>>24595
Columns or silos also refers to organizational structure.
Some companies have very tight vertical hierarchies where the reporting chain lacks information or employee cross-links to other parts of the company. These tight vertical hierarchies are called silos or columns.
Other companies make a point of deliberately creating ways to integrate different disciplines or responsibilities across the company. For example by sending employees "on assignment" to different job roles where they will cross-pollinate knowledge from one part of the organization to another. Or having employees who report to multiple managers in different areas. Or having staff organizations whose job it is to improve functional integration across parts of the company.
Source: I had a long career at bigcompany and have seen not only bigcompany's organizational structure and challenges, but also many client companies that we dealt with.