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Conducting Strategy by Fiat: Thoughts on Industry Engineering

The other day I was driving and listening to an NPR story on the poor state of GM and the very uncertain future of Saturn (you can hear it here http://bit.ly/QLbXD). As the story went on I passed very quickly by both a Toyota Camry Hybrid and a Pontiac G8. Both very nice, but very different cars and it stated me wondering: “What is the strategy of the administration with respect to managing through this down economy in terms of automobile manufacturing in this country?” I’ve always been an admirer of cars and all things automotive so that wasn’t such a strange question for me to ponder. Until recently, I’ve been a subscriber to Car & Driver forever (since way before I could legally drive and continually even when not in the market for a new car). So I think I have some “street cred” as a semi-serious autophile, just not a fanatical one.

So this is my blog on strategy – so what’s the tie in you may ask? Am I going to opine about how poorly the Detroit 3 have done to grow market share, produce great cars, and capture automotive dreams of buyers? NOPE. Will I speak on how some see President Obama’s policies toward domestic automotive manufacturing as a clearly socialistic, certainly perplexing, and potentially bad for all? NOPE! Instead, I will offer my suggestions on what the Administration should consider with moving forward in helping car companies (and jobs survive in this country). Here I will look to the future, with an eye toward the past, and keep my fingers crossed and hope for success.

Chrysler and FIAT. Is that a match made in heaven or a shot-gun wedding between two failing companies? Chrysler has been saved by the government back in the 70s when it run by a very famous ex-Ford executive (who some wanted to run for president). Can you pick the exec out of this video?

Some short ten years after that initial bailout, Chrysler partnered with a niche Italian coachbuilders in producing the TC (Touring Coupe). The coachbuilder was Maserati, which at the time was a subsidiary of De Tomaso (maker of other very high end Italian muscle cars). Maserati also produced a rather up market version of the vehicle that was hoped to be a US entry-level complimentary vehicle for their high end sports cars. Both the Chrysler and the Maserati versions got bad reviews for fit, finish, and reliability/performance. They looked nice, but didn’t sell. Three years and less than 10,000 vehicles later the project was killed, and Maserati was sold to FIAT. Then Ferarri, Volkswagen and FIAT dance for controlling stake in the company, that would eventually lead to FIAT owning and controlling the company today.

So looking at FIAT’s history in the US car market wonders if they couldn’t be successful before, why now? FIAT is the owner of Alfa Romeo, Lancia and some other brands, but are famous for having given up trying to compete for US car buyers. Prior to any government mandated hook up, FIAT said it would be brining the Alfa’s back to the US as a premium brand. So having a high volume lower end brand in Chrysler could be very complementary.

Who knows, it could be really good. Do you remember Bertone? The Fiat X-19?

The Power to Work Together for Good or It's Already Been Done?

Subtitle: Is this Twitter for the Devloping World the Right Approach?

Ushahidi is a very interesting tool that was build to promote text based sharing of personal accounts of current events going on in Africa. The goal is to promote safety and transparency in real time event reporting. This is obviously important in places where the media, local and federal governments may not always have the resources or the will to report what actually happens. So give the power to the people. Great idea, right?

Its hard to fuss with that approach. The interesting thing is that their strategy seems to be build it and they will come. But others have done the same thing. So is there a business model there or merely a social enterprise model - to do good for goods sake. I'm not sure. Since I work for a non-profit that aims to work in the public interest with respect to federal acquisition and systems engineering, I can appreciate the social good approach. But everyone has to make money. Even Craigslist makes money (as they assist in driving most newspapers out of business).

So is Ushahidi a Twitter targeted at the 3rd World or merely one of the many overlay type apps on a Twitter like platform? You decide, but either way, I think its worth watching to see where they'll go. So far, they've been very collaborative in their approach to development and deployment as noted in this article. But can it scale to really reach the people it needs to have impact? This type of service can only benefit from Metcalf's law. Without scale, it suffers from the axiom, "If a tree falls in the woods..."

So with the ubiquity of mobiles in the developing world, here is how a firm plans to partner to help the locals.

The Power of Platforms over Products

Currently I’m at the ICTD conference in Doha, Qatar. I’m here with Ken Banks to do a joint demonstration on how Ushahidi and FrontlineSMS have both profited from partnering where it makes sense. Really, it’s about the power of open platforms and how separate ones can strengthen each other when they work together.

