Wjat is a Strategy?
A strategy is both the product and process of the sequence of cognitive steps/phases that result in the decision about a set of courses of action that, if taken today, would lead to some desired but uncertain future end state. Organizational strategy can be categorized as corporate strategy, business/competitive strategy, or functional strategy (which is essentially the tactics for realizing the business/competitive strategies.
What is a Model?
A model is merely a human construct (not the real world) to help us better understand real world systems. In general all models have an information input, an information processor, and an output of expected results.
What is a Strategic Plan?
A strategic plan
What is a Strategic Decision?
A strategic decision is noth the product and process of a sequence of cognitive steps/phases that result in a decision about what actions if taken today would effect the desired changes in some desired but uncertain future state. These decision outcomes are usually contingent on the behaviors of other individuals (or organizations) affected by the decisions' outcomes.
What is a Policy?
A policy is a directive designed to guide the thinking and decisions as well as the actions of managers and their subordinates in implementing a firm's (organization) strategy.
What is Standard Operating Procedure?
A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a policy statement that guides decision-making in the day-to-day operations, activities and interactiosn within the organization. SOPs increase managerial effectiveness through standardizing many routine decisions.
What is a Strategic Option?
A strategic option is a creative alternative action-oriented response to the external situation that an organization faces. Strategic options take advantage of of facts about actors, trends, opportunities and threats of the outside world.
What is Resource Mobilization?
Resource mobilization is the managerial process of building valuable contacts and networks, garnering the interests, support, and in-kind contributions of people important to your organization's effort in securing funding to develop the capability and capacity needed in successful implementation of the strategies to achieve the strategic objectives.
What is Descriptive Analytics?
Descriptive analytics is the simplest class of analytics which includes predictive and prescriptive analytics. It allows you to condense large amounts of data into smaller, more useful nuggets of information. The purpose of descriptive analytics is to summarize what happened. Most raw data, especially simulation data or big data, are not suitable for human consumption, but the information we derive from the data is.
What is Business Capability?
Business capability refers to a firm's limiting capacity to deploy resources; or the capacity to more efficiently and effectively choose and implement the activities necessary to produce and deliver products and services to customers. Functional capacities are necessary for creating and managing policies, governance mechanisms (i.e., legislation), strategies, and programs.
What is Organizational Capability?
An organization capability definition expresses the potential capacity to deploy resources, or efficiently and effectively assign organization activities to the right “actors” (socio-technical systems) in creating and delivering value to customers. Organization capability is defined operationally, in terms of the dynamic relationships between organizational culture, the outcomes of operational processes, institutional arrangements, structure, and the organization’s resources. The capability strength levels of organizations (institutions) is central to the achievement of strategic development goals. Organization capability defines “what” a business does at its core, and can be denoted by the level-1 functions of the organization.
What is Business Agility?
Business agility is a concept that typically refers to the capacity of an organization to adapt rapidly and cost effectively in response to changes in market conditions and environmental factors. Agility is concept that incorporation the ideas of flexibility, balance, adaptability, and coordination under one umbrella. Business agility can be maintained through continuous capacity development to enhance organizational development and institutional strengths.
What is Organizational Performance?
This refers to a combination of the effectiveness and the efficiency with which the organization fulfills its intended purpose. Effectiveness is the degree to which the organization's objectives are achieved. Efficiency is a comparison of what is produced (or what's been achieved) and the resources used (money, time, labor, etc.).
What is Environmental Sustainability?
This is a measure of the impact of any strategic response action or interaction that is focused on meeting the needs of the present (current) stakeholders without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The PIs measure the effects of a strategy on the economic, social, and environmental performance that is in conformance with the requirements of sustainable development/growth.
What is Corporate Governance?
This refers to the structure and values of an organization which determine corporate direction and performance. The performance indicators (PIs) measure the effects of strategy on the strengths of institutional arrangements with legal, regulatory, social institutions, and ethical environmental factors in the company's stakeholder community.
What is an Impact?
An impact is an actual or intended chnage in human development (condition) as measured by people's behavior or well-being.
What is an Outcome?
An outcome is an actual or intended change in development conditions that interventions (initiatives and projects) are seeking to support. It usually relates to changes in an institution's ability to work better and fulfill its mandate.
What is an Output?
An output is a short-term development result produced by project and non-project activities. It relates to the completion (rather than the conduct) of activities and is a product and/or service that make achievement of outcomes possible.
What is an Institution?
An institution is a "complext of norms and behaviors that persist over time by serving collectively valued purposes" (Uphoff, Norman; 1986).
Using the above definition, a distinction can be made between concrete and abstract institutions.
Using the above definition, a distinction can be made between concrete and abstract institutions.
- Concrete Institutions - These are entities (actors or social systems) that are commonly valued and have a certain durability; they include at the national level government, schools, law courts, banks, etc. These are the actors involved in a (development) setting, and whose positions and (potential) role analyses can be of great importance to of development of interventions (initiatives). Essentially, a concrete institution is an organization that has acquired a certain degree of value and stability, so that it may be called durable.
- Abstract Institutions - These are the factors that influence the setting and set the boundaries for development activities. They are durable and commonly accepted; with the acceptance based on an agreement, common understanding in society, a contract, or even force.
What is an Organization?
An organization is a complex of people and/or groups that, according to commonly agreed rules and procedures, strive to realize one or more pre-set objectives.
Organizations are formed for almost any type of objective or activity that requires the input of several people. An organization does not have to be formal; with written constitutions, objectives, procedures, etc., as long as there is common understandingamong the membersabout the objectives and the way to achieve them.
