A term used to illustrate the functional units in a traditional organization. These organizations have departments or functions like purchasing, marketing, admissions, etc. which have their own hierarchy of authority, and defined roles or functions – “a silo” – within the larger organization. These departments perform their duties, then hand off the “paperwork” to another department to continue the process… eventually, somewhere down the line… the product, service, or customer response is produced or satisfied. These departments may have exclusive access to a bank of information – that they “control.” This silo structure has numerous inefficiencies since things have to be handed-off to others to complete the “total task.” No one seems to have all the answers” or take responsibility for all that it takes to please the customer or produce the product. No one has access to all the pertinent information to help make a decision or help a customer. (see also Functional Silo)
