Infrastructure Flexibility to Business Agility
Butler Group Review Articles
Rob Hailstone - Published 05/03/2008
In the beginning, businesses were monolithic. Not only were they structured monolithically, but also they sought to own as much of the supply chain as was possible. This was not only to increase the profit potential, but to reduce reliance on third parties, or indeed any factors beyond their immediate control. Henry Ford recognised that it was ludicrous for an automobile manufacturer to own and run its own rubber plantations for the production of tyre rubber, and at the same time, he recognised that a workforce consisting of employees that could be turned to any of the production activities was ultimately less effective than employing specialists who focused on doing a small range of activities extremely well.
