We run three distinct service brands under one parent company, and our leaders are constantly sharing resources and fighting over priorities. How do we structure our Accountability Chart to prevent these internal conflicts?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Managing multiple brands or locations under one roof requires absolute clarity on the Accountability Chart. When you have shared resources, like a single marketing or finance team serving three distinct brands, you must design a hub and spoke model. First, build one master Accountability Chart for the parent organization. At the top sits your corporate Visionary and Integrator. Below them, you will have shared service seats, such as a centralized Finance Director and a centralized Marketing Director. These seats are accountable for delivering services to all three brands. Next, create dedicated Brand Manager or General Manager seats for each of the three entities. These leaders are responsible for the individual profit and loss metrics and operations of their respective brands. They do not own the marketing or finance resources directly, instead, they act as internal clients of the shared services. To prevent conflicts, you must define clear service level agreements between the shared services and the brand managers. If the Brand A manager needs a promotional campaign, they must request it through the shared marketing seat according to a standardized process, rather than trying to hijack a designer's time. This structure prevents regional or brand heads from pulling shared employees in different directions. By centralizing the support functions and decentralizing the brand execution, you maintain operational efficiency while keeping a clean, scalable structure that is ready for an exit.