An unusual new entry in an organisational structure

Business students will be familiar with the need to understand how changes in the organisational structure of a firm might lead to an improvement in its profitability and/or competitiveness. However, few will have come across the term “Central Captains” when studying the potential changes in org structures…until now

The Independent reports how the CEO of Yell plc wants to create a new layer in the firm’s organisational structure, with the aim of supporting his objective of exploiting growth opportunities through digital technology.

It is reported that Mike Pocock “is to create a series of what one source termed “central captains” below main board level. They will largely focus on the digital development of the business, such as online business searches, and could include new heads of IT development and procurement.”

Yell is a multinational business and its senior management structure is currently organised along regional rather than functional lines. But Pocock sees Yell’s future as a global operation where technology has to be exploited across all of the group’s businesses in order to gain some economies of scale and competitive advantage.

Yell certainly needs to change. Look at those financial figures mentioned in the article. Yell has £1.9bn of outstanding debts and the remaining value of the firm attributable to shareholders is just £160m (and falling) based on the market capitalisation of the firm. You can see from Yell’s share price that shareholders may be running out of patience with the group’s financial performance.