Brenda of FreedomFone, Erik of Ushahidi and Ken of FrontlineSMS

One of the discussion points that has kept coming up in conversations here is how powerful

More here

Quiet Game Changer - Innovation and Strategic Predictions

Quietly, technology tends to infiltrate our lives and we start to do things differently (and hopefully more efficiently). Some technologies have been referred to as disruptor's because they disrupt the status-quo, or shake up the dominant businesses in a particular industry. Such disruptor's of yesteryear could include the affordable VCR (for releasing the chain to TV scheduling & opening up home movies), the cellular radio (for obvious reasons), and automobile (freeing society from the horse and carriage).

More recently, the iPhone (for its many and growing capabilities), Twitter (for its unique view on communicating to hungry social web-ites) and the e-Book Reader. e-Book Reader, a disruptive technology you say? You are probably wondering to yourself, "what is this guy smoking?" e-Books are neither new (been around since the start of people sharing information via the web. And now there are a plethora of ebook readers. None of them stand out as great tools, due to screen size, color capabilities, or they lack the tactile nature of what people who love books so want. Note my first e-book read on any handheld device was The Underground by Suelette Dryfus. I read this @ 1998, so I'm no Al Gore (he having invented the Internet). So how is the eBook Reader disruptive?

Well, its not the current version of e-Book Readers that are disruptive. Its actually my predictions of whats next for eBook Readers. Its the melding of capabilities of having an electronic version of material that is accessible via a feature rich device that is not just connected to a store-front, but to others who are/have read that same book, similar material and subject matter throughout the world. That's my prediction for Kindle V3, or the iPhone (OS 4) or the Sony eBook Reader (V9). Such capability will change the way we read, share information, learn, work and educate ourselves as well as others around us. That's whats game changing here - its the promise of things to come.

As a start of the revolution, this article in the WSJ begins to speak to just that.

Here Comes the E-Book

By STEVEN JOHNSON

Every genuinely revolutionary technology implants some kind of "aha" moment in your memory -- the moment where you flip a switch and something magical happens, something that tells you in an instant that the rules have changed forever.

The Journal Report

• See the complete Technology report.

I still have vivid memories of many such moments: clicking on my first Web hyperlink in 1994 and instantly transporting to a page hosted on a server in Australia; using Google Earth to zoom in from space directly to the satellite image of my house; watching my 14-month-old master the page-flipping gesture on the iPhone's touch interface.

Read the rest here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123980920727621353.html

Changing the Way We Communicate With Government

Is Change Always for the Better?

Government under the Obama administration is all about change. While 69 million Americans voted for that change, nearly 61 million Americans did not. So is change what everyone wants? Not really, but will it help government be more efficient, more responsive and possible help the economy? You can be the judge of that. First lets consider what information people typically request from government. The Federal Times article talks about Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) departments have been underutilized in previous administration. And how opening this information up to the public can help government understand what the people may be clamoring for: "Specifics." This Federal News article speaks specifically to that point. 

But what questions get the answered first by FOIA departments?

I would expect solutions like Google's Moderator 

and DIGG to get play as they are means of asking questions, then allowing others to Vote Up or Down questions based upon their relevance.These 'services' will be used more regularly in government in the near future, but embedded into online Public Release materials.  But clearly this represents the opinions of the "online" community.  What about those off line?  How will they be heard, especially in a society where things need fast consideration and turnaround?  Discussion in the Obama administration says they may mandate  a 5 day comment period on new legislation prior to a vote in the Congress.  That will open up the details of government (specifically the legislative process) but again, the need for fast access, analysis, commenting (by citizens) and the synthesis of comments (by legislators) will be a challenge for all.  

So again, is Change Always for the Better?

I think its a good start at opening up government.  But like everything (especially everything in Washington) the devil is always in the details.  

Lessons Learned From Past Failures

Lessons can certainly be learned from failed effort of the Dot Com era.  But how do they apply to business in today's economic turmoil?  That is for each and every business model owner to figure out.  But the first part assumes one can access a wealth of understanding about what went right and what went wrong during that time. 

 

So where do you go, or who ya gonna call?  Lets start in the attic, that is the "dot.com attic"......

This NY Times article highlights such an effort.