Organizations are formed for almost any type of objective or activity that requires the input of several people. An organization does not have to be formal; with written constitutions, objectives, procedures, etc., as long as there is common understandingamong the membersabout the objectives and the way to achieve them.
What is Capacity Development?
Capacity development as the process through which individuals, organizations and societies obtain, strengthen and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time. Simply put, if capacity is the means to plan and achieve, then capacity development describes the ways to those means. Capacity development must bring about transformation that is generated and sustained over time from within.
What is Capacity Development?Question 21
Capacity development as the process through which individuals, organizations and societies obtain, strengthen and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time.
What is Business Planning?
Business planing and plans provide structure for ideas in order to initially define the business. The business plan is critical if the business is seeking funding.
What is complexity?
Complexity is the condition of having many diverse and autonomous but interrelated and interdependent components or parts linked through many (dense) interconnections. In the context of an organization, complexity is associated with (1) interrelationships of the individuals, (2) their effect on the organization, and (3) the organization's interrelationships with its external environment.
What is Theory of Constraints (TOC)?
TOC is a systemic approach to analyzing organizations as systems, It enables improvements to the business organization to be viewed strategically (rather than financially, and/or functionally) by considering the organization as a whole.TOC unlike Six Sigma, Lean and TQM works on the understanding that it is the whole system that determines success, so it is not appropriate to introduce improvements to a single area of the business without assessing the impact on the whole organization. From systems thinking perspective a single area of a business cannot be the focus of strategy and it is only when the scope of a particular type of strategy is expanded to include more elements of the business that it is able to reflect the needs of the business. Such thinking is in line with the view that it is also not a particular function that allows a business to be successful, but the way they all work together.
What is Capacity?
Capacity is the maximum number of goods that can be produced (in case of manufacturing), or stored, or service offering per unit time.
What is an Assumption?
Assumptions are premises, conditions, events or attributes that are or must be taken as 'given' or true by any individual or group in exploring a strategic issue or problem. They are those data points, facts, or beliefs which in the view of individuals represent elements of the world around them.
What are Cause-Effect Understandings?
In the course of resolving an issue or problem individuals generate understandings of how various events/conditions and concepts relate together in a causal manner. These beliefs are like the causal links which comprise cognitive maps except that they are specific to a particular strategic problem/issue.
What are Predictive Judgments?
Predictive judgments are judgments that involve assessments of future events surrounding a strategic issue or problem.
Some examples of predictive judgments include:
Some examples of predictive judgments include:
- Estimates of the likely effects of changes in such variables as marketing expenditures.
- R&D expenses and investment intensity on performance in ROI, cash flow, and/or market share.
- Cash flow projections based current or some desired portfolio.
- Definition of market boundaries.
What is Strategy Completeness?
A strategy is complete to the extent that all of its parts are present and each part is fully developed. There are several properties which a strategy formulation must exhibit in order to assure its completeness.
What is Strategy Consistency?
A strategy is consistent to the extent that its provisions do not conflict with each other or with governing organization objectives and mission. Strategies require consistency in several ways including:
- Internal Consistency:
Items within the strategy formulation do not conflict with each other. - External Consistency:
Items in the strategy formulation do not conflict with external entities. - Traceability
Items in the strategy formulation have clear antecedents in earlier formulations or statements of organization objectives. Particularly on large strategy development initiatives, each item should indicate the item or items in earlier strategy formulations from which it derives.
What is Strategy Feasibility?
A strategy is feasible to the extent that the life-cycle benefits of the expected outcome (target system specified) will exceed the life-cycle costs. Thus, feasibility involves more than verifying that a strategy can be developed which satisfies the functional and performance objectives of the organization. It also implies validating that the specified strategy will be sufficiently maintainable, reliable, and well human-engineered to keep the strategy's life-cycle balance sheet positive. Further, and most importantly, it implies the identification and resolution of any high-risk issues involved, before the commitment of large numbers of people to detailed development. Strategies require feasibility with respect to their human engineering, resource engineering, program engineering, and risk aspects.
What is Capacity?
Capacity is the ability of individuals, institutions, and societies to perform functions, solve problems, and set and achieve objectives in a sustainable manner (UNDP 2007:5).
What Topics are typically covered in business principles and policies?
Issues that are typically covered in business principles and policy statements include:
- Business Integrity
- Business Partnerships
- Community Relations
- Competition
- Compliance
- Consumer Relations
- Employment
- Environment/Health & Safety
- Human Rights
- Product and Service Quality
- Political Activity
What is Organizational Agility?
Organizational agility is the ability of a business to adapt rapidly and cost effectively in response to strategic decisions from the board to pursue a strategic objective. Agility is concept that incorporation the ideas of flexibility, balance, adaptability, and coordination under one umbrella.
What is Architecture?
An architecture is a description that is a specification of the resulting structure/form, from organizing the set of functions of a "system" of interest, that supports and enables the system to effectively achieve its intended mission./purpose. The system of interest can be a building, bridge, business enterprise, software system, enterprise business data, etc.
What is Organizational Culture?
Organizational Culture is the collective behavior of humans who are part of an organization and the meanings that the people attach to their actions, and influence the way that people in the organization think and behave.. Culture includes the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. Culture determines “the way things are done around here” in the organization; this implies “how decisions are made”, “organization and personal values”, “organization practices”, etc. A “culture” affects who gets hired and how they get trained (formally and informally), what behaviors get rewarded, who gets promoted, and virtually all organizational procedures, administrative protocols and policy execution.