Housekeeping at Corporate Headquarters: International Trends in Optimizing the Size and Scope of Corporate Headquarters

Survey Report - Purpose: This international guide on changes at CHQ provides data
and insights on changes in CHQ design over a four-year time period
(2007-2010), as well as on the status quo of recent CHQ design and effectiveness
(2010).
Surveys: The guide is based on large-scale surveys of 761 of the largest
corporations in 21 countries in North America and Europe. The overall
company-level response rate accounting for 28.4 % of the sample indicates
a large interest in changes at CHQ.
Key findings: The surveys indicate an overall trend towards stronger
CHQ - in contrast to the more prominent cases of CHQ cutbacks frequently
published in the business press. Many companies have tightened
the reins of CHQ and increased CHQ influence over divisional decisions.