Organization Models

Alfred Sloan was a true innovator and transformed General Motors into the largest car company in the world, quickly eclipsing Ford. Henry Ford was famous for eschewing organization models whereas Sloan transformed GM through his management practices. However, his successors haven't carried on his legacy. Instead of innovation we've gotten stagnation. Philip Evans of Boston Consulting Group has two amazing graphs that perfectly capture GM's current problems. The collaboration networks are from Beyond Startup: The Shifting Focus of Innovation:

versus upstart Toyota:

It's not just a coincidence that Toyota's collaboration model looks just like a brain, it really is smarter.