, or some combination thereof. Data integration improves efficiencies, as well as the overall customer experience at each organizational touch point. No matter where customers tap into the organization, local representatives know who they are, what they buy, and many other defining characteristics – because they’ve got the data!
Process standardization is low because it would wash out the uniqueness of each service operation and commoditize the customer experience…not to mention that standardization may be impossible because different products may require different processes! Low cost, which is one of the benefits of standardized processes, is usually not a primary driver of strategy for these organizations.
As highlighted in Enterprise Architecture as Strategy, large financial services institutions such as Merrill Lynch (Global Private Client) and MetLife benefit from “Coordination” because they can integrate multitudes of products and processes without forcing standardization. They have an integrated view of customers and can interact with them via processes that fit for each product, service and business unit.
Stay tuned for the next entry, which covers the Replication Model.
Tags: business process, corporate strategy, data integration, enterprise architecture