BUSINESS   | November 23, 2008

 

Prototype:  Lessons of Survival, From the Dot-Com Attic

By LESLIE BERLIN

The Dot Com Archive contains data that has begun to reveal interesting insights into the dot-com bubble.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/business/23proto.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1

 

Your thoughts on its usefulness would be appreciated

She Wears Short Shorts...

In this world of market turbulence, and lack of week to week or even day to day predictability in the market (as if we ever had predictability), the Feds step in and try to engineer the market for entities selling what they do not own. As a capitalist, you might say, "Hey, if someone can sell something they don't own, and someone is willing to buy it, then why should I care?" Good question.

The answer is, "I've got this bridge I'm trying to unload". It spans the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Lets agree upon a price, and execute the contract. However, between execution and settlement, I have to go out and really buy that so I can deliver it to you. That works when you can make a market or the market is liquid - which is not always the case with bridges. It works great when the market (say for a stock) is heading south. It brings up the volumes and makes the market even more liquid. The problem is that is is self perpetuating.

This Forbes article explains it more detail and how it has impacted Bank stocks, Fannie/Freddie and your pocketbook even if you don't own the sector.

Commentary: Shortsighted Naked-Short Solution
http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/24/sec-shorting-regulation-biz-cz_rl_0726croesus.html?feed=rss_news

The Very Last Lecture

I guess I'm of age now. I'm not scanning the obits, but this was presented to me my Google news reader - and i'm glad it did.

The Last Lecture series of lectures was made much more famous by this one CMU professor Randy Pausch who had developed pancreatic cancer, yet talked to the audience about redefining your priorities and reaching your goals. Great video (on youtube/google and just about any emedia outlet). Its a great video, and he was a very interesting guy, not just for what he did in life, but his approach to it. He was very much of the same ilk as the subject of "Tuesday's with Morrie" yet thirty years younger.

I recommend this NY Times article on him, which has links to Randy's blog. Hopefully it will stay up even though the content will be dated after today. So long Randy....

Last Lecture Professor Randy Pausch, 47, Dies - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog

Randy's infamous video on the web:  

gladwell dot com - in the air

What is innovation? How does it happen? Why are accidents so important in resarch and discovery? These questions won't be answered here, but here are some stories that help stress their import.
gladwell dot com - in the air

Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications list - Trends in the Living Networks

So what are Aussies doing on the net, together? Here is a list the top Web 2.0 sites that some find interesting. While the list is published by an Austrian, the interconnection of web use in AU is not that different from that in the US.

Why should you care? Good question. It could that you suffer from ADD or you simply follow trends in usage of the net and how it could be utilized to benefit your life, your existng business, a potential new venture, or all of the above. Does it resonate?

Official launch of the Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications list - Trends in the Living Networks

Status: Looking for Work on Facebook - New York Times

SOCIAL NETWORKING and THE JOB HUNT?

Do social networking sites factor into one's strategies for the most effecient way to find your next gig? They certainly should. If potential employers are looking at these sites, shouldn't you also factor into these sites. Finding future co-workers. Finding ex employees of a target firm or industry is certainly possible. You would do this normally using your phone and through your friends. Why not start the process by doing it online. I recently heard a Stamford U podcast on social entrepeneurship and film making site that the networking done online actually saved a persons life.

This documentary filmmakers Michaelene C. Risley was detained by the police while filming in Zimbabwe. The police apparently let her go with the order to report back the next day for further questioning which according to her is standard practice there as they are in short supply for food for prisoners. Well after communicating with a friend familiar with things on the ground. Her friend went online and Twitter'ed or Facebooked her friends for her. An American consulate/embassy person then inserted themselves on behalf of the Ms. Risley who was subsequently released that very same day (with her footage that was not to positive on the Robert Mugabe govt). So Facebooking does help, but can it help on the job? You decide after reading the following....

"In a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers published in March, employers indicated that whereas in the past they used social-networking sites “to check profiles of potential hires,” said Marilyn Mackes, the group’s executive director, today “more than half will use the sites to network with potential candidates.”"


Status: Looking for Work on Facebook - New York Times:

When Web Time Is Playtime - New York Times

HOW FIRMS ARE AIMING FOR YOUR KIDS ON LINE:

Playing a video game against a computer is one thing. But online services are increasingly being targeted at kids. Showing that interacting with actual humans can be much more interesting, especially when the person behind that other avatar might be your own child.

