Archive for the 'Business Change Methods' forum

Why do we have such a problem relating knowledge to our business needs?

Enterprises have a well-known problem in relating knowledge to business needs.This is because enterprises do not organize and manage the business. Dead-end 20^th century management used today lays organization, business process, administration, and a variety of other structures over the business to manage the enterprise. Knowledge is not related to the business; knowledge is related to contrived structures laid over the business, such as an index of subjects and topics.

The business is “investments in capital as solutions of worth utilized for costs and effectiveness of performance to produce value and quality in results”. Knowledge is capital consisting of specific solutions of worth utilized to improve the utilization of other solutions for cost and effectiveness of performance to produce value and quality in results. Knowledge is human capital that increases human personnel capital worth by improving their performance in utilizing various capital solutions effectively and producing higher value-quality results. Knowledge is used to develop specific human capability solutions that are utilized to produce specific difficult results to be of high value-quality,

Enterprises need a systematic way to identify specific business results that must be supported by knowledge, identify specific capital solutions that must be utilized properly to produce the result, define the precise knowledge needed, to relate knowledge to the capability of the user applying the knowledge, to link knowledge to where and by whom it is needed, to understand the value created by knowledge that gives worth to the knowledge, and to get feedback and improvement on the knowledge. This can only be done by managing the actual business.

There are many problems inherent in knowledge management today

Many enterprises make large investments in knowledge, but 20^th century methods that we use to manage knowledge limit the value created and the return of the investment:

• Knowledge is labeled as intellectual capital or intangible assets to relieve us of the responsibility to manage knowledge as an asset of worth
• Knowledge is organized by topics or subject matter, which depend on someone referencing the topic to their job or function to put knowledge to use
• Knowledge is human capital to improve human capability, but it is rarely managed as human capital
• Knowledge is delivered through learning, but learning material is often separate from knowledge
• Knowledge is information capital to contribute to the overall business information base, but is usually separated from other information
• Knowledge is not integrated with the business to be utilized as a capital solution to produce value for the enterprise
• Knowledge gains worth by creating value in business results, but results are not managed and only a few results are supported directly by knowledge

Conventional methods hamper the application of knowledge by using structures that are defined through various contrived entities like department, activity, and object, while organizing knowledge by topic, subject, etc. These fundamental problems prevent knowledge from being leveraged to be high-worth capital utilized in a managed business.

Knowledge is human capital that enables other human capital to utilize specific capital solutions to produce specific results

Knowledge is human capital that must be created and managed specifically to increase human capital worth through the value of results produced. Knowledge is also information capital that must be integrated with business data and delivered where needed to produce specific results and to support human capabilities utilized. [more...].

Result-performance Management (R-pM) is the conventional way to organize the business for 21^st century business management. Business management provides a common business structure for business organization, business operations and development, business collaboration, business learning and education, common business services that can be applied to any enterprise, and common business software and solutions that any enterprise can utilize.

An adjunct to the development of business management is the development of 21^st century management conventions and standards. 21^st century management is one consistent and clearly-defined set of business organization and management descriptions, conventions, standards, coding structures, and definitions that eliminate the contradictions, inconsistencies, and unsolvable problems of 20^th century management. R-pM and business management adhere to 21^st century management conventions and standards.

21^st century management is documented in the Business Management Toolkit

Business management is documented in the Business Management Toolkit, your 21^st Century Management Manual. 21^st century management descriptions, conventions, standards, and definitions are also documented in the Toolkit. The Business Management Toolkit is under continuing development. The Toolkit already contains the fundamental documentation needed to begin learning, implementing, and utilizing business mManagement. Those downloading the Toolkit today receive a subscription to all future Business Management and 21^st Century Management advances and documentation as updates to the Toolkit.< [more...]

Some enterprises take pride in their business complexity

When you talk to a company manager about employing a standard solution the response is often “Our business is too complex for a standard solution”. This is said with a measure of pride in being associated with a complex business. Is a complex business something to strive for or to be proud of? What is the alternative to a standard solution? Do non-standard solutions simplify the business? What is better, simplify the business to use standard solutions, or continue to develop non-standard solutions that compound existing complexity?

Business complexity is eliminated by organizing only the business essentials

Enterprises today introduce business complexity as soon a they implement an organization structure that is laid over the business. Since the business is not organized, they must lay more structures for strategy, accounts, business processes, performance management, etc over the business in order to manage the enterprise. Each additional structure introduces more entities with conflicting definitions to be managed and increases business and information complexity.

