Multiunit Enterprise
Jaap de Jonge, Management Consultant, Netherlands
You'll find an indepth article by David A. Garvin and Lynne C. Levesque describing the
geographic divisional structure in HBR June 2008, p105-117). Actually the authors call this type "
The Multiunit Enterprise" and position it
versus the multidivisional enterprise.
Examples of Multiunit Enterprises mentioned in the article include Citigroup, Hertz, Home Depot, Marriot International, UPS, Wal-Mart.
Typical for the multiunit enterprise is:
- it resembles a Russian nesting doll, in that the P&Ls of one level are incorporated in those of the level immediately above.
- also they are characterized by their four levels of field managers: Store Managers, District managers, Regional Vice Presidents and Division Presidents (or SVPs).