When Web Time Is Playtime - New York Times

The Key To Management: A Balanced Scorecard - Forbes.com

Balanced Score Card - Is it overly complex, to hard to implement, or only for the big enterprise? Gene Mark says no: and that small businesses can benefit too from BSC. Enjoy this Forbes article, but recognize its just a scratch of the surface. You decide if its big impact from simple solutions or little yeilds from little steps....

Ever try to keep a scorecard at a little league baseball game? After a while, you learn to track what's most important, ignore the niggling errors and just make sure there's a snack at the end. Well-managed businesses--large and small--use a similar approach.The concept of managing by "balanced scorecard" has been around awhile. It boosts performance using a combination of metrics, goals and process improvements. The U.S. Navy, City of Newark and the Atlanta Public School System are just a few large organizations that have benefited from this approach. Small businesses can too.
Read more here
The Key To Management: A Balanced Scorecard - Forbes.com






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Netflix Sides With Blu-ray In HD Format War - The Channel Wire - IT Channel News And Views by CRN and VARBusiness

Looks like the tech landscape will start to get a little clearer in the home video market. The battle for physical format is now over: and the winner is ..............

Netflix Sides With Blu-ray In HD Format War - The Channel Wire - IT Channel News And Views by CRN and VARBusiness


...... the winner is Sony's BluRay disc format. Its clearly technologically superior, and would be more useful when used in a PC then the Toshiba backed HD-DVD format. Look for this to have an impact on the availability of your favorite rentals in Blockbuster as well, now that there will be more movies titles available, but alas, more competition for those movies (when renting). Thats just a short term hiccup of the Netflix announcement. Other market effects will include a big increase in Sony's Playstation 3 sales as it has an embedded BluRay player in its game console. And soon, BRdiscs will be available in rental stores. But for now, people will start to slow down in buying movies in physical format as these discs are quite expensive to make (thus to sell). Look for the movie industry to follow the path of the music industry - which is shrinking overall sales volumes and a move to online downloading.

The next battle on the homefront will be with the increasing the downloadable movie content that is secure and relatively copy protected. And this will unfortunately follow like Apple did with its proprietary technology the iPod, movie distrubution companies will introduce more and more very specific (non-transferrable) content distribution (at home) kiosks. These boxes will allow you to download, pause, rent, replay (for a ltd time) movies as much as you like over the internet. Problem is that you can't take it with you, nor transfer it from one box to another. Oh well, at least you'll have the content you want (even though you'll be married to the technology you eventually choose).

dp Musings: Retiring is Hard Even for Bill

Transition planning is vital component of strategic planning. Its a hard and difficult task, transforming an organization or transitioning yourself between roles.


Enjoy this informative video presentation of very good transition planning. Hopefully Bill Gates can shed some light on this process here.

dp Musings: Retiring is Hard Even for Bill

Strategy and Trends in Music

Okay, so I am new to owning an iPod, well actually an iPhone and I am fascinated by all the nuances of digital media. Where to get it, DRM freedoms, and reuse capabilities. Because my iPhone is great for playing music, listening to lectures, watching dumb TV shows and the like. I like it because I can't stand main stream everything. In fact I haven't subscribed to cable in 10 years. Though I do consider myself relatively up to date on music and media, just selectively so. So whats the point of this blog entry? Quite simply, its whats happening to one's ability to find, access and consume the music they like and its effect on the music industry. Clearly strategies are changing on part of both music labels, artists, and retailers.

Apple's got iTunes, Sony/BMG have Connect, Amazon's thrown in their hat (which is different from their new eBook store for their new Kindle product (which i think is brilliant). Then there is Rhapsody/Real Player stores, music.yahoo.com, Walmart.com, Napster, V-Cast, 360 Audio, Windowsmedia and the list goes on an on. And that's just the legitimate stuff. And each retailer tries to lock you in with requiring you to load their download management software (read tracking mechanism).

So will consumers only flock to the easiest place to get what they want when they want it, or will retailers follow the Apple/Amazon model and rope them in with software, or mobile kiosks in their hands (cell phones), pockets (wi-fi enabled mp3 players) and briefcases (ltd web-enabled e-books). That future has yet to be written. Apples (iPhone and iTunes) strategy has been a mix of openness and proprietary approaches. Meaning, that you can buy music (limitations on DRM free), and their iPhone can't load/play all types digital media. And Amazon's Kindle, while a visionary approach to book selling, it has a very limited approach to web access and now PDF reading capability. Clearly that's because they want it to be a book, and not a web app. That will work for a limited audience, but not everybody.

