Organization · Professional Services · Africa
Operating model redesign for a multi-country services group
Growth by acquisition had produced four operating models inside one group and unclear decision rights. A single delivery standard and clear authority cut support cost by 18%.
Multi-country professional services group across six African markets, grown through four acquisitions.
- Countries aligned
- 6
- Support cost reduced
- 18%
- Implementation
- 2 quarters
The situation
Country units operated independently with duplicated support functions and inconsistent client standards.
Escalations reached the group chief executive because no one else held the authority to resolve them.
Our approach
We mapped decision rights before structure, identifying where authority was genuinely contested rather than merely undocumented.
A single delivery standard was defined, with local variation allowed only where regulation required it.
The outcome
Support functions were consolidated where scale justified it and left local where proximity mattered.
Escalations to the group chief executive fell sharply within two quarters of implementation.
The client is not named and details are anonymised. Figures are representative of the type of business consultation First Osman performs.