Most large organizations use what is called a matrix structure. Product management, marketing and sales are often aligned vertically, and support functions such as legal, HR, finance and IT are usually horizontal. So the person handling legal for a product has two reporting lines, one to the head of product, who has revenue accountability, and the other to the head of legal, whose job it is to ensure consistency across numerous products. This is great for command and control, but it’s terrible for accountability, speed and risk tolerance. Every time you try to do something, you have to get
...more
