Measuring Profitability, Social Impact and Sustainability Many companies have extended their traditional focus on profits, the ‘bottom line’, into a wider perspective which measures three aspects of the corporation’s activities. These are: Financial. Measures profitability and other financial measures such as turnover, growth, and market share. Social. Measures impact on people’s lives, particularly stakeholders such …
Category: Business Terminology and Techniques
Vision, Mission and Values
Vision, Mission and Values as a focus for action Vision describes where we are going – the ‘promised land’. Mission describes what we are going to do to get there. Values describe how we are going to conduct ourselves along the way. An organisation’s Vision sets out its aspirations for the future. The Vision is …
The ‘Theory of the Business’
Fitting together Mission, Core Competencies and Business Environment Management guru Peter Drucker has written that a ‘Theory of the Business’ must make assumptions about the business environment, the specific mission of the company or organisation, and the core competencies needed to accomplish the mission. Assumptions about the business environment, society, the market, customers and technology …
Total Quality Management
Satisfying the ‘Internal Client’ in order to Delight the Customer Total Quality Management refers to a philosophy of achieving perfection (‘zero defects’) by ensuring quality at every stage in the process of manufacture, or delivery of a service, rather than merely carrying out ‘quality checks’ at the end of the production line or customer interface. …
The Six Thinking Hats
Six Ways of Thinking as a Team There are many different ways of thinking, and each of us is capable of thinking in different ways about a particular matter. In groups, for example a Board of Directors, each person can look at an issue from several points of view, and each of those points of …
‘Ringi’ – a process to reach decisions by consensus
A Japanese process for reaching decisions by consensus ‘Ringi’ is a process used in Japanese organisations which ensures that all people who will be involved in implementing a decision have a say in making that decision in the first place. Ringi is a collective decision-making process involving the circulation of a document (the ‘ringi-sho’). This …
The Pareto Principle or 80:20 Rule
Distinguishing the ‘Important Few’ from the ‘Trivial Many’ Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist who observed that in the Italy of his day, 80% of the wealth was owned by 20% of the population. The Pareto Principle states that 80% of results flow from 20% of their causes. Though the percentages may not always be …
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence for leaders and managers in the creative industries. Emotional Intelligence is an ability to manage ourselves and our relationships with other people effectively, by understanding our own and other people’s feelings, recognising that we human beings have an emotional as well as a rational side to our make-up. Emotional Intelligence is made up …
Charting your Competitive Strategy
Analysing Competitors and Charting your Competitive Strategy This technique of ‘charting the competition’ is extremely effective in analysing competitors’ strengths and weaknesses in relation to your own business. Using clearly understandable charts, it dramatically illustrates the competitive landscape. Most importantly, however, it allows executives to develop competitive strategies which will beat the competition and from …
Change Management – a ten-stage process
The Ten-Stage process of leading and managing organisational change. This ten-stage process is developed from the work of John Kotter, recognised as one of the leading gurus in Change Management. It provides a useful model for those responsible for leading and managing organisational change. The ten stages are: Taking Stock: Internal and external audits. Business …