Value Propositions

Business Model Decisions Driven by Value Discipline - misc notes from BlogTalkRadio. Remember the rules:

• competitive in all three
• exceed in one - primary
• very good in another - secondary
• cannot be great in all - confused organization

Operationally Efficient

• Functions: Production, Logistics, Finance
• Processes: Order Fulfillment, Resource Management
• Information: Transactions, Costs, Time
• Metrics: Costs, Quality, Time
• Concerns: Past Trends, Transactions, Employee Tasks and Tools
• Structure: Centralized Authority
• Culture: Process, Product-Driven Conformance
• Systems: Integrated Low Cost Transactional Processes
• Management: Command and Control, Quality

Product Leadership

• Functions: R&D, Legal (licenses), Engineering
  
• Processes: Product Development, Concept to Customer Speed
  
• Information: Linkages, Communications
  
• Metrics: Ideas Thru the Funnel, Patents
  
• Concerns: Future Trends, Portfolio of Products & Services, Ideas, Risks
  
• Structure: Ad Hoc - Team Based, High Skills - Loose Structure
  
• Culture: Process, Conceptual, Future driven, experimentation, Out-of-the-Box
  
• Systems: Collaboration and Project Management Platforms
  
• Management: Rewarding Innovation, Risk and Exposure

Customer Intimate

• Functions: Marketing, Sales, Service
  
• Processes: Marketing, Sales, Customer Loyalty
  
• Information: Customer Perceptions, Customer Usage of Offer
  
• Metrics: Loyalty, Customer Success, Testimonials
  
• Concerns: Current Trends, Relationships, Employee Empowerment
  
• Structure: Empowerment at Customer Contact Points, High Skills at the Boundaries between Functions and Departments
  
• Culture: Customer Driven, Acceptance of Wide Variation of Needs, Immediate Customization
  
• Systems: Detailed Customer Base, Linkages between Customer Needs and Processes, Analytical Tools
  
• Management: Customer Quality Measures, Life time Value (Loyalty)
  

See Missing Link #1 for Overview

The 11 Best Practices for Attacking Low Cost - High Margine Opportunities

Drill down from 8 JUL 09 blogtalkradio show

1. Digital Infrastructure: use technology as the core organizing theme for the business; reduction in waste and repetition of tasks, reduce the knowledge pools or incompetence and increase the knowledge pools of excellence
2. Networked Organizational Structure: reduction of hierarchy and layers of management (or prevent it from occurring organically), use technology to increase dialog and collaboration - think twitter or facebook
3. Self-Managed Cost Centers: make every department, function, work group carry all of its true costs; if you aggregate costs - you don't know the true cost or profit of anything and therefore can't manage it
4. Run Inside like Outside: outlaw monopolies - everything is interconnected, internal support departments must run with the efficiency of the "for-profit' parts of the company, if they can't or won't - outsource the function
5. Markets Inside the Firm: big corporations are welfare states - especially in budgeting, there are no guaranteed budgets or use of last years numbers, everyone presents a business case for the requested budget and competes for dollars - owner/executives function as venture capitalists and invest accordingly
6. Turn Cost Centers into Profit Centers: all internal departments and functions have portfolios of internal and external customers, support/internal departments sell excess capacity externally to generate revenue
7. Only the Best - Marquee Customers, Marquess Suppliers: enhance brand through associating with recognized leaders, collaborate and co-develop new products, services, and internal processes with the best, use their expertise and infrastructure to reduce costs and improve your offer
8. Executive Management of Continuous Improvement & Reinvention: the top priority of the owner/executive team is constantly improve the offer while reducing costs at the same time, "competing in advance or go to where the puck will be" - anticipating future threats and opportunities
9. Organic Growth and Acquisition: mix between building it your self and buying it, when creating something new - go organic, when looking for capacity or sales - acquire if there is a good deal available
10. Multiple Product Lines - Service Offers: each component of your offer is both a revenue stream and a continuous improvement opportunity to learn and enhance your competitive advantage

If you want the full article and presentation, go to my personal blog and our radio show page and download the MP3.

If you don't listen or are not following our corporate blogs - what are you thinking! No place on the web will you find more knowledge or higher quality insights on how to grow your business - AND IT IS FREE.

Profiles in Success - Entrepreneurial Competence Part 2

Given the constraints of time, we couldn't pursue these additional traits with any degree of detail. What follows are the remaining characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. We will weave a more detailed description of each over the next two weeks as we discuss the ownership demands of each growth stage.

Planning Orientation - what are the components?

• Information Seeking
• Goal Setting
• Systematic Planning and Monitoring

Information Seeking - what are the behaviors you would see as evidence?

• personally seeks information from clients, suppliers, and competitors
• does personal research on how to provide a product of service
• consults experts for business or technical data

Goal Setting - what are the behaviors you would see as evidence?

• sets goals and objectives that are personally meaningful and challenging
• articulates clear and specific long range goals
• sets measurable short term objectives

Systematic Planning and Monitoring - what are the behaviors you would see as evidence?

• plans by breaking large tasks down into time-constrained sub-tasks
• revises plans in light of feedback on performance or changing circumstances
• keeps financial records and uses them to make business decisions

Influence Choices - what are the components?

• Persuasion and Networking
• Independence and Self-Confidence

Persuasion and Networking - what are the behaviors you would see as evidence?

• uses deliberate strategies to influence or persuade others
• uses key people as agents to accomplish own objectives
• acts to develop and maintain business contacts

Independence and Self-Confidence - what are the behaviors you would see as evidence?

• seeks autonomy from rules or control of others
• sticks with own judgment in the face of opposition or early lack of successful
• expresses confidence in own ability to complete a difficult task or meet a challenge

Given this exercise of digging deep into our knowledge base, we will design a quick survey for anyone interested in assessing where they stand on the competencies. Look for a post on this topic in the next few days.