Kimberly Allen and Pamela J. Gordon
Technology Forecasters

Name an organization comprising more than 10 people in which all functions work seamlessly together. Few corporations are brilliant at rising above the agendas held by diverse disciplines, departments, and regions to achieve overarching goals.

Yet, as growing numbers of environmental initiatives spring up at corporations around the world, a surprising and satisfying side benefit is materializing. Multifunctional "greenteam" leadership combined with employees' passions for a healthy environment is evoking powerful and unprecedented multifunctional collaboration. What is emerging could be the 21st Century's new model for organizational structures—edging out the original hierarchical model borrowed from military institutions, the de-centralization model of the 1970s, and the functional-consensus model popular in the past couple of decades.