Recently, many businesses have used lean principles to move from a decentralized corporate management mode to a hybrid model - recognizing that different functions require different levels of centralized management to be efficient and effective.

An effective lean transformation eliminates more than the most obvious areas of wasted time and resource. A farsighted, lean agenda leverages a tiered enterprise architecture addressing the unique requirements of various business processes:

• Corporate level: Some processes are so critical that you must manage them at the corporate level to maintain close control and transparency
• Shared services level: Other processes, such as finance and human resources, can be consolidated across your enterprise - perhaps under a single COO-level leader.
• Division level: Some differentiating processes require decentralized management to be effective. These include sales and marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, and others depending on your specific business.

A leaner operation, driven by optimized processes at every level, will pay out immediate cost reductions and ultimately improve your competitiveness in a recovering economy.