I think Google will eventually weigh in on this (with their considerable mass). They will emphasize their openness of applications and access. They already have a music listing service - you can see it when you search for any music artist (it is not holistic). They have a book search tool as well. They have a purchasing service with Google Checkout. So you put the pieces together.

Now back to the music I mean subject at hand. All this has and will continue to have a profound effect on what music actually gets made, and produced. Democrotazation in music is good only when you can actually find and then buy what you like. I'd love to find some "house" dance music mixed back and forth for legitimate download. So if anyone knows where I could do that, please forward the link.

A very good article on Wired sites David Byrne (musical genius in my humble opinion) on whats going on, and what both artists and labels will be doing in the future. Its not bleak, but worth reading. Here is a salient except from it as he discusses the standard label contract with artists:

Next is what I'll call the standard distribution deal. This is more or less what I lived with for many years as a member of the Talking Heads. The record company bankrolls the recording and handles the manufacturing, distribution, press, and promotion. The artist gets a royalty percentage after all those other costs are repaid. The label, in this scenario, owns the copyright to the recording. Forever.

There's another catch with this kind of arrangement: The typical pop star often lives in debt to their record company and a host of other entities, and if they hit a dry spell they can go broke. Michael Jackson, MC Hammer, TLC — the danger of debt and overextension is an old story.

Obviously, the cost of these services, along with the record company's overhead, accounts for a big part of CD prices. You, the buyer, are paying for all those trucks, those CD plants, those warehouses, and all that plastic. Theoretically, as many of these costs go away, they should no longer be charged to the consumer — or the artist. Sure, many of the services traditionally provided by record labels under the standard deal are now being farmed out. Press and publicity, digital marketing, graphic design — all are often handled by smaller, independent firms. But he who pays the piper calls the tune. If the record company pays the subcontractors, then the record company ultimately decides who or what has priority. If they "don't hear a single," they can tell you your record isn't coming out.

So what happens when online sales eliminate many of these expenses? Look at iTunes: $10 for a "CD" download reflects the cost savings of digital distribution, which seems fair — at first. It's certainly better for consumers. But after Apple takes its 30 percent, the royalty percentage is applied and the artist — surprise! — is no better off.

Not coincidentally, the issues here are similar to those in the recent Hollywood writers' strike.

Will recording artists band together and go on strike?
The rest of the article includes conversations with Brian Eno and other music foward (and backard) thinkers.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all

Bush orders agencies to appoint 'performance improvement officers' (11/14/07) -- www.GovernmentExecutive.com

Some agencies think that the plans to score well on the PMA is a strategy in itself. While other agencies think that having a budget is a portfolio strategy (i.e. rollup of many OMB 300s), and some agencies use Enterprise Architectures (and transition plans) as their strategy. (I name no names for a reason).

Nonetheless, setting strategic direction is not just a one time or annual exercise. There is the ongoin monitoring, governing, and the associated course corrections that come with understanding the feedback recieved from performance measurement systems. Hopefully, this first step of appointing performance improvement officers will come with a more standard approach to monitoring and measuring performance on a project, program, department and agency level.

FROM GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE:
President Bush has issued an executive order requiring heads of federal agencies to set clear annual goals, lay out specific plans for achieving them, and designate "performance improvement officers" to assess progress toward meeting the goals and report on it to the public. With the order, issued Tuesday and detailed at a press briefing today, the Bush administration hopes to establish a lasting legacy for its management improvement agenda.

The performance improvement officers will be required to oversee agencies' "strategic plans, annual performance plans and annual performance reports as required by law," the order states. The officers also will review the goals of agency programs to determine if they are "sufficiently aggressive toward full achievement of the purposes of the program," and "realistic in light of authority and resources assigned to the specified agency personnel."

"The goal is greater effectiveness during this administration and beyond," said Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget.
Robert Shea, OMB's associate director for management, said the position of performance improvement officer could be assigned to a career employee in order to establish continuity through the next administration, although a final decision has not been made. If a political appointee is named to the role, Shea said, there must be a career official in place that is capable of carrying on the initiative during the next administration.

