Business Strategy

Introduction to the Ansoff matrix
Igor Ansoff, known as the father