Situation 06 · Centralized or decentralized
The pendulum swings back every few years.
Decentralization creates cost and inconsistency; centralization slows the operating units down. What a rebuild does to roles and capacity, nobody knows in advance.
Functions are to be consolidated or handed back to the units. In the concept paper this is called centralization, decentralization or Shared Services.
The problem underneath is that the pendulum swings back every few years. Both directions are right in themselves — what they do to roles and capacity, nobody knows in advance, so in the end the narrative decides.
You still need the concept. It only needs both states calculated on the same structure, so that the decision has a comparison and not just a direction.
Centralized, federated or divisional — and what does the option mean for every unit affected, before it is decided?
Economies of scale without loss of quality, a clean service and governance logic, and a transition path that is part of the solution instead of an afterthought.