Archive for March, 2006

Information system management consulting started out to solve business problems

In the 1960s and 1970s, information system consultants developed information systems from the ground up, but they did not implement the system. They implemented the methods and procedures to improve the business using the system.

Information system management consulting became a business service to implement systems

Then in the 1980s, things began to change. Application packages replaced custom development. Consultants developed methodologies for system implementation. Methodologies spread to other aspects of consulting. Professionals, who already had their own way, were replaced with inexperienced people who could learn and follow the methodology to produce deliverables. Consultants no longer needed analytical ability and business knowledge. Information system management consulting went from professional consulting to a business service to follow methodologies and implement systems.

There is a need to put professionalism back into information system management consulting

But did this change benefit the client. [more...].

Can we achieve good corporate governance by improving the methods that produce bad governance

Why do we have bad corporate governance? We have bad governance because the conventional methods we use allow us to have bad governance. We do not have one fundamentally correct way to organize and describe our enterprises that everyone accepts and follows. Instead, we have a myriad of different methods that are used for management and a myriad of different ways any enterprise can be presented.

Corporate governance is by following rules and reporting, rather than governing the business

We govern by checking that rules are followed, rather than by understanding the substance of what the corporation is doing and ensuring that the corporation does the right things. We need to govern by organizing and managing the corporate business. The conventional methods we use do not enable us to actually organize and manage the business for good governance. This problem is discussed in the article “Do we achieve good corporate governance by improving bad governance?”.

Result-performance Management enables good corporate governance by organizing and managing the corporate business

The answer for good corporate governance is Result-performance Management (R-pM). R-pm organizes the business as “the activity of providing goods and services”. R-pM enables the corporation to manage “the business of providing goods and services” for transparent management of the business and corporate governance of strategic value creation by the business. To learn more about R-pM visit result-performance-management.com.

21^st Century Management eliminates 20^th century problems

Result-performance Management (R-pM) eliminates corporate governance problems and other costly 20^th century problems. Slash overheads and costs, simplify business management, and boost competitive advantage through R-pM, the conventional method for 21^st Century Management.

Download your 21^st Century Management Manual today

Your 21^st Century Management Manual, The R-pM Toolkit, is available today and is under continual development to expand and refine 21^st Century Management. The R-pM Toolkit is offered at a nominal price to encourage wide use of R-pM. Get your R-pM Toolkit, and future updates, at result-performance-management.com. .

Most business change projects implement the cost of change

Many of us have participated in business change projects; for business process change, information technology or system implementation, and performance or productivity improvement, etc. I am sure that we share many experiences with the difficulties in gaining successful business change. We have read about many cases of problems and disasters. Why after all this experience and the many stories of unsuccessful business change, do we continue to have problems? This problem is discussed in the article “Implementing the cost of business change”.

We cannot implement benefits, if we cannot manage business change

Most dictionaries define the enterprise business as “the activity of providing goods and services”. We cannot manage business change, if we do not manage the business activity and the business goods and services; the actual entities that change. All change is change to both the activity or business performance, and the goods and services or other business results. The cost of change is in improved performance or new performance solutions. The benefit of change is in the added value in business results produced.< [more...]>

Do businesses collaborate in true value chains today?

We hear a lot these days about business collaboration across a business chain to create shared value. Is there a working example of successful business collaboration across a defined value chain? Does any one company have a value chain linking all they do across the company that manages value, cost, and value-added at each link to come up with their own value? If we cannot even create a value-chain within one company, how can we hope to create a value-chain across companies?

We cannot build value chains unless we define and manage the results that contain value

Value is an attribute of the output result from business performance. Each performance solution utilized contributes cost that must be absorbed by the result, where the value is being created. The result value-added is the result value less the total performance cost. Businesses want to collaborate where they get results with the greatest value added. This problem is discussed in the article “Business Collaboration in a true value chain”.< [more...]>

The 20th century enterprise does not have a foundation for business change management

In an article on 11 February 2006, Establishing a strong foundation for business change, we indicated that much business change or business transformation is destined to fail before it starts, because it builds on a weak foundation. Business change management is difficult, because the business and the entities that change are not organized to be managed,

A strong business change management foundation plans and manages both the cost and benefit of change

A strong foundation includes the professional capability to lead change, a change approach that manages both the benefit and cost of change, users properly involved to accept change, specific planned return on investment supported by future goals before starting, and strong support capability to ensure solution utilization to provide benefit.

The conventional enterprise and conventional business change methods do not provide a strong foundation because:

• There is no way to formally define the value or itemize the benefits of business change
• There is no way to provide the proper user role in development
• There is no method to specifically develop the benefit of change
• There is no on-going responsibility for managing and executing specific roles in change. Change is through ad-hoc projects
• There is no built in change management capability
• There is no clear management mechanism. Responsibility is often delegated to an administrative manager
• Objective of change is usually implementation or performance improvement, since there is no way to focus on benefits
• There is only one management responsibility for initiating or approving change

We will never have a strong foundation for business change until we organize and manage both results and performance in operations and development. This provides the foundation for managing both the costs and benefits of business change, eliminating ad-hoc projects and “change management” needs, and providing the proper role in development for all in the enterprise.

