An organization approach to contract resource fulfillment

Functional organizations are typically organized into departments based on task specialization, or on line and staff divisions of responsibility. Matrix organizations, on the other hand, are project-oriented, even though people may maintain their functional identity. This article discusses a restructuring experience at Integrated Systems Solutions Corporation (ISSC), an IBM subsidiary. ISSC began in 1979 as an in-house I/S unit formed to support IBM's internal ordering, billing, and inventory systems, but in 1991 became an independent services subsidiary and profitable outsource unit. Executives decided to reengineer the organizational structure of the Bethesda, Maryland ISSC site so as to retain the strengths of functional and matrix models, while eliminating their weaknesses. The result was a resource pool organization. The resource pool organization at ISSC Bethesda is described in terms of roles and responsibilities, resource fulfillment processes, and business benefits.