Management Questions

Nov 1st 2011 Organization Design and Operating Model Questions

What should our business model look like in three to five years as the implications of our business strategy play out?
What balance do we need on the spectrum of centralization vs. a distributed network of business entities? How should we be structured to best support our business strategy: by geography, product, function, customer—or a hybrid arrangement?
Do we have the right organization design in place to help the workforce perform optimally? Are the right governance and decision-making mechanisms in place? Do we have the right leverage and the right organization structure (the pyramid of different roles and responsibilities) to execute in a cost-effective manner?
Do we have the right analytics and tools in place to monitor workforce performance and make timely changes?
Do we have management processes that keep workforce performance continuously aligned with a changing business strategy? Do we understand our informal networks that work side-by-side with formal structures—networks that have a powerful impact on how work gets done?
Is our HR organization designed to support the workforce in a cost-effective manner? Is HR participating in strategic discussions at a high-enough level in the company?
Are there any constraints in the HR organization that would impede our ability to get the right capabilities and people into the company, develop them and retain them? Do the right HR processes exist, and is HR effectively integrated into the business?

Source: A New Lens on Business Advantage: Human Capital Strategy and the Drive for High Performance by David Smith, Yaarit Silverstone and Adrian Lajtha | Accenture

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Jul 25th 2011 10 Strategy Tests

Ultimately, strategy is a way of thinking, not a procedural exercise or a set of frameworks. To stimulate that thinking and the dialogue that goes along with it, we developed a set of tests aimed at helping executives assess the strength of their strategies. We focused on testing the strategy itself (in other words, the output of the strategy-development process), rather than the frameworks, tools, and approaches that generate strategies, for two reasons. First, companies develop strategy in many different ways, often idiosyncratic to their organizations, people, and markets. Second, many strategies emerge over time rather than from a process of deliberate formulation.

There are ten tests on our list, and not all are created equal. The first—“will it beat the market?”—is comprehensive. The remaining nine disaggregate the picture of a market-beating strategy, though it’s certainly possible for a strategy to succeed without “passing” all nine of them.

Will your strategy beat the market?
Does your strategy tap a true source of advantage?
Is your strategy granular about where to compete?
Does your strategy put you ahead of trends?
Does your strategy rest on privileged insights?
Does your strategy embrace uncertainty?
Does your strategy balance commitment and flexibility?
Is your strategy contaminated by bias?
Is there conviction to act on your strategy?
Have you translated your strategy into an action plan?

Source: Have you tested your strategy lately? by Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, and Sven Smit | The McKinsey Quarterly

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May 20th 2011 Turning around Problem Performance in Five Questions or Less

The following series of five yes-or-no questions can help you manage future performance in a new way. Your answers will steer you toward a turnaround conversation appropriate to the situation and the underperformer.

Once you become familiar with the questions you’ll be able to assess which conversation is needed in a matter of minutes. You’ll be on your way to managing underperformance instead of living with its effects.

Ask yourself:

Does the person know what’s expected?
Has the person performed to standard in the past?
Have you already addressed the performance problem more than once?
Does the person have the capability of performing to standard?
Is the person coachable?

Source: How to Turn around Problem Performance in Five Questions or Less by Jim Bolton | ChangeThis, Feb. 16, 2011

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Mar 5th 2011 Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Questions

How can we better measure our ROI on R&D spending?
Do we have the infrastructure to support our global innovation and product development needs now—and three years from now?
Who owns product lifecycle management? Who should own PLM for the company?
Do we have a definition, strategy and roadmap for PLM?
How do our current CRM, SCM and ERP initiatives link to PLM?
What impact could improvements in PLM have for us?
What’s the total benefit of improving our time to market by 1 percent?
What’s the total benefit of reducing our product development costs by 1 percent?
What’s the impact of getting 1 percent more output from our product development resources?
Can we satisfy upcoming regulations with our current PLM resources and processes—and if not, what will a regulatory violation cost us?

Source: The innovation enabler goes mainstream by Kevin P. Prendeville, A. J. Gupta | Outlook Journal

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Jul 9th 2010 Measuring Trust in an Organization

Schoorman and Ballinger developed seven "trust items" that were tested with notable validity. For leaders interested in testing the trust waters in their organization, these seven questions provide a useful framework or litmus test to determine whether there is a need for further examination of the extent to which trust is present or absent in an organization. On a scale of one to five, with one being "strongly agree" and five being "strongly disagree," estimate or even find out how subordinates in your organization would answer the following questions about middle and executive management in your firm.

