Alignment: The problem at the heart of organizations
‘Alignment’ means:
‘working together, in agreement toward a goal.’
And that is exactly what is somewhat lacking in many organizations. Why is that? Is it the people or the way we set up and run organizations?
Lack of alignment makes organizations dull, expensive, and unpleasant.
The book “the Alignment Puzzle” is for anyone who sometimes wonders why their organization resembles a stark island kingdom. Why do meetings run so awkwardly? Where do all those competing interests come from? Why is all this bureaucracy necessary? Why do colleagues sometimes seem to work at a completely different company? It is a must-read for anyone who is a manager or wants to become one. And all consultants and trainers of managers
The book describes an approach, as structured as it is pragmatic, that you can use to streamline people, resources, and processes. Using a realistic case and a concrete roadmap, you will discover how to address misalignment in your organization.
The AlignmentPuzzel was written by the four management consultants Hans Veltman, Jacques Adriaansen, Peter Morren, and Rob Kwikkers. With their approach, they want to make organizations more efficient and decisive and much more fun to work in.
The AlignmentPuzzel tells you
why do people often work so past each other in many organizations;
how much time and energy we waste;
that it’s not the people but the organization;
how to design organizations.
In addition to a recognizable and enlightening analysis, this book offers a solution method you can apply yourself to make your organization more efficient, decisive, and fun.
The writers behind The AlignmentPuzzle
Hans Veltman
Hans Veltman holds a technical Master of Business Administration (TU Enschede) and a Master of Information Management (University of Tilburg) He started as an IT & Supply chain consultant at IPL-TNO in 1989 In 1996 he founded Every Angle Software Solutions to develop intelligent decision support software for SAP environments. Combining ERP system knowledge, business process knowledge, and intelligent algorithms, this software helped companies to streamline work. Hans has advised many companies during his career, including the best-known Hunter Douglas, Heineken, Honeywell, DSM, Philips, Cargill, Coats, and PPG.
Jacques Adriaansen
Jacques Adriaansen holds a technical master’s degree in Scientific Computer Applications (UHasselt) He began his career as a computer scientist with the Belgian Gendarmerie in 1978, where he gained experience in software engineering and operations management. In 1986, he joined IPL-TNO-TUE (a joint venture of TNO and the University of Eindhoven), where he was appointed director in 1995. In 1998, Jacques became a director at Magnus Management Consultants, where he worked as an organizational consultant in the context of SAP implementation projects. Since 2002, Jacques has been working as an independent organizations consultant. He co-founded Every Angle Software Solutions and has been active from 2015 to 2021 as CEO, consulting manager, and Director Every Angle Academy. Jacques enjoys knowledge transfer and sharing his insights with business professionals as an acclaimed speaker at trade shows and events and as an in-company trainer. Over the course of his career, Jacques has advised many companies, including members of the Central Association of Furniture Manufacturers, Elopak, KLM Catering Services, Philips Consumer Services, and Ericsson.
Peter Morren
Peter Morren holds a technical master’s degree in Business Administration (TU Enschede) He began his career in 1982 at Fokker Aircraft. After that, he worked for various consulting firms. Peter has particular expertise in helping clients achieve better performance in their daily operations, among other things, by simplifying business processes and aligning planning methods, and supporting information systems. His motto: “To get complexity, you don’t have to do anything, it grows naturally, but simplicity has to be designed.”
He is an expert in innovation and change, aligning structures and systems with processes. During his long working life, Peter has worked for a wide range of small and large clients. Some of the better-known ones include Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, DSM, Fokker Services, KLM, Kone, Perfetti van Melle, Stork, Stryker, and Teijin.
Rob Kwikkers
Rob Kwikkers (1954) studied Economic Business Engineering (ing.) at the HTS Dordrecht, Technical Business Administration (ir.) at the TUE, and Business Administration (MBA) at The University of Michigan, USA. There, he received his Ph.D. in 1987 on modeling uncertainty in long business chains.
Since 1987, Rob Kwikkers has worked successively as a consultant, director, and partner at IPL Advies in Veldhoven, a consulting firm in control and information systems for logistics and supply chain management. In addition, since 2003, he has been a part-time Lecturer in Supply Chain Management at the ‘Fontys Hogeschool voor Techniek en Logistiek’ in Venlo. He was also a Lecturer of the Master programs in Logistics & Supply Chain Management (L&SCM) and the Master in Business Engineering (MBE) at NCOI, Hilversum. Rob was secretary of the European Certification Board Logistics (ECBL) of the European Logistics Association (ELA) from 2014 to 2018.
Rob Kwikkers taught and teaches at the Rotterdam School of Management and the Bled School of Management and in Philips Lighting and Consumer Electronics, ING, and CRH management training programs.
Rob specializes in supply chain management and the application of information systems in dynamic environments with complex organizational structures. During discussions, he invariably fishes out a tangible example from the inexhaustible collection of business cases he has on hand. Rob’s motto is: “Nothing is as practical as a good theory.