Result-performance Management Organizes the business for organized business change

The answer is Result-performance Management (R-pM) to organize the business for managed business change. In an organized business, business change is the routine and the business organization changes with each change. Business change for improvement and development can be managed because the only two entities that change, performance solutions utilized and the results produced, are organized for managed change. To learn more about R-pM visit result-performance-management.com, and download the R-pM community report “How to Manage Business Change”.

21^st Century Management eliminates 20^th century problems

Result-performance Management (R-pM) eliminates business change, business transformation, and other costly 20^th century problems. Slash overheads and costs, simplify business management, and boost competitive advantage through R-pM, the conventional method for 21^st Century Management.

Download your 21^st Century Management Manual today

Your 21^st Century Management Manual, The R-pM Toolkit, is available today and is under continual development to expand and refine 21^st Century Management. The R-pM Toolkit is offered at a nominal price to encourage wide use of R-pM. Get your R-pM Toolkit, and future updates, at result-performance-management.com.

Value management, value chains, value propositions, and strategic value creation are not produced from managed value

Value is an impressive word. People talk about value creation, value propositions, customer value, value chains, enterprise value, shareholder value, value management, etc. It sounds like they know more than the rest of us. But, what is the value of all this value?

Value has many definitions for many contrived methods purporting to manage value. Why don’t we just have one method with one definition of value, as specific management metric, so that we can understand and manage value across all of our enterprises? This problem is discussed in the article “Business value - what is the value of all this value?”.

Result-performance Management (R-pM) manages value as a management metric

The answer to real value is Result-performance Management (R-pM) to organize and manage enterprise results that contain value. To learn more about R-pM visit [more...]>

We have change management problems because we cannot manage change

Organizations do not change naturally as their business changes. The business changes, but the organization remains static. This builds pressure for organization change. Eventually there is a disruptive reorganization with consultants and change management services. Why do we have to go through this? Why don’t we organize naturally to change gradually as the business changes?

Conventional business change is not change to the business but change to structures overlaid on the business

We have change management problems because we have never organized to business to be changed. We overlay organization structures, business processes, performance management structures, etc. over the business and then change these structures. This problem is discussed in the article “How change mismanagement created an industry”.

Result-performance Management organizes the enterprise to manage change

The answer to change management is Result-performance Management (R-pM), to organize the only entities that change; the performance solutions utilized and the results produces. To learn more about R-pM visit result-performance-management.com and download the R-pM community report “How to Manage Business Change”.

21^st Century Management eliminates 20^th century problems

Result-performance Management (R-pM) eliminates change management problems and other costly 20^th century problems. Slash overheads and costs, simplify business management, and boost competitive advantage through R-pM, the conventional method for 21^st Century Management.

Download your 21^st Century Management Manual today

Your 21^st Century Management Manual, The R-pM Toolkit, is available today and is under continual development to expand and refine 21^st Century Management. The R-pM Toolkit is offered at a nominal price to encourage wide use of R-pM. Get your R-pM Toolkit, and future updates, at result-performance-management.com. .

Enterprises make large capital investments, but do not invest in capital management

Enterprises have large sums invested in the capital that is utilized in performance, to achieve objectives. Most enterprises do not even know the extent the capital they have. There is no manageable organization of enterprise performance capital. So, much of our capital is not recognized as something of worth. Much capital is not documented or under management control. Performance capital is created day in and day out without being recognized as something of worth that should be managed and made available to improve enterprise performance.

Enterprises need to establish capital management to organize and manage capital

Enterprises do not manage capital from investments. The capital is not defined as specific performance solutions to be managed and utilized to create value. Instead, capital is assigned to a responsibility center as a burden for the manager to manage, assigned to an administrative function to be administered, or simply labeled as intangible assets to left unmanaged. This problem is discussed in the article “Replacing administration with capital management”.< [more...]>

Information system or other solution implementation is not the same as solution utilization

What is more important solution implementation or solution utilization? What is the difference? What is the purpose of utilizing solutions? How do we know if our solutions are being utilized or how well they are utilized?

The objective of most business change projects is solution implementation

The objective of most of our business change projects is solution implementation. This may be the right objective of the vendor or consultant, if that is what their contract says. But, it can never be the right objective of the enterprise. Solution implementation provides costs without benefit. Often the push for change is to modify the solution to agree with the business so that the business does not have to change. This adds even more costs, particular to the cost of future change.< [more...]>

Enterprises do not manage information capital for creation and support and to produce results

Enterprises have much to gain by properly organizing and leveraging information to provide value. Information is not managed properly for support and utilization in today’s enterprise. What constitutes enterprise information capital? How should we organize and manage information? How can we leverage information? How does the user access and use information? How do we capture and create information? How can we determine the value of information?

Information capital must be supported by professionals with the proper capabilities

The fact is that different kinds of information require different professional capabilities to manage and support. Much of our conventional information handling is based on this. [more...].