The full article can be read here: Bush orders agencies to appoint 'performance improvement officers' (11/14/07) -- www.GovernmentExecutive.com

Middle-Class Dream Eludes African American Families

This article makes one pause and take stock. Why is it that such a large portion of middle class black folk are NOT doing as well as their parents? It seems almost unAmerican. This article unfortunately doesn't answer that question. But some hypothoses may touch on affirmative action roll backs, the lack of cultural support of African Americans outside the church (ie. declining membership in NAACP), or the continued fragmentation of society in general (not just black society).

Certainly the article is worth looking at. Clearly a strategy for dealing with this is necessary and something beyond the 'rising tide raises all boats' theory.


Middle-Class Dream Eludes African American Families

Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage

Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage

Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
Research Findings Will Help Companies Leverage Compliance to Optimize Shareholder Value
MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was introduced, the compliance strategy for many companies was simply to apply a short-term fix and meet requirements. Five years later, more and more companies are seeking ways to turn compliance into a competitive advantage. Jefferson Wells, a rapidly growing, global provider of accounting and finance-related services, was the Research Champion for a cutting-edge APQC research study that uncovered several key initiatives that will help companies leverage compliance investments into improved business performance and shareholder value.
Today, Jefferson Wells is prereleasing the results of the research study titled, “Leveraging SOX to Optimize Shareholder Value.” The APQC best practices report includes details of several key initiatives that help companies leverage compliance into a strategic advantage and is now available for download from the Jefferson Wells Web site at www.jeffersonwells.com.
“Having performed more than 4,000 Sarbanes-Oxley engagements for our clients, our Jefferson Wells team was perfectly positioned to translate our SOX expertise into valuable quantitative and qualitative input for the research study,” said Rebecca Albarelli, solutions director of finance operations for Jefferson Wells. “It has been our experience that the companies that take full advantage of their compliance efforts have reduced costs, improved competitiveness, increased process efficiency and reduced overall business risk. It’s great to see this research study validate our own findings.”
As the Research Champion in the APQC study, Jefferson Wells worked with compliance leaders from the study’s best-practice partners: Intel, Marathon Oil, Microsoft and WellPoint. These successful, multi-billion dollar companies served as examples of companies that recognized early on that SOX could yield benefits beyond compliance. This research uncovered several initiatives that leading companies implemented to leverage compliance into a competitive advantage. Below are eight of the key initiatives that Jefferson Wells and APQC recommend companies implement. More details about these initiatives and the other key findings are available in the full research report.
8 Key Initiatives to Leverage Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
1. Become an Early Adopter. By not delaying compliance, companies can better leverage resources, implement continuous process improvements and develop enterprise risk management methodology.
2. Have an Opportunistic Approach. By approaching SOX as a broader business opportunity to improve processes rather than an ad hoc tactical problem, organizations can manage risk holistically across the organization and improve compliance and business performance.
3. Integrate Processes. Rather than simply having an “audit cop,” companies should bring governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) together to create a strategic partnership within the organization that will create a sustainable process.
4. Account for Change. By embedding SOX into the business plan, companies will ensure compliance programs are sustainable and can continuously evolve with changing business requirements.
5. Empower Process Owners. Approaching compliance as a business process will empower process owners to ensure they play a key role in the compliance process and understand how it fits into the overall business plan.
6. Identify Annual Metrics. As with any business process, identifying annual metrics and particularly significant cost drivers will help the organization ensure the compliance process is on track.
7. Utilize a Variety of Methodologies. To successfully leverage compliance for ongoing process improvements, companies should consider Business Process Management, Total Quality Management, Performance Improvement, Benchmarking and Knowledge Management methodologies.
8. Realign Roles and Responsibilities. Define the role of each individual and ensure responsibilities are in line with companywide processes.
“While many organizations focus on the requirement to be SOX compliant, this APQC research reveals that best-practice organizations not only improved the compliance process but took a leadership role in the organization, thereby leveraging and enhancing their roles as strategic business partners rather than mere ‘compliance police’,” said Sebastian Francis, market developer, APQC.
Jefferson Wells also will participate in several APQC-sponsored Webinars. Details on dates, times and registration will be posted on the Jefferson Wells Web site, www.jeffersonwells.com, as they become available.