Leaders in today’s organisations aim to deliver the current results while reserving some capacity to improve performance. Leaders are asking searching questions. Are all the resources of the organisation being directed towards the outcomes and purpose of the organisation? Are there gaps or duplication in the allocation of resources? Do people have the right skills to do their job? Is information flowing into and through the organisation effectively? Are decisions being made at the right time and by the right people? Are operations consistent across the organisation? Would the workings of the organisation withstand the scrutiny of shareholders, governments, auditors or the general public? These are the sorts of questions that organisation design seeks to answer.

Organisation design is concerned with optimising the mix of levers available to the organisation so that it can achieve its outcomes efficiently. Those levers are called the internal capabilities of the organisation and include services, users, processes, people, technology, resources, structures and relationships. The process of organisation design is aimed at identifying how the internal capabilities of the organisation need to change to bring about overall improvement to the organisation’s efficiency, effectiveness, consistency, transparency, resilience and repeatability.