Johnson & Johnson

The Problem
It is evident that with a company of this magnitude, managing growth and maintaining effective communication amongst the units and layers is an issue. However, we feel the main problem lies more specifically in the communication between the operating managers and the executive committee.
In the past, a new layer was added to the structure in reaction to the growing number of units. The main purpose of this group was to take on responsibilities of operational matters to allow the executive committee members to focus more on policy issues. This measure was successful in achieving these objectives. However, this also created a new step on the channels of communication slowing down the decision making process within the company and reduce autonomy. To support this argument, we have contradictory statements from the Executive Committee on one hand and from the Operational Managers on the other. …