My supervisor keeps my interests in mind when making decisions?
I would be willing to let my supervisor have complete control over my future in this company.
If my supervisor asked why a problem occurred, I would speak freely even if I were partly to blame.
I feel comfortable being creative because my supervisor understands that sometimes creative solutions do not work.
It is important for me to have a good way to keep an eye on my supervisor
Increasing my vulnerability to criticism by my supervisor would be a mistake.
If I had my way, I wouldn’t let my supervisor have any influence over decisions that are important to me.

If this rhetorical examination of these "trust tests" leads you to pause, your organization may be in need of a more thorough examination of trust among the ranks.

Source: The Currency of Trust: What Business Leaders Can Learn from the Extreme Poor by Joan Ball | Ivey Business Journal, September/October 2009

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Feb 11th 2010 Transparency Questions

How will information technology increase transparency in the industry?
How will transparency impact consumer behaviors, retailer strategies and producer strategies?
How can we capture value and mitigate the challenges of transparency in terms of price, reputation and other drivers of purchase behaviors?
How should we react to empowered stakeholders — from consumers to third parties like environmental lobbies — who can impact the reputation of the firm?

Source: The View from the Glass House by Ajit Kambil, Patrick Conroy and Ryan Alvanos | Deloitte Review, Winter 2008

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Apr 27th 2009 Evaluating the Past 90 Days: Management Questions

In the past 90 days, what were your three most important strategic accomplishments?
In the past 90 days, what were the three most important ways you fell short of your potential?
In the past 90 days, what are the three most important things you have learned about your strategy.

Source: What Determines Which Businesses Win and Which Lose? by Wayne Strom, PhD, Keith McFarland | Graziadio Business Report, Volume 12, Issue 2

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Jun 20th 2008 12 Must-Have Facts to Diagnose Your Company

Are your costs (and prices) declining as fast as competitors?
Are your costs as low as best demonstrated practice?
Are all your products and services truly making money?
Is your profitability as high as your RMS justifies?
How big is your market and how fast is it growing?
Which capabilities create your competitive advantages?
Which are your most attractive customer segments?
How loyal are your customers?
Where are your share of industry profits migrating?
How much product and service complexity is justified by profit?
Does your organization promote effective decision-making?
Do you have the most streamlined processes in your industry?

Source: The four laws of breakthrough results | Mark Gottfredson, Steve Schaubert and Hernan Saenz | Results Brief 04/02/08

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Nov 15th 2007 Business Design Questions

There are several key decisions that must be made when designing a business:

Customer selection (including channel):

What are the greatest profit growth opportunities that fall within my planning horizon?
Which customers are crucial to those opportunities?
What high-value customer opportunity should be targeted?

Value Proposition and Customer Priorities:

What are the unsatisfied needs that drive the behavior of targeted customers (what would lead them to switch suppliers or pay a premium)?
Does my Business Design deliver differentiated benefits on these priorities?
Does it hinder my ability to deliver these benefits?
What customer benefits are generated by my business design (vs. my product)?

Profit Model:

What profit model(s) does my Business Design utilize to capture value?
How does high profit happen?
Where will my “Profit Zones” be?
How do I maximize share there?

Strategic Control:

How do I protect the sustainability of out-year cash flows?
Why should the investment community be convinced that my cash flows can be trusted in the out years?

Scope:

What activities do I need to do vs. allow value chain partners to do?
What assets should I own vs. letting value chain partners own?
How can I restrict my activities and assets to the most efficient subset that is required to execute my business design well and retain strategic control?

Economic Model:

What kind of pro forma economics does my business design produce?
What economics does it have to produce to be successful?
How do I distinguish the microeconomics of a new business design from its potential economics at full scale?
How do I rapidly test, learn, and adjust for improved profitability of a new business design during its initial 12-24 months?

Organizational Systems:

How will our functional organizations need to change to deliver a business design (R&D, operations, go to market, etc.)?
How will our performance systems need to change (cultural values, leadership skill sets, human capital, metrics and rewards, etc.)?
How will our enabling infrastructure need to change to enable the business design to go forward (balance sheet, planning/learning/ control systems, information architecture, etc.)?

Source:
The Discipline of Business Model Innovation: An Introduction to Business Design
by Adrian J. Slywotzky
Oliver Wyman, 2007

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