Organizational Development Consulting

We assess how your organization works today, then design the structure, roles, decision rights, and operating model your strategy needs. Daniels Consulting Group's organizational psychologists lead the work.
Contact us
Definition

What is organizational development consulting?

Organizational development consulting improves how a company is organized and how its people work together, so the organization can carry out its strategy. The work covers an organization assessment, structure and role design, decision rights, operating model design, team and leadership effectiveness, and a transition plan that moves people into the new design. BD Emerson delivers this work with our Andersen Consulting colleagues at Daniels Consulting Group, a firm of organizational psychologists and experienced business professionals founded in 2002 by Amy Daniels, Ph.D., an industrial and organizational psychologist. Organizational design consulting is the part of the discipline that sets structure, roles, and reporting lines, and operating model design connects that structure to processes, governance, and technology. Typical triggers are a new strategy, rapid growth, a merger or divestiture, a system implementation, or an AI program that changes who does which work.

Services

What organizational design consulting services are included?

Organization assessment
Structure and role design
Decision rights
Operating model design
Team and leadership effectiveness
Transition planning

Organization assessment

Interviews, a survey, and a review of the current structure show how work gets done today: where decisions stall, where roles overlap, and where spans of control are too wide or too narrow. The assessment reports findings by function and level, and it gives leaders one shared set of facts.

Structure and role design

We design the structure against the strategy and test each option against agreed criteria, such as customer focus, cost, and speed of decision. Each role in the new design gets a written purpose, accountabilities, and a reporting line, so people know what the job is.

Decision rights

A decision rights map names who recommends, who decides, who must be consulted, and who carries out each major decision. Leaders settle the contested decisions in working sessions, and the result is documented so managers apply it the same way across functions.

Operating model design

The operating model describes how structure, processes, governance, and technology fit together to deliver the strategy. We define which work is done centrally, which work is done in the business units, and how the groups hand work to each other.

Team and leadership effectiveness

A new structure depends on the teams that run it. Daniels Consulting Group's organizational psychologists work with leadership teams on shared goals, role clarity, meeting practices, and how the team handles conflict, and they coach leaders who take on larger or different roles.

Transition planning

The transition plan sequences the move from the current organization to the new design: selection into roles, communication to each affected group, knowledge transfer, and the dates on which reporting lines change. Each step has a named owner.

Our approach

Our approach

01

Assess the current organization

Interviews, survey data, and a review of structure, roles, and governance establish how the organization works today. Leaders receive findings that separate structural problems from leadership and team problems.

02

Design structure and decision rights

The leadership team sets design criteria from the strategy, reviews the structural options, and chooses one. Roles and decision rights are then written for the chosen design.

03

Build the operating model

Processes, governance forums, and handoffs are defined for the new structure, and leadership teams agree how they will work together. We test the design against real decisions before it is announced.

04

Plan and support the transition

A sequenced plan moves people into the new roles, with selection, communication, and knowledge transfer for each group. We then measure whether decisions and work move as the design intended.

contact us

Is your organization built for your strategy?

Speak with BD Emerson and Daniels Consulting Group about how your organization works today, what your strategy asks of it, and which design choices come first.

Our Advantage

Why BD Emerson for organizational development

Led by organizational psychologists

Daniels Consulting Group's consultants hold advanced degrees in organizational psychology, business, and communication. They treat structure, roles, and team behavior as one system, and each recommendation traces to a finding from the assessment.

Designed with your leaders

Your leaders set the design criteria, weigh the options, and make the choice in working sessions. Leaders who built the design can explain it and defend it to their teams.

Connected to systems, AI, and deals

Reorganizations usually accompany a new system, an AI program, or a transaction. BD Emerson runs those programs, so the organization design shares a plan with the work that makes it necessary.

How We Work

How we run organizational design work

The same sequence runs every organizational development engagement, whether the trigger is growth, a new strategy, or a merger. Each stage produces a document the client keeps and uses to run the organization.
Reviews

What our customers say

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

Certificates

Our accreditations

Our practitioners hold security, privacy, cloud, and AI governance certifications, and the people who earned them do the work on your engagement.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does an organizational development consultant do?

How is organizational development different from organizational design?

What is operating model design?

How long does an organizational design project take?

When does a company need organizational design consulting?

How do you define decision rights?

Who leads the work?

Blog

Related Articles

Insights on strategy, transactions, technology, security, and compliance from BD Emerson's practitioners