The
development of strategies to compete is essential for the survival of every
organization. Competition is increasing from everywhere, ranging from small
startups to global companies leveraging resources in the shared economy.
Understanding this external global environment is now part of how you must
strategize. Competitive Intelligence (CI) is the process by which you collect
and analyze information to understand the external environment. The product of
Competitive Intelligence is knowledge that facilitates decision making, both
strategic and operational. Therefore, CI is both a process and a product.
A collection of best practice articles to help grow companies with an emphasis on finance. The goal of the blog is to explain how these best practices work, enabling anyone to put these ideas to immediate use. Articles are written by Matt H. Evans, CPA, CMA, CFM
Monday, September 21, 2015
Thursday, September 10, 2015
How to Use the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Over the
last few years, successful entrepreneurs have pointed to the Minimum Viable
Product or MVP as a roadmap for creating long-term success. MVP is about
creating a product or service with just enough value to make it attractive to a
small group of customers. In some cases, the product or service is released on
a test basis. This allows you to move incrementally without committing huge
resources. A strong development team will be needed to capture feedback and
turn out new releases. If you are releasing something very unique, you should validate
the offering with a private or internal group well in advance of going to a
larger test market.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Appreciating 'Appreciative Inquiry' (Part 2 of 2)
Simple things often work best – easy to design and implement. When it
comes to strategic planning and getting the organization to move,
Appreciative Inquiry can be the preferred approach because of its
simplicity. In an effort to get Appreciative Inquiry working, we can
follow the 4 D Model: Discover > Dream > Design > Deliver.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Appreciating 'Appreciative Inquiry' (Part 1 of 2)
In order to plan and look forward in a meaningful
way, we need to first look back, appreciating the things we do well. It
is those things that we excel at that gives us a strategy for a bright
future. In a rapidly changing world, traditional approaches to planning
often don't work. We assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats, developing strategies to address a multitude of issues, only to
have wasted resources and time trying to address issues that are
difficult to control. Instead of this long exercise in planning, we need
a much more rapid and direct approach to getting the organization and
its people mobilized for the future. When we focus on the “positive”
things that we do well, not only do we galvanize our resources better,
but we also energize our people around things that they can accomplish.
This simple and powerful approach to planning and change management is
called Appreciative Inquiry.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Everyone Should Have a Dashboard
Distinguishing
high and low performance often requires a common set of metrics. Applying
standard metrics across different positions can drive exceptionally high levels
of performance across a company. This is often found in the world of sports.
Examples include a baseball pitcher’s ERA (Earned Run Average), a football
quarterback’s passer rating (QPR), or the average per game metrics applied to
basketball players – Points per Game, Rebounds per Game, Assists per Game,
Steals per Game and Blocks per Game. This standard framework binds the company,
allowing managers to quickly size up individual players and identifying those
who need coaching.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Want a Superior Workforce? Hire Women
It goes
without saying that people make the difference in great companies. Author Jim
Collins brought this point home in his book: Good to Great. One reason
this can be challenging is that people are different and they may not work well
with others. So how do you reduce the selection process and find people who can
add the highest value across the entire workforce? Well you may have to be
somewhat bias in favor of women.
Monday, July 20, 2015
The ABC's of Competency Models
As you drill down the drivers of performance for most organizations;
things like great customer service, efficient processes, and empowering
technology, you reach a base level for making these drivers happen. This
gets you back to the qualities of your human resources – knowledge,
expertise, experience, and those things needed for successful execution.
And the combination of skills, expertise, knowledge and other
intangibles will vary from job to job, function to function. For
example, what we need for executing for securing new customers is not
necessarily the same as what we need for efficient processes.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Cyber Security 101
One of the
most profound challenges facing every company is Cyber Security. Many of us,
including myself, are ignorant about the threat. Some of the largest companies
are experiencing massive data breaches. Examples include:
·
Target Department Stores - Debit and credit card
data stolen impacting 100 million customers
·
J. P. Morgan - Customer data compromised
affecting 76 million customers
·
Home Depot – Reported 50 million customer email
addresses stolen
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Understanding Your Value Proposition
Getting your
value proposition right and knowing when and how to tweak it is extremely
important. Intense competition and change are forcing many companies to
re-visit their original value propositions. The best value propositions are
those that solve major pain points for lots of people. Start by looking at how
your customers spend their time – what frustrations do they encounter?
Friday, June 19, 2015
Science Explains Creativity
With so much emphasis on creativity and innovation, it helps if we
can all cut directly to the chase – namely what's behind creativity?
Thanks to various scientific studies and author Jonah Lehrer, we have
great insights into where creativity comes from. In his book, Imagine: How Creativity Works , Lehrer highlights some very important research that explains creativity.
For starters, creativity is not one train of thought. It is about how people can switch their thinking from one mode to another. For example, we all get stuck on some problem, struggling to break through and reach a solution. What creative people do is they switch gears from say analytical thinking to day dreaming and imagination. Knowing when and how to make these switches is critical to creative problem solving.
For starters, creativity is not one train of thought. It is about how people can switch their thinking from one mode to another. For example, we all get stuck on some problem, struggling to break through and reach a solution. What creative people do is they switch gears from say analytical thinking to day dreaming and imagination. Knowing when and how to make these switches is critical to creative problem solving.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)