Management Questions

Aug 20th 2007 Profit Spiral Questions

Why are we here? (Mission)
Where are we going? (Vision)
How are we getting there? (Strategies)
Who’s doing what? (Structure)
Under what conditions are we doing all of this? (Culture)

Source:
The Profit Spiral^TM
by Katherine Catlin
CEO Exchange

142No Comments »Profit+Spiral+Questions2007-08-20+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Aug 18th 2007 Problem-Solving Questions

What options do you see for addressing this issue?
What are the pros and cons of your preferred option?
How will that solution meet your (or the business’s) needs?
What steps do we need to take to implement your solution?
Who else needs to be involved?
What obstacles do you foresee and how can we get around them?
How are we going to measure success?

Source:
Do You Need to be a Hero?
by Mitch McCrimmon, Ph.D.
The CEO Refresher, October 2006

141No Comments »Problem-Solving+Questions2007-08-18+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Aug 17th 2007 Opportunity Assessment

Executives should step back and apply their strategic judgment and operating knowledge to assess opportunities along five key dimensions:

How much does this opportunity strengthen our core business franchise?
What are the chances of our becoming a leader in the new segment or business?
Could this move have a defensive benefit, pre-empting our present or future competitors?
Does this investment position our core business strategically for an even stronger future opportunity or hedge against uncertainty?
Can we be certain of superbly executing implementation?

Source:
Guard That Home Base
by Chris Zook
Bain & Company, 10/15/2001

140No Comments »Opportunity+Assessment2007-08-17+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Aug 16th 2007 Nature of Goals

Are our goals outcome-based or activity-based? (Outcome-based goals describe the results or impacts that directly answer the question “How would you know you succeeded at X?” By contrast, activity-based goals only restate the activities people plan to do.)
If our goals are activity-based, is the connection to the underlying outcome-based goal(s) well understood and communicated?

Source:
Better than Plan: Managing Beyond the Budget
by Douglas K. Smith
Leader to Leader, No. 15 Winter 2000

139No Comments »Nature+of+Goals2007-08-16+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Aug 15th 2007 Middle Manager Questions

Ask yourself the following questions to determine whether you are getting the full value from your middle managers:

Do my managers have a clear vision of how our business works as a whole, not just in their functions? Have they ever met a customer? Do they know the business from the outside in?
Do they understand that their role is not only to communicate the company vision, but also to determine which processes and activities will make it a success? Do they know how to focus people on processes and the appropriate activities? Do they know how to co-ordinate these processes horizontally and vertically?
Are my middle managers spread too thinly? Have I given them the adequate time, training, and resources needed to succeed?
In the attempt to empower the workers, have I undermined the managers? Do my managers have to direct the workers in performing the necessary activities?
Do my managers feel that they are part of the solution, not part of the problem?

Source:
Let Middle Managers Manage
by Jeanie Duck
Boston Consulting Group

138No Comments »Middle+Manager+Questions2007-08-15+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Aug 14th 2007 Mercer’s Questions for Managers

How do our customers measure and define value?
How do we measure and define value?
What are the key drivers of the economics of our business?
What is the relative impact of each of these drivers on the value of the business?
Is the current level of value driver performance enough to satisfy our investors?
Is our model of the business––our understanding of what drives value––still valid or has it changed?
How do we make the business strategy visible and controlling for everyone in the organization?
Are we making the right decisions in light of the strategy? What do we need to do or change to be more effective and efficient?

Source:
See the Forest and the Trees: Gaining visibility into the real drivers of value
by Tony Siesfeld
Mercer Management Journal, Issue 16

137No Comments »Mercer%27s+Questions+for+Managers2007-08-14+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Aug 13th 2007 Measuring an Organization’s Effectiveness

You can diagnose your organization’s effectiveness and assess its path toward high performance by gathering answers–typically through a survey–to 10 key questions:

Is our organization clear about the top three priorities for making our business more valuable?
Is our leadership team cohesive and aligned?
Are individual roles, accountabilities and authority clear for the most important decisions?
Does the organization’s structure reflect the sources of value in the business?
Do we have enough highperforming people, in the jobs where they can have the most impact?
Do we measure what matters–and link incentives for our people to those measures?
Does our front line consistently execute well on the activities that are critical to success?
Does our backoffice support contribute value commensurate with its cost?
Do we have a highperformance culture?
Do we have the capacity to change?

Source:
The decision-driven organization
by Paul Rogers
Bain & Company

136No Comments »2007-08-13+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Aug 12th 2007 Defining/Rethinking Your Business Architecture

What is our “elevator pitch”?
What are our most differentiated capabilities?
What are your most leverageable offerings?
What are your most crucial “control points”?
What are your most valuable intellectual assets?
What are the key assumptions we make about our business?
Who are our customers? What customer segments do we serve? Who are our most strategic customers?
What do we do for our customers? What needs do we fulfill? What services do we provide?
What makes us different? Why do customers do business with us, and not with competitors?
How do we plan to grow our business?
How do we defend our profits?
Who do we partner with (on the supply and the demand side)? What are your most important partnerships?
How are we organized?

Source:
The Seven Steps to Nirvana: Strategic Insights into eBusiness Transformation
by Mohanbir Sawhney
The Exchange, Pebble Beach, June 2001

135No Comments »2007-08-12+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Aug 11th 2007 Crafting the Value Proposition

Internal Analysis

In looking at the value chain (internal logistics > operations > external logistics > sales and marketing > service), how does your company create value?
What are your company’s core competencies and how do you differentiate yourself from the competition?
What capabilities (internal and external–partners, alliances, joint ventures) can you bring to bear to execute against your value promise?
Why should your value targets accept your particular offer (e.g., safer, better pay, more convenient, lower risk, etc.)?

External Analysis

How do your value targets quantify (measure) the value that you deliver (e.g., how do you/they know when it’s a lot or a little)?
How do you link your value proposition to your target’s needs and pains?
How do you compare and differentiate the value that you deliver from the value that your competitors deliver (e.g., higher ROI or lower TCO)?
How do you substantiate your ability to deliver on your value promise (e.g., track record, references, etc.)?
How can you increase the return or decrease the risk, or both, in creating and delivering higher levels of value?

Source:
What’s Your Value Proposition?
by Michael L. Perla
MarketingProfs.com, July 1, 2003

134No Comments »Crafting+the+Value+Proposition2007-08-11+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Aug 9th 2007 Corporate Growth Questions

Does our strategy-development process clearly identify where growth will come from and how it will be funded?
Does our performance measurement, evaluation, and reward process really stimulate behavior that will enhance the business portfolio?
Are we effectively communicating our commitment to growth to all our stakeholders – our customers, shareholders, and employees – and providing them with adequate information and milestones to measure our progress?
Do we encourage partnering internally and with others to achieve our growth goals?
Both at the corporate level and in the business units, do we have the right processes and process management model in place to identify, develop, and sponsor the capabilities we will need to sustain future business growth?
Have we built into all our governance processes a learning loop that will ensure that we continuously improve and adapt these processes to changing business conditions?
Is corporate leadership demonstrating the behaviors that will create growth?
Are we considering innovative organizational structures to remove internal barriers, attack new business areas, and aggressively develop partner and government relationships at the corporate and local level?

Source:
Planning for Growth in Mature Industries
by David Barker
Prism, Q3 1997

133No Comments »Corporate+Growth+Questions2007-08-09+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Management Questions

Archive for August, 2007