Business complexity is a misnomer. The business is not complex; enterprise management through rigid structures laid over the changing business is complex. The answer is to clear away contrived overlaid structures and organize the business for simplified 21^st century business management. All business organization, planning, direction, control, reporting, and governance employs the current and strategic business structures and only the essential business data entities.

Business complexity is accepted as normal in today’s enterprise

Business complexity is built in to 20^th century enterprise management methods, so business complexity is accepted as normal. We have no straightforward method to identify and root out business complexity and then to prevent future business complexity. [more...].

Investment Analysis is one of the top 10 problems of 20^th century enterprise management

20^th century investment analysis cannot plan the actual return on investments

How does your company analyze strategic investments in capital development? Does your company perform a cost-benefit analysis? Are all the specific investments needed for business success planned? Are the costs of the investment analyzed, itemized, and scheduled? Are the benefits of the investment analyzed, itemized, and scheduled? Is the value to be added to the business planned and set up as goals to menage the return on investment?

For the most part, 20^th century investment management cannot itemize the costs or benefits of investment, particularly investments in management improvement and business change. Costs are project expenditures rather than investments in specifically-identified capital items. Benefits are usually estimates of increases in revenues or reductions in costs.

Identify and value results needed to justify investments and set result goals to manage the return on all investments

21^st century business management manages the economic outputs of the business as specific results and manages the invested capital utilized to produce results as specific capital solutions. [more...]

Capital Development Project Management is one of the top 10 problems of 20^th century enterprise management

20^th century enterprise management cannot plan, manage, or repay capital development projects

Capital development projects for internal management or business improvement today tend to be ad-hoc and conducted separate from the business. We have unsolvable problems in 20^th century capital development project planning, management, and return on the project investment, so we cannot:

• Plan and manage operations and development as an integrated continuum that is part of the business
• Itemize, plan, and achieve specific benefits from development projects
• Clearly and systemically understand what we must be implementing from projects as part of the business for ongoing management and return on investment
• Scope the project as part of the enterprise business to define specific results to add or improve and specific capital solutions to acquire, develop, or improve
• Plan the output results to be produced from the project in specific capital items to be implemented and utilized by the business
• Utilize users and administrative staff in proper roles in the project
• Utilize contractors and consultants as solutions in an enterprise-managed project
• Document and record the project so that all capital developed is fully documented and that knowledge required for use is created
• Manage the capital to be consumed and utilized in the project
• Manage the capital development project as a subsidiary business
• Record accurate development costs by capital item developed
• Implement project results as capital items for direct utilization by the business
• Measure the actual return of capital development investments overall and by capital solution utilized

The unsolvable 20^th century enterprise management problems hamper project management, particularly for enterprise internal capital development and management improvement.

Manage results to drive capital development and gain the return in result value created

Business management provides new breakthroughs for planning and managing enterprise capital development and planning and managing the capital development project.

Capital development develops two things:

• The capital to be utilized as solutions that incur costs
• The results to be produced by the developed capital to provide benefit and return

When we plan and manage a capital development project, we must plan and manage two things:

• The results to be produced by project performance
• The capital to be consumed and performance solutions to be utilized to perform the project

Business management utilizes Result-performance-Management knowledge and procedures to do both. [more...]

Business Complexity is one of the top ten problems of 20^th century enterprise management!

Business complexity is the opposite of business simplicity. The business is simplified by organizing and managing the business.

Business complexity is caused by structures laid over the business and different information in each structure

Instead of organizing and managing the actual business, today’s enterprises lay organization, planning, directing, control, and reporting structures over the business. These rigid structures conflict with each other and the actual changing business creating the business complexity problem. Each structure defines the enterprise differently using inconsistently-defined entities and various information systems, producing the information complexity problem. Different structures used by different enterprises prevent business collaboration and integration.

Result-performance Management (R-pM) provides the knowledge to organize and manage one business structure

Result-performance Management (R-pM) provides the concepts and procedures for 21^st century business management to organize one business structure for all planning, directing, control, and reporting. Existing capital is organized as part of the business and overlaid structures are left behind. The business structure produces one set of complete, accurate, and consistently-defined business management information, including actual business information on result value, capital worth, performance costs, and result investment returns that are unknown today.< [more...]

