Successful organizations are continually looking for ways and areas to improve in order to gain a competitive advantage. Two critical questions that are often asked by Senior Management are, "How do we know that resources are being properly allocated, and how can we better utilize our limited resources?" These questions moved us to examine the whole issue of what the critical elements are which contribute to organizational success. As a result of this examination, we discovered that when an organization's systems and departments are aligned, the greater their success.

We know that the interrelationships of processes and departments within an organization are an important element in determining overall success. If the marketing and R&D departments are both strong, but they are not working together, the result will be the identification of products or services that no one wants. By the same token, if an organization's structure does not support its strategy, the organization is out of alignment and the strategy will probably not be achieved. Organizations that learn to identify new relationships between what they do and the results they seek, can further increase the gap between themselves and their competitors.  

This is important in today's business environment. Constant radical change, uncertainty, new rules and regulations, increased customer demands, and "alphabet soup programs" proliferate our daily business environment. How to manage it and how to thrive under these conditions depends a great deal upon how well your organization is aligned.