organization and confusion

A company is organized the way it is for many reasons:

• execution
• strategy
• marketing
• executive ambitions
• legacy
• etc.

It's all a trade-off, not necessarily built around effective choice architecture.  Each individual org may help drive bad decisions for the company, but that are good for individual decision makers.  e.g. empire building, or agency problems or local optimum instead of global

It's sort of textbook, but I see it all the time, especially in market modeling.  Specifically it is very common to see groups that model markets in a fashion that mirrors their own organization structure, rather than reflecting how customers make purchasing decisions.  They practice inside-out market definition.

Good market intelligence requires understanding the buying behaviors of your potential customers.  Market segmentation means grouping those customers into categories based on salient similarities with regards to your product offerings.  For example, you might segment your customers according to price sensitivity.  For example, you might segment them according to how much they value certain different features your product offers.

This is called outside-in market segmentation.  It helps you to understand how well your products will play in the market.  Coupled with projections about the size of those market segments you can start to put together a business model.  With time, smart companies reorganize themselves so that their corporate structure reflects the reality of customer segmentation in the world.

If you try to cram your customers into groups that fit how you run your business instead of trying to run your business so that it fits the needs of your customers...