Siemens navigates its immense scale through a three-dimensional matrix of businesses, regions, and industry verticals. Critically, the primary axis of power and P&L responsibility lies with the global business units, not geography, though this model adapts for certain divisions.
Experian uses a federated model where central functions like technology set global standards for security and governance, while regional CEOs adapt products to local economic contexts and regulations. This balances efficiency with market relevance.
Rippling structures teams into business units led by GMs who oversee product, sales, and implementation. This is driven by the belief that a unified team focused on a specific customer problem (e.g., IT) delivers a superior end-to-end experience compared to a traditional matrixed organization.
In a multi-product company, horizontal teams naturally prioritize mature, high-impact businesses. Structuring teams vertically with P&L ownership for each product, even nascent ones, ensures dedicated focus and accountability, preventing smaller initiatives from being starved of resources.
To transform the 320,000-person company, Siemens' leadership avoided a top-down restructuring mandate. Instead, they defined a clear "North Star" vision and then empowered employees to co-create the "tracks" (initiatives) to reach it, fostering broad buy-in and ownership.
Recognizing that employees in less glamorous but profitable divisions (like mechanical switches) can feel ignored, Siemens' CEO actively works to validate their contribution. He connects their work directly to customer value and the company's financial health, ensuring they don't feel lost in the AI hype.
Roland Bush simplifies the complex, 170-year-old Siemens by framing it not by its products, but by its core function: providing the underlying technology that enables other companies to operate and innovate in industries from automotive to healthcare.
Block restructured from divisional GMs to a functional organization (Engineering, Product, Design) across all brands. This creates a single shared roadmap and forces alignment, enabling cross-unit collaboration that was difficult when incentives were siloed in separate P&Ls.
To break down rigid business units, Siemens' CEO is creating horizontal "fabrics" for data, technology, and sales. These thin but powerful layers act like a shared operating system to enforce standards and scale capabilities across the entire organization without a full functional re-org.
To combat the complexity of its vertically integrated global business, Red Wing's leadership implements a "Triple-Stitched Plan." This framework distills strategy into three core priorities that are relentlessly communicated across the organization, ensuring focus and preventing strategic drift despite the company's vast scope.
Siemens mitigates geopolitical risks and tariffs not just by being global, but by being hyper-local. Its CEO reveals that 85-87% of its production in major markets like the US and China is for that market, minimizing cross-border dependencies and the direct impact of trade wars.