The move to this new team-based organization was staged over time, with new functions
added to the consumer segment teams one at a time to allow more time to adapt. The shift in
focus to own brands from OEM also helped. The number of merchandisers required to
service OEM accounts dropped from 17 to 4 as the volume of OEM business declined. The
surplus merchandisers were redeployed to leadership positions in the customer segment
teams.
Bunchai was a big fan of the team-based organization and wondered whether the corporate
staff should be reduced and distributed to various customer segment teams. He felt that this
not only helped to improve the speed at which the company responded to changing customer
needs but also to reinforce the company’s bench strength. He offered the example of R&D: