Archive for the 'Business Transformation' topic

Managers may prevent beneficial business change that is against their vested interest

We all know stories about managers who resist change to protect their own power and authority. How do we prevent damage from vested interests in the enterprise? Is it just up to the Board and CEO to know what is going on? How does the Board or CEO find out? Whom does the CEO listen to? Is there a way to support those with change ideas that are widely considered as good and to counteract those widely considered as bad? Whose head is on the line if profits suffer because beneficial change is delayed? Is it the lower-level manager responsible or the CEO?

Good corporate management and governance requires more than one reporting line

20^th century management methods provide only one reporting line. Responsibility for performance includes responsibility for capital invested, responsibility for utilization of capital as solutions, and responsibility for output results produced. [more...].

Today’s playing field is level because all enterprises have the same problems

20^th century management continues today, because all enterprises are burdened with the same costs and problems. 20^th century management organizes and manages the enterprise through contrived structures laid over the business. The contrived organization, process, system, account, administration, IT architectures, maps, scorecards, and other rigid structures conflict with the business causing unsolvable problems.

20^th century management is a dead-end that can never solve today’s management problems

20^th century management is a dead-end that causes many unsolvable problems like reorganization, business change management, unknown costs and value, unknown capital worth and returns, intangible assets, sporadic effectiveness and quality management, business and information complexity, rampant IT investments and costs, inaccurate and conflicting enterprise information, little actual business management information, business collaboration obstacles, and on and on. The only solution 20^th century management can offer is to lay new or improved structures over the business. This is a dead-end, since the problems are unsolvable because they can never be solved by more structures laid over the business. The unsolvable problems can only get worse as enterprises grow and IT utilization increases.

R-pM offers the only solution; organize the actual business for 21^st Century Management

But now there is an alternative to traditional 20^th century management Result-performance Management (R-pM) provides the only possible solution by organizing the actual business for 21^st Century Management to leave 20^th century management structures and problems behind. R-pM provides significant cost reductions and value and quality increases that go to profits, minimizes development investments and manages the planned return, and enables collaboration and low cost solutions across businesses. Using R-pM to manage the enterprise business, provides significant advantages over managing the enterprise with 20^th century management. [more...]a>.

All capital development should develop capital, plus business results for return on investment

Every business enterprise must produce output results that lead to goods and service results to create value. An expanding enterprise must produce new results of increasing value. The enterprise needs additional capital in order to produce new results as part of the business. The capital must be acquired or developed, implemented as specific performance solutions, and then utilized to produce improved or new results of increased value. The value added to new business results must justify the capital expenditure to acquire or develop needed solutions and provide the return on investment.

All capital development is really result and capital development to develop capital as performance solutions to be utilized to create additional value in output results produced by the business. The additional value of output results provides the return on the capital development investment. If the performance solutions utilized and the results produced by the business are not managed, result and capital development cannot be managed properly and the return on investment cannot be measured. Even physical capital development, like a new building, produces performance solutions to produce results, be it the enterprise office facility solution or a facility solution to produce lease or rental income results.

20^th century management does not organize or manage results or performance

20^th century management does not manage the enterprise business, defined as “the utilization of capital of worth in performance to incur costs and produce value in results”. The business has three components: 1. capital available as performance solutions, 2. results required, and 3. performance in the utilization of a specific solution to incur costs and produce value in a specific result.

20^th century management does not define specific results produced and performance solutions utilized to be managed as sets. Added result value cannot be managed to provide benefits and specific performance solutions developed cannot be managed to know costs. Capital development is a difficult exercise separate from the business context to develop performance or tangible assets to produce some estimated return on investment. Much capital development and performance solution implementations fail to create the added result value needed for the return on investment.

R-pM manages result and capital development as part of the business for measured and managed return

The answer for all future result-capital development is Result-performance Management (R-pM) to organize the business for 21^st Century Management. R-pM manages performance solutions utilized and the business results produced to plan and manage the value added to results. R-pM provides 21^st century Result-performance Development to manage new performance solution development to produce new or improved results. R-pM manages each result-capital development project as part of the business with its own project business structure. R-pM manages implemented solution development and operating costs and the additional value-added to results to measure the actual return on investments. R-pM is the essential approach for any new result-capital development. It is all described in The R-pM Toolkit, your 21^st Century Management Manual

Result-capital development arises from the business requirements to improve results or produce new results

Result-performance Development is initiated by result symptoms in missing or deficient results. [more...].

The enterprise business is “the activity of producing goods and services”

The common definition of a business enterprise is “the activity of producing goods and services”. If the enterprise is to organize and manage the business, it must organize “the activity of producing goods and services”. Business activity is business performance and goods and services are business results. Performance is the utilization of enterprise capital to produce results. Therefore, to organize the business the enterprise must organize capital, performance, and results.

The enterprise must abolish all the outdated organization, strategy, process, account, performance management, information architectures, and other structures now laid over the business that create enormous overheads and prevent the business from being organized and managed.

R-pM organizes the business to simplify 21^st Century Management

Result-performance Management (R-pM) goes back to the basics to organize the business to utilize capital in performance to produce value in results. R-pM structures the results to be produced to create value and the capital in performance solutions available for deployment in as a business structure. The business is organized when specific performance solutions are deployed to produce specific results. The responsible organization unit is deployed as a business organization solution and the responsible manager is deployed as a human personnel solution to produce the specific result.< [more...].

When business started, the actual business was managed

The common definition of a business enterprise is “the activity of providing goods and services”. In other words, the business is “the utilization of capital in performance to produce value in results”. We all manage our actual personal business to utilize our capital in performance to produce value in results naturally, using common sense.

Several hundred years ago, all business was in individual or small enterprises that managed actual business activity in the utilization of capital available in humans with capabilities and knowledge of the business, business practices followed, management methods and intelligence on customers, and facilities in business locations, equipment, tools, money, and supplies available. They used this capital to produce output results in goods they had to buy, goods produced or improved and relocated, final results in goods and services they had to sell, and money received from sales.

They managed their business naturally by managing utilization of capital in performance to produce value in results. Common sense told them that costs were in the consumption of capital in business activity or performance, and that value created was in results leading to the final goods and services results sold. They realized that customer willingness to pay placed value on the total of raw material results and results in their chain. They realized that profit results came from result value-added that exceeded performance costs. They realized that they had to invest in capital as specific performance solutions to be able to produce results, and that result value had to increase to repay the investment. They realized that performance in capabilities and tools had to be effective to produce a high-quality result. They realized that capacity in time, capabilities, and facilities limited the volume of results produced. They realized that performance uncertainty in producing results as needed posed risk that final results would not be produced as planned. To reduce risk, they managed the performance utilized to produce each result one by one in the chain of results needed to produce final results for their customers.

When businesses grew, enterprises were organized and managed rather than the business

In recent centuries, as businesses grew, the complete sets of capital employed and results produced became difficult to manage. There were no information systems to help manage the actual business. So, enterprises in companies, associations, and institutions were formed. New structures were contrived to manage the business enterprise, rather than the enterprise business. [more...].

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

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

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
• Planning the output results to be produced from the project in specific capital items to be implemented and utilized by the business
• Utilizing users and administrative staff in proper roles in the project
• Utilizing contractors and consultants as solutions in an enterprise-managed project
• Documenting and recording the project so that all capital developed is fully documented and that knowledge required for use is created
• Managing the capital to be consumed in the project
• Managing the capital development project as part of the business
• Recording accurate development costs by capital item developed
• Implementing project results as capital items for direct utilization by the business
• Measuring the actual return of capital development investments

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

R-pM plans, manages, and repays projects by separate management of results and performance

Result-performance Management (R-pM) 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 performance 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

R-pM provides the methods to do both. [more...]

Business transformation was big ten to fifteen years ago. But, did it actually transform the business? Did it solve fundamental problems with a sound structure for on-going business success, or did it simply rearrange the management structures that cause business problems?

“Business transformation” could not transform the business, because the business was never organized

The enterprise business is defined as “the activity of providing goods and services“. Organize and manage the business means organize and manage “the activity of providing goods and services”.

20^th century business organization structures never organized the business. If the business was organized, business change would change the organization automatically, instead of having separate reorganization and business change projects. The business changes with every business decision to change business activity or goods and services provided, not every few years when management decides it is time for business change. Since the business is not organized, “business change” and “business transformation” cannot actually change or transform the business.

20^th century management manages the enterprise by laying structures over the business

20^th century management manages the enterprise by laying organization and management structures over the business. Once an organization structure is laid over the business, the business can never be managed. Additional management structures for strategy, business processes, information systems, accounting, performance management, administration, etc must be laid over the business. Management information is reported against various contrived structures, producing inaccuracies, discrepancies, and complexity, without reporting the actual business.

Business transformation changed the organization, business process, information system, and other overlaid structures, rather than organizing the business. The benefits proved elusive and business transformation got a bad name. Some popular “business transformation” methods of the time are generally discredited today.

21^st century management manages the enterprise business as one integrated structure .

In order to organize and manage the business, we must organize and manage “the activity of providing goods and services”. [more...]

Reorganization is one of the top 10 problems of 20^th century management

The enterprise organization structure is the fatal error of 20^th century management

Why do we have to reorganize every few years? Why not organize just once and reorganize gradually as the business changes?

There are many 20^th century business organization theories and methods. Hundreds of books have been written on how to organize the enterprise, organization development, and organization change. There are many so-called business organization methods and structures, but these structures organize the enterprise and are laid over the business. The structures do not organize the actual business, causing the unsolvable reorganization problem.

Result-performance Management (R-pM) is the first structure to organize the business

The enterprise business is defined as “the activity of providing goods and services“. In order to organize the business, we must organize “the activity of providing goods and services”.

Result-performance Management (R-pM) provides the means to eliminate the reorganization problem by organizing goods and services and other economic output from the business as results, and by organizing the capital utilized in business activity as performance solutions. The business is organized by deploying specific performance solutions to be utilized to produce specific results. The business changes whenever management decides to produce a new result, close a finished result, or utilize a different performance solution to produce a result. Since R-pM organizes the results and performance solutions that define the actual business, the enterprise business organization changes naturally with business change.

The Reorganization Problem

20^th century corporate organizations organize people into contrived structures that are laid over the business

The organization structure is the fatal error of 20^th century management. [more...]

Result-performance Management (R-pM) is the conventional way to organize the business for 21^st Century Management. An adjunct to the development of R-pM is the development of 21^st Century Management to provide a common business framework for 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.

21^st Century Management is one consistent and clearly-defined set of business organization and management descriptions, conventions, standards, and definitions that eliminate the contradictions, inconsistencies, and unsolvable problems of 20^th century management. R-pM adheres to 21^st Century Management conventions and standards.

21^st Century Management is documented in the R-pM Toolkit

R-pM is documented in the R-pM Toolkit, your 21^st Century Management Manual. 21^st Century Management descriptions, conventions, standards, and definitions are also documented in the R-pM Toolkit. The R-pM Toolkit is under continuing development. The R-pM Toolkit already contains the fundamental documentation needed to begin learning, implementing, and utilizing R-pM. Those downloading the R-pM Toolkit today receive a subscription to all R-pM Toolkit and 21^st Century Management documentation updates through 2009.

21^st Century Management documentation includes:

• 21^st Century Management Descriptions: The specific concepts and approaches that constitute 21^st Century Management
• 21^st Century Management Conventions: Specific business operation and development methods that are followed by all 21^st century businesses
• 21^st Century Management Standards: Specific rules, goals. [more...]

We have been indoctrinated to accept artificial 20^th century management as the way that things are done

All existing business methods, all business school teachings, all new business and management solutions, and all management books produced today propagate artificial 20^th century management. Here at the Business Change Forum we have hundreds of articles that explain the fatal flaws and fundamental unsolvable problems with obsolete and outdated 20^th century management. We explain the use of Result-performance Management (R-pM) for natural 21^st Century management.

Even with all their flaws, 20^th century business organization and management structures are generally-accepted. People do not want to think and analyze to solve problems; they want a ready-made proscribed solution based on familiar methods. But since 20^th century management is a very costly and flawed way to manage, all we do is propagate bad management and unsolvable problems.

Unsolvable problems are unsolvable, when our mind is closed to solutions

The biggest obstacle to solving business management problems is not finding the solution, but opening our minds so that we can see the solution. Even if the solution is right in front of us and should be obvious, we are blinded by a mind that is closed to the solution. The biggest arguments against an innovative new solution are that things are not done that way, it is not what others do, and it requires change. If it was what is always done, what others do, or required no change, it could not be a new solution.< [more...].