Many arbitrary management structures have been contrived over the years

Throughout the 20^th century, various management structures for operating and developing the company have been contrived and refined, becoming the conventional management structures that we use today. The structures organize and manage the company or other enterprise. Structures such as the organization, business processes, accounts, costed activities, system architectures, scorecards, and on and on are utilized to manage the enterprise.

We improve management and effect change by laying new contrived structures over the company or enterprise business. Even with all the enterprise organization and management structures, we continue to have fundamental problems with re-organizations, intangible assets, accounting limitations, cost control, information management, alignment, etc. We still have not found the one right method to organize and manage the company business.

Conventional management structures are the generally-accepted wrong ways

Over the past decades, we implemented breakthroughs like business process re-engineering, business transformation methods, business performance management, and enterprise resource planning. But, these turned out to be just new  conventional management structures laid over the business and other structures to manage the enterprise the same as before.

Why are there so many different management structures to do the same thing? Why isn’t there just one right management structure? [more...].

Change Management is one of the top 10 problems of 20^th century management!

Business change cannot be managed directly because the business is not managed

Business change is a mystery to the 20^th century enterprise because the business, the activity of providing goods and services, is not organized and managed. The enterprise is organized and managed through organization and management structures laid over the business. 20^th century “business change” is not change to the business, but is change to structures laid over the business. Most “business change” lays new organization, process, or system structures over the business with little positive change to the business itself. The rigid new and old structures are separately defined and conflict with each other and the actual changing business. Since the business is not managed, the value created by change cannot be planned or managed and the return on change investments cannot be measured.

The solution is to organize the business for direct management of business change

Business change is a change to either an output result produced by the business or a capital solution utilized in business performance. When the business is organized and managed, business change automatically reorganizes the business and can be managed as the routine. Business management organizes results and capital solutions to change the business as the daily routine. Business change projects involve capital development to increase the value of results or to enable new results, by implementing new or improved capital solutions. If the enterprise does not manage results and capital solutions utilized in performance, it is difficult to manage change to results, capital solutions, and performance.

The Change Management Problem

20^th century business change is change to overlaid organization and management structures

Even accepting 20^th century management change to overlaid organization, process, information system, account, performance management, and other structures, there are another set of problems. [more...]

The academic approach dictates incremental improvement and prevent breakthrough thinking and innovations

20^th century enterprise management methods, used today, are devised using the “academic approach” that accepts the solutions in place and the existing body of knowledge as the basis and seeks to make improvements. The academic approach may produce incremental improvements, but it also prevents new management thinking and breakthroughs. New management methods build on old methods. New management books and articles must be substantiated as accurate by footnoting previously published works and referencing existing methods in use.

There are many fundamental problems with traditional organization and management methods that cannot be changed by traditional change methods

What if the body of knowledge in the “published record” is inaccurate or if basic management methods in use are flawed? The academic approach then propagates inaccuracies and flaws. The Business Change Forum contains hundreds of examples where today’s 20^th century organization and management methods, principles, structures and definitions are flawed and inaccurate. So, new methods build on flawed old methods. New books repeat old inaccuracies.

The Business Change Forum discusses unsolvable 20^th century management problems that have never been solved despite thousands and books and methods based on the academic approach to management improvement. [more...]s

Methods like Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, and ISO 9000 Standards do not provide the quality management needed

We have had structures like Total Quality Management (TQM) and the ISO quality system for ISO 9000 standards and certification, which were found lacking as a management method. We also reengineered our business process with BPR, specifically to help us manage performance quality. But, performance quality proved difficult to comprehend and manage. Six Sigma provides another structure for our final production quality. Now we have business process and performance management (BPM) to manage the quality of our processes and performance. Even with all this, we still have not found a way to manage quality as the business routine of everyone in the enterprise.

Customer-determined quality is managed result by result by managing the businss

Quality must be managed as part of the managed business defined as “investments in capital as solutions of worth utilized for costs and effectiveness of performance to produce value and quality in results”. By definition, in the business, value and quality are attributes of results, the economic outputs produced across a managed business. Result-performance Management (R-pM) provides the knowledge and procedures to organize the business by organizing results produced across the business as one-off results or as result chains and by organizing the capital utilized as solutions in business performance to produce each result. With an organized business, the company can manage quality as an attribute of results, not performance, and can manage real quality for any result, not just final results from production. [more...].