Cisco Control Systems

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317065053_The_Success_of_Cisco_Systems_Inc's
_Human_Resource_Management_Strategy

Each year, employees of Cisco should set certain goals under discussion with their
supervisors. With the guidance of these goals, employees’ incomes are closely linked with
their performances. Cisco has several assessments
throughout the year to manage employees’ performance. For example, there is
an opportunity for managers and employees to discuss their development opportunities half
way through the year, which is called Mid-Year Career Discussion. Moreover, employees
need to review their performance and discuss their
need for improvement with their managers annually. In addition, if you are a
member of sales department, you also need to be evaluated by the method of
MBO (Management by Objectives), which focuses attention on what must be
accomplished (the goals that employees set before) rather than how it is to be
accomplished. Therefore, an employee’ individual performance is finally formed
through the triple assessments.

Besides clarifying expectations and setting goals, HR managers also have to determine
rewards to motivate employees. As it mentioned before, 89% of employees are proud to work
at Cisco and Cisco was ranked number 42 on the Fortune “100 Best Companies To Work
For” list. And all these successes are more or less resulted from Cisco’s Rewarding System.

Organizational structure
Lawler. E. E (2011), Cisco: Agile or Aging?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardlawler/2011/05/26/cisco-agile-or-
aging/#1f21f35e1cb2

Council-like structures are not a new idea. Lateral, cross-

functional teams that serve to coordinate a functional
organization have been around for a long time, but it was an
innovation for Cisco and it was done to focus the otherwise
functional structure on specific customer segments. For
almost 10 years, Cisco has been developing the capabilities to
collaborate across functions and learning about the
difficulties of flexibly allocating resources to multiple
products. Has Cisco’s decision making speed suffered? Maybe…
even probably. That’s what happens when you are learning!

Councils and Boards structure

https://blogs.cisco.com/news/my_view_ciscos_councils_and_boards

Cisco has a solution approach to the market which means products from
across multiple technologies are combined with the company’s advanced
services, along with many other business offerings, to provide a complete
solution for our customer. To deliver this requires a commitment to
collaborate at all levels across Cisco. Breaking into divisions would create
artificial barriers, add redundant overhead, and increase the complexity for
the customer.
Pond, R. (2009). My View: Cisco’s Councils and Boards
https://blogs.cisco.com/news/my_view_ciscos_councils_and_boards

The Council & Board structure enables Cisco to quickly bring together the functional teams
to develop a solution or go after a market- such as emerging countries. It’s a management
approach that enables Cisco to align teams and create accountability for a cross-functional
opportunity.
a structure that allows us to quickly pull together cross-company functional experts that
are empowered to make decisions and drive execution that’s good for both our
customers and our shareholders.

Silo mentality-- people working within their own departments without much interest in
what the council as a whole is trying to achieve.

SMALL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Silo Mentality
REVIEWED BY WILL KENTON Updated Mar 21, 2018
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/silo-mentality.asp

What is Silo Mentality

Silo mentality is an attitude that is found in some organizations; it occurs when several
departments or groups within an organization do not want to share information or
knowledge with other individuals in the same organization. A silo mentality reduces the
organization's efficiency and can contribute to a failing corporate culture.

Cisco IT moved from a silo-based organizational structure to a lifecycle-based model composed

of six stages: Prepare, Plan, Design, Implement, Operate, and Optimize. This new structure
provides clarity on every step of a project and allows team members to concentrate on their
specific areas of expertise.

Kevan Hall Home/Blog/Matrix management/Matrix management – breaking the silos

https://www.global-integration.com/blog/matrix-management-breaking-the-silos-2/

One reason that companies introduce a matrix organization is to overcome ‘silo

mentality’. In a traditional organization ,these were called ‘vertical structures’ –
functions such as R&D, HR or marketing that usually operated independently within
countries.
These vertical silo organizations worked well at focusing work on functional and local
priorities, and provided clear power and career structures. They worked pretty well in
simpler country organizations, where work could be competed largely within the silos.
As the need for cross-functional and cross-country work (‘horizontal’ work) increases
however these silos can get in the way of cooperation across the organization.
A silo is strong, sealed and hard to penetrate, designed to protect and store the contents.
In a silo-based organization, the traditional power structure reinforces the importance
of the silo: you climbed the career ladder within your silo, your silo manager decided on
your pay and benefits, and your objective setting processes were all within the structure.
In this kind of organization, it was tempting not to take account of anything that came
from another silo.
However, when work starts to require cross-functional or international cooperation it is
essential that people cooperate across these traditional vertical silos. Most organizations
begin to address this by using ad hoc or virtual teams. We ask people in each of the silos
to collaborate. However when reporting lines, objectives, rewards and careers are all
decided within the silo, virtual team objectives receive much less priority and attention
than the functional, or silo, ones.

REESE, B. (2009). Exactly how new is Cisco's organizational structure?

https://www.networkworld.com/article/2236770/cisco-subnet/exactly-how-new-is-cisco-s-
organizational-structure-.html

Regarding Cisco Systems new organizational structure Chambers has stated that
"Our new organization structure of counsels, boards, working groups, as
discussed in the last few calls is operating very effectively. These structures,
most important, allow speed, scale, flexibility, and rapid replications. We will
continue to move into additional market adjacencies, and are currently at 30."
(in Rees . 2009)

12 business divisional councils of 14 Functional VP for Policy

47 Funtional Board for Implemention
working groups of ten people for execution

virtual network structure

1. Divisional structures
2. Functional structure
3. Matrix structure

The news that Cisco is dismantling its unique structure of councils and boards to
reduce bureaucracy presents a cautionary tale and an insight into the true meaning of
teamwork and collaboration in organizations.

Cisco's management structure of boards and councils was instituted in

2007 to make the decision-making process less siloed and more horizontal,
and to improve the company's coordination and efficiency in product
development.

ately, however, this structure has come under fire -- most recently for
lacking focus, speed and ability to execute -- following quarters in which
Cisco's growth slowed. Revenues and profits slumped in both core markets
and new markets.

"The broad-based Council & Board structure ... made sense on paper but
appears to have been slowing down the decision-making process, while
accountability was less clear," Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities
stated in a report on the Cisco reorganization.

On the board/council management structure, Cisco will scale this down from nine councils to three
for cross-business consistency and focus, and time-to-market expediency. Cisco has also narrowed
its major areas of business down to three, from four: Enterprise, Service Provider and Emerging
Countries, vs. the previous Enterprise, Service Provider, Commercial and Consumer.