409 Posts Found

• How and how well are enterprise and IT objectives aligned with each other?
• How is the value delivered by IT being measured? Are the assumptions reasonable and are intangible benefits verified?
• What strategic initiatives has executive management taken to manage IT’s criticality relative to maintenance and growth of the enterprise, and are they appropriate?
• Is the enterprise clear on its position relative to technology: pioneer, early

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Author: Rick Sidorowicz | Source: Performance Improvement – A Classic Checklist | Subject: IT Questions

For every asset that supports business critical service, Visible Ops recommends the following questions be answered:

• What does it do?
• What is the hardware platform?
• What is the operating system platform?
• What applications are installed?
• Who is responsible for this asset’s uptime?
• What service(s) does it support?
• Who is authorized to make changes?
• What does this box do for the business?
• What will happen when this box stops working completely?
• What will happen

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Author: Tori Harris | Source: Starting a Visible Ops-Based Change Management Program | Subject: IT Questions

• Is IT a regular item on the board’s agenda and, if so, is it addressed in a structured manner?
• Does the board articulate and communicate the business objectives for IT alignment?
• Does the board review, and possibly approve, the IT strategy?
• Does the board have a clear view on the total IT investment portfolio from a risk and return perspective? Does the board receive regular progress

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Source: CEO’s Guide to IT Value and Risk | Subject: IT Questions

Companies operating in emerging countries need to answer some basic questions if they aim to consistently thrive, and not only survive, in this type of environment:

• How can we operate with a business plan founded on tools and assumptions designed for more stable environments?
• How can we make more structured decisions under high levels of environmental uncertainty?
• How can we anticipate the future in order to

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Authors: Bernardo S. Sichel, Karim Taga, Mark Dougan | Source: Contingent Capitalism: Planning and Decision Making in Emerging Markets | Subject: International / Global Questions

Here are some questions to begin with to help determine if and when your company will be ready to enter the global marketplace and what is needed to do so:

• Is the corporate leadership committed and involved in going global?
• Who should be involved in our global game plan and strategizing sessions? What are their specific roles and responsibilities?
• Have we done any market research to

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Author: Karin K. Schaff-Glazier | Source: Strategizing Your Next Move in the Global Game | Subject: International / Global Questions

Culture

Context 

• Is an exciting context created for employees?
• Are people made aware of the big picture?
• When selling new ideas internally, is “why” addressed before “what” and “how?”
• Is a powerful “burning platform” created to stimulate interest?
• Do people understand how their work fits in with the overall effort?
• Are personal passions aligned with organizational objectives?

Diversity

• Does the organization develop teams with diverse skills and analytical styles?
• Does the organization value

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Source: 24/7 Innovation Diagnostic | Subject: Innovation Questions

Welcome to the “good enough” economy, where the likelihood that a technological innovation will be taken up depends on how well it answers six critical questions.

1. How much better is this technology in terms of cost, functionality, “image” and other factors?*
2. How compatible is the innovation with existing skills, values and work practices?
3. How hard is your innovation to understand and use?
4. Can you easily and affordably try

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Author: Glover T. Ferguson | Source: Innovation and the Economics of Good Enough | Subject: Innovation Questions

• Does the technology offer significant new ways of doing business?
• Does the technology build on existing infrastructure to capture substantial new value?
• Does the technology create a new technology platform that enables future applications?
• Is the technology within reach for the company–stretching the organization’s capabilities but not forcing it outside of its envelope of possibility?
• Can the company develop and implement the technology alone, or will it

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Authors: Glover T. Ferguson, Stanton J. Taylor | Source: Innovation: Bold New World | Subject: Innovation Questions

One barometer for how innovative is your organization can be determined by answering the following questions with a yes or no.

1. Has one person been chartered with the overall responsibility to manage the corporate-wide innovation process?
2. Are there performance measures—both tangible and intangible—to assess the quality of your innovation practices?
3. Do your training/educational programs have provisions to incubate and spin-out new products and businesses?
4. Does your local, regional

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Author: Debra M. Amidon | Source: Gauging the Organization | Subject: Innovation Questions

Metrics can be designed to measure performance in each of the model’s four interdependent elements:

• Stakeholder Strategies. How well are we achieving the strategies designed to address the needs of each group of stakeholders? Are we doing the right things?
• Process. How good are our critical innovation processes? Are we doing things right?
• Resources. How appropriate are our internal resources and how effectively have we tapped

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Authors: Darren Smith, John Collins | Source: Innovation Metrics: A Framework to Accelerate Growth | Subject: Innovation Questions

• Who is responsible for systematically collecting information on the external business environment?
• How is it then distributed to those managers who can use it effectively in their work (and modify their current assumptions)?
• How many departments besides R&D are judged on their ability to introduce innovations in their policies and procedures?
• Does the organization provide training programs in both organizational leadership and creativity?

