Corporate Strategy refers to the methods with which an organization achieves its goals. In the world of corporate strategy, the development of strategy is the third in a three step process, in this order: Corporate vision defines the state the organization wants to be in over the long term. Corporate goals define the metrics to which the company wishes to strive, … [Read more...]
A corporate goal is an specific, measurable objective toward which an organization channels its efforts. Goals support a vision or mission statement. In strategic planning, the establishment of corporate goals comes right after the development of corporate vision and mission statements. These documents lay the groundwork for determining the more specific goals that an … [Read more...]
In today's ultra-competitive business environment, strategic planning is more than ever a necessary tool to growing a successful business. Even large companies are not immune to sharp downturns and failed strategic plans. Strategic planning is a process that results in the development of a strategic plan (really!). The strategic planning model in use by businesses and … [Read more...]
Many brilliant strategies fail. It doesn't take long to think of names like J.C. Penney, Blackberry, and Kodak. The policies developed by the management team sounded good, but sometimes they just don't translate into results. Policy deployment is the implementation of a corporate strategy, which probably plays at least some role in most corporate failures. Therefore, … [Read more...]
DMAIC (pronouned "Demayik") is an acronym from Six Sigma methodology that stands for: Define Measure Analyze Improve Control It is the road map for project managers to improve existing work processes. If there are any methods or practices that could use improvement at your company, DMAIC is the ticket to superstardom at your organization. Define When a … [Read more...]
A force field analysis is a decision making tool which clarifies the advantages and disadvantages of making a decision. It is an important tool for project managers and executives, and basically anyone who needs to get a firm grasp of the underlying issues before making a big decision. It's pretty basic. In fact, it's so simple you might wonder why it has a … [Read more...]
Six Sigma is the latest buzzword in project quality management circles. If you're not quite sure what it all means, or what the result is, here are 10 facts about Six Sigma: Six Sigma can be implemented in individual business units, rather than the whole firm. Ideally Six Sigma is company wide and integrated into existing systems. The quantitative, metric driven … [Read more...]
Six Sigma is a program to increase product quality in a production process. It is ideally suited to manufacturing processes which produce high volumes of products, but the concepts are relevant to any industry. Even in our engineering consulting firm, Six Sigma concepts are quite valuable to assessing and improving the quality of reports and data that is submitted to … [Read more...]
In any company, quality management is essential to ensure a good product or service to the customer/client. For engineers, in particular, quality is at the top of the list. But you'd be surprised how many poor project quality practices I've seen. Does your organization display any of these? Dependence on inspection and rework Reliance on trial and error Rewarding … [Read more...]
If you're a manager interested in increasing the bottom line, you can't afford not to investigate Six Sigma. The benefits are indisputable, as witnessed by the infamous Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, who claimed Six Sigma was directly responsible for $1 billion in yearly savings. But should you implement Six Sigma? Here are six things you should expect from … [Read more...]
