For decades, management consultants and the popular business press have urged large firms to flatten their hierarchies. Flattening (or delayering) typically refers to the elimination of layers in a firm's hierarchy and the broadening of managers' spans of control. The alleged benefits flow primarily from pushing decisions downward to enhance market responsiveness and improve accountability and morale. Has flattening delivered on its promise? This article demonstrates that flattening management layers can have the opposite effect from their intention. In fact, flattened firms typically exhibit more control and decision making at the top.

If senior executives are feeling ever more pressed for time, why would they add more to their plates? It might sound counterintuitive, but research by Booz & Company's Gary L. Neilson and Harvard Business School professor Julie Wulf shows that over the past 20 years the CEO's average span of control, measured by the number of direct reports, has doubled. It stands at almost 10 today. This gives fresh relevance to a perennial question for senior leaders: Just how much should they take on? The authors suggest five areas to consider: Where are you in the senior executive life cycle? How much cross-organization collaboration is required? How much time do you spend on activities outside your direct span of control? What's the scope of your role? What's the best mix of roles for your team? A diagnostic tool provides guidance for leaders considering these questions and can help them estimate their optimal span of control. The issues explored are ones many senior executives--not just CEOs--should revisit throughout their careers. The best leaders, the authors show, stay mindful of the evolving demands of their job and continually tweak their team as they go.

As the commercial real estate market began to crash in early 1990, heavily exposed banks like Citibank and Chase Manhattan were left largely undercapitalized. John Reed, Citibank Chairman and CEO, was caught off guard by the sudden market plunge. While Reed struggled to maintain the capital reserve of us his bank further weaknesses within Citi began to emerge. In addition, to missing the coming of the real estate crisis Citi had had poorly managed internal operations, overvalued acquisitions and grown heavy from organizational excess. The poor management left Citi in the care of Federal Regulators, worried about the banks solvency. The case examines the roots of these problems and the steps taken by Reed to return the bank to a well-managed and stable institution.

Discusses how Alibaba Group successfully managed new business ventures to become a leader in China's online marketplaces. Students follow Alibaba Group's transition from a startup to a multibusiness firm with over 15,000 employees in just over a decade. They analyze the evolving dynamics of internal competition and cooperation among Alibaba Group's subsidiaries. Students are also asked to address Alibaba Group's strategy, the role of its corporate center and how to incentivize subsidiary executives.

The managing directors of Berkshire Partners, a mid-sized private equity firm, address strategic and organizational challenges in response to turbulent market conditions, rapid firm growth, and the transition of leadership from its founding partners to the next generations. To address some of these dynamics, and to protect Berkshire's corporate advantage, the managing directors established three executive oversight committees, developed new specialized corporate functions, and incubated an internal hedge fund group. Students are given the opportunity to assess Berkshire's recent changes in corporate strategy and organizational design and to formulate recommendations going forward.

This case examines Millennium's strategic and organizational responses to the rapid evolution of the biopharmaceutical industry. In the early 2000s, as Millennium's competitive advantage in early-stage research slipped away and its losses mounted, founder and CEO Mark Levin moved the firm downstream away from research and towards drug development and commercialization, while narrowing horizontal breadth from over a dozen therapeutic classes to just three. In 2005, Levin hired Deborah Dunsire from Novartis as CEO to lead Millennium's continuing transformation. Students are asked to put themselves in the shoes of incoming CEO Dunsire and to provide organizational recommendations to execute the new strategy.

This case examines Millennium's strategic and organizational responses to the rapid evolution of the biopharmaceutical industry. In the early 2000s, as Millennium's competitive advantage in early-stage research slipped away and its losses mounted, founder CEO Mark Levin moved the firm downstream away from research and towards drug development and commercialization, while narrowing horizontal breadth from over a dozen therapeutic classes to just three. In 2005, Levin hired Deborah Dunsire from Novartis as CEO to lead Millennium's continuing transformation. Students are asked to put themselves in the shoes of incoming CEO Dunsire and to provide organizational recommendations to execute the new strategy.

This case examines the decision of Alibaba Group to diversify from an international business-to-business (B2B) exchange (Alibaba.com) into a B2C and C2C exchange (Taobao.com) for Chinese retailers and consumers. In China, Taobao had managed to displace the once dominant eBay, the world's largest consumer marketplace. However, the company had little revenue because it offered services free of charge. How could Taobao best monetize its services without attracting a new set of competitors?