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Reflections on the design of corporate headquarters

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  • Andrew Campbell

    (Hult International Business School)

Abstract

The design of corporate headquarters (CHQ) is a specialist and important area of organization design. It is important because of the influence that a CHQ has over the portfolio of businesses it owns. A good CHQ can improve the performance of its businesses. A bad CHQ causes its businesses to perform less well. This article describes the lessons learned from a 30-year career researching, advising, and governing corporate leaders. It covers the reasons why CHQ design is so important, why CHQ design work often also involves strategy work, what activities are needed at the CHQ level, and the problem of subtracted value. The ambition is to help practitioners design better CHQ and help researchers design more relevant research.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Campbell, 2020. "Reflections on the design of corporate headquarters," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jorgde:v:9:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s41469-020-00079-8
    DOI: 10.1186/s41469-020-00079-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Foss, Nicolai J, 1997. "On the Rationales of Corporate Headquarters," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 6(2), pages 313-338, March.
    2. Alfred D. Chandler, 1991. "The functions of the HQ unit in the multibusiness firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S2), pages 31-50, December.
    3. Feldman, Emilie R., 2020. "Corporate Strategy: Past, Present, and Future," Strategic Management Review, now publishers, vol. 1(1), pages 179-206, March.
    4. David Collis & David Young & Michael Goold, 2007. "The size, structure, and performance of corporate headquarters," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 383-405, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sven Kunisch & Markus Menz & David Collis, 2020. "Corporate headquarters in the twenty-first century: an organization design perspective," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 9(1), pages 1-32, December.

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