Planning Process in a Multi-Unit Environment: Phillips Semiconductors' Experience

PLANNING PROCESS IN A MULTI-UNIT ENVIRONMENT: PHILIPS SEMICONDUCTORS’ EXPERIENCE By Wolfram Irsa Describes week-by-week planning process used by Philips Semiconductors … process starts with customers and ends with customers … shows how a decentralized organizational structure can work in harmony to achieve the economy of scale. Philips Semiconductors is a multinational and multi-unit company, head-quartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. It has offices in Europe, North and South Americas and Asia. Manufacturing facilities are located in Western Europe, United States, Taiwan, Thailand, and Philippines. It employs about 29 thousand people and its total revenue in 2001 was $4.6 Billion. It is among the top 10 semiconductor manufacturing companies. DECENTRALIZED OPERATION Philip Semiconductors is comprised of eight Business Units (BU), which reports directly to the headquarter. These eight units are: • Discrete and Multi-market ICs • Digital Consumer Systems • Display Systems • Analog Consumer Systems • Mobile Consumer • Mobile Communications • Identification • Emerging Businesses Each Business Unit is a strategic group that directs several Business Lines (BLs). ...