Maersk Stripping Out Operational Complexity

It comes as scant surprise that an industry leader like A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S is taking the lead in stripping out some of its operational complexity in these down economic times.
As reported in LM recently, Maersk had already changed a number of its service networks, announcing lay ups of eight surplus vessels and combining intra-Europe volumes with feeder volumes into a “multi-trade” service. That was a difficult decision, but Michel Deleuran, Maersk Line’s head of network & product, noted that under current market conditions it made better economical sense to idle the capacity rather than deploy it. Now comes word that by reorganizing its headquarters into two distinct units – a Corporate Centre and service functions – Maersk is not afraid to make another major “culture altering” move. 
The Corporate Centre will focus on a number of Group governance activities like accounting, finance, IT, corporate relations and Human Resources, while The service functions will support the Corporate Centre and all business units in areas like procurement, IT-services, oil trading, technical operations and recruitment.
“The split will clarify responsibilities within the Group and we will place even more operational responsibility where it should be – decentralized in the business units. In addition, it will reduce complexity and save costs,” says Nils S. Andersen, Group CEO of A.P. Moller - Maersk.
Some jobs will be lost, Maersk admits, but as the pressure on its business units increases, corporate leaders have determined that team functions must be more effective in order to strengthen the Group’s overall competitiveness. In other words, "simplify, simplify."