An empirical study which compares the organisational structures of companies managing the World’s Top 100 brands with those managing Outsider brands
| Date | 01 October 1999 |
| Pages | 402-415 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610429910296000 |
| Published date | 01 October 1999 |
| Author | Philippa Hankinson |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
An empirical study which
compares the organisational
structures of companies
managing the World's Top 100
brands with those managing
Outsider brands
Philippa Hankinson
Senior Lecturer, Roehampton Institute London, An Institute of the
University of Surrey, London, UK
Keywords Brands, Product management, Organizational structure, Postmodernism,
Marketing management
Abstract Contains the results of a quantitative research study which compared the
organisational structures of the World's Top 100 brand companies with those of less
successful companies, referred to in this article as Outsider brand companies. Identifies
that whilst the type of organisational structure may not be seen as a determinant of brand
success, perceptions of whether the organisational structure was right for them, were. In
other words, managers of brands need to feel that the organisational structure allows
them to manage in the way they consider necessary to deliver brand success. In some
instances this might mean an authoritarian style of management through a hierarchical
organisational structure and in others, it might mean a more democratic style of
management through relatively flat organisational structures. The results are discussed in
the context of brand management theory and practice and the postmodern paradigm shift
regarding organisational structure.
Introduction
To be successful in today's turbulent business environment, brand companies
need to adopt the kind of organisational structure that allows them to deliver
successful brands. Critics (Berquist, 1993; Morton, 1995; Ezzamel et al.,
1996) suggest that traditional hierarchical structures may be unnecessarily
restrictive and prevent companies responding fast and effectively to shifting
consumer preferences. On the other hand, flatter structures, which organise
around work processes rather than functions, may be in a better position to
understand consumer needs and be able to develop appropriate brand
propositions which ``fit'' the needs of target consumers. Yet, there is little
empirical evidence to identify what kind of organisational structure enables
brand companies to deliver brands successfully. This article aims to address
this issue by comparing the organisational structures of successful brand
companies (those managing the World's Top 100 brands[1]) with the
organisational structures of less successful brand companies (those managing
Outsider brands[2]).
Organisational structure
Organisational structure is the framework within which brands are
managed successfully or otherwise. Traditionally, brand managers have
been hierarchically organised, ever since Procter & Gamble first
introduced the brand management system in 1931 (Low and Fullerton,
1994). Here, the brand manager occupies a relatively junior, first level
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Fitting the needs of target
consumers
402 JOURNAL OF PRODUCT & BRAND MANAGEMENT, VOL. 8 NO. 5 1999, pp. 402-414, #MCB UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1061-0421
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