How well does the operating model support strategy execution?
Where do structure, decision rights and workflows create friction?
How can leadership identify whether recurring problems are caused by people or organizational design?
An enterprise operating model review examines whether the way a company is organized actually supports effective execution. It looks beyond individual departments to understand how decisions are made, responsibilities are assigned, work moves across functions, information is shared and governance supports or obstructs performance.
The objective is not simply to design a new organization chart.
It is to identify where the current operating model creates delays, duplication, unclear accountability or recurring management problems.
Structure and Accountability Shape Execution
A company may have capable managers and clear strategic goals while still struggling to execute.
One common reason is unclear responsibility.
Several managers may share responsibility for the same outcome, while other activities have no clear owner at all.
An operating model review should therefore examine:
- who owns critical results,
- where responsibilities overlap,
- whether accountability is measurable,
- which issues repeatedly require senior intervention.
Clear accountability reduces the need for escalation and makes performance problems easier to identify.
Decision Rights Determine Organizational Speed
Companies often lose time because decisions are made at the wrong level.
Routine issues may require unnecessary executive approval, while important decisions may be made without sufficient control.
A useful review asks:
Who should make this decision?
Who has the information needed to make it?
When should the issue be escalated?
If these boundaries are unclear, teams either over-escalate or make inconsistent decisions.
Both reduce execution quality.
End-to-End Processes Reveal Hidden Friction
Performance problems frequently occur between departments rather than within them.
A finance process may work well until it reaches operations. Sales may complete its task correctly while creating problems for production or delivery.
This makes handoffs particularly important.
The review should identify:
- where work repeatedly waits,
- where information must be re-entered,
- which approvals create delays,
- where rework occurs,
- which processes depend on informal communication.
Repeated friction often indicates an operating model weakness rather than an individual performance problem.
Management Routines Should Produce Decisions
Meetings and reports are part of the operating model.
The question is whether they improve management.
Weekly and monthly reviews should provide stable information, identify deviations, assign responsibility and lead to decisions.
If the same issues appear repeatedly without resolution, the problem may not be lack of meetings.
It may be unclear ownership, unreliable information or weak follow-through.
A strong operating cadence converts information into action.
Technology Should Support the Way the Business Works
Technology can strengthen an operating model or expose its weaknesses.
Disconnected systems may force employees to maintain spreadsheets, reconcile different datasets or manually transfer information between functions.
Management may then spend more time debating whose numbers are correct than deciding what to do.
An operating model review should therefore consider whether technology supports workflows and provides reliable information across the organization.
Digital tools cannot compensate for poorly defined processes.
Governance Should Control Risk Without Blocking Execution
Controls are necessary, but excessive control can slow the company.
Approval requirements that once served a purpose may remain long after the underlying risk has changed.
At the same time, weak governance can allow exceptions to become normal practice.
A strong operating model balances decision speed with appropriate control.
Leadership should understand which controls genuinely reduce risk and which simply create additional administrative work.
When an Operating Model Review Becomes Important
A review can be particularly useful when:
- rapid growth creates coordination problems,
- restructuring produces duplicated responsibilities,
- mergers create unclear ownership,
- digital transformation changes systems but not working practices,
- strong teams remain unable to improve results,
- the same operational problems repeatedly return.
In these situations, the core constraint may not be employee capability.
It may be organizational design.
What a Strong Operating Model Looks Like
A well-designed operating model is visible in daily execution.
Decisions are made at appropriate levels.
Responsibilities are clear.
Processes move across departments with limited friction.
Management information is consistent.
Technology supports the workflow.
Governance manages risk without unnecessarily slowing the organization.
When these conditions are missing, even a strong strategy and experienced employees may underperform.
How DYM-08 Supports an Operating Model Review
Business-Tester’s DYM-08 Business Health and Performance Assessments examine several areas directly connected to the operating model.
Operational Efficiency, Systems and Digital Integration helps identify process, capacity and system weaknesses.
Structure, Leadership, Culture and HR Management examines accountability, organizational capability and management effectiveness.
Governance, Risk Management and Compliance Integration considers decision discipline and control, while strategic and financial dimensions help show whether the operating model supports broader company priorities.
DYM-08 does not replace a detailed organizational design or operating model engagement.
It can provide an initial diagnostic baseline that helps leadership identify where structural friction appears strongest and which issues deserve deeper investigation before a major change program begins.
Give it a try:
https://business-tester.com/about-dym-08-business-diagnostics/