Authors: Almeric Johnson, Dave Sharman | Source: Innovation in all things! Developing creativity in the workplace | Subject: Innovation Questions

There are different levels of questions, based on Kirkpatrick levels and clearly in increasing importance, that must be asked:

• Did they (trainees) like it?
• Did they learn?
• Did they use it?
• Did it impact the bottom line?
• What is the Return on Investment (ROI)?

Author: Abhay Padgaonkar | Source: Training: Rounding up the Usual Suspects | Subject: Human Resources Questions

• Do you have a simple, clear and consistent method of ranking positions throughout your organization, on a global basis?
• Do you have an accurate, easy-to-use means of ensuring internal equity across job families
• How do you currently ensure that your organization has a reliable base for determining pay for positions?
• Do you have an effective means of measuring your organization’s position against the market?
• Is your organizational

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Source: International Position Evaluation System (IPE) | Subject: Human Resources Questions

• The reason the company created this job is to …
• The most important ways a person doing the job should spend time are …
• The two or three most important duties of someone in this position are …
• If someone asked me what it takes to be successful in this job, I would say …
• The easiest way to determine whether this job is being done well

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Author: Carol Orsag Madigan | Source: Good Job – Kind of, Sort of | Subject: Human Resources Questions

Conditions affecting morale are varied and complex. If you are wrestling with this issue you should find guidance by answering these questions:

• Look at your performance appraisal system. Does it hold people accountable for results that depend on a bigger process than they control?
• Is everyone in your organization well-trained, informed, and involved?
• Do reward systems encourage and reinforce high performance?
• Do you aggressively measure and manage

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Author: Jim Clemmer | Source: Morale Problem? Look in the Mirror | Subject: Human Resources Questions

• Are job outputs and standards linked to customer and process requirements?
• Are process requirements reflected specifically in the appropriate jobs?
• Are job steps in a logical sequence?
• Have supportive policies and procedures been developed?
• Is the job environment ergonomically sound?
• Do performers understand the outputs they are expected to produce and the standards they are expected to meet?
• Do performers have sufficient resources, clear feedback, signals, and priorities, and

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Author: Rick Sidorowicz | Source: Performance Improvement – A Classic Checklist | Subject: Human Resources Questions

• How efficiently and effectively does the HR function deliver services?
• How effectively is the function focusing on priorities and completing milestone tasks?
• Is HR managing its finances prudently, complying with legal, regulatory, and internal requirements?
• How do HR customers rate their service experience?
• And, most important, how is the HR function contributing to the value of the organization?

Authors: John Koob, Philip Vernon | Source: Unfinished Business: Mastering HR Business Design | Subject: Human Resources Questions

• Can we measure the trade-off between an investment in our culture and an investment in new products or services?
• How should we balance cultural continuity against the need to adopt fresh ideas and practices?
• How can we build a “talent brand” to attract the best people?

Authors: Andrew Doman, Kim Warren, Maurice Glucksman, Nhuoc-Lan Tu | Source: The Talent-Growth Dynamic | Subject: Human Resources Questions

• Can we make a business case for all of our development programs?
• What balance should we attempt to strike between developing our own talent internally and bringing in talent from the outside?
• How does the shape of our promotion pyramid affect our growth prospects?
• Do we have too many people at the top?
• Should we train anyone at all?

Authors: Andrew Doman, Kim Warren, Maurice Glucksman, Nhuoc-Lan Tu | Source: The Talent-Growth Dynamic | Subject: Human Resources Questions

• What effect would losing one high performer have on our share price?
• What if we lost ten?
• How much value do we forgo by hanging on to poor performers?

Authors: Andrew Doman, Kim Warren, Maurice Glucksman, Nhuoc-Lan Tu | Source: The Talent-Growth Dynamic | Subject: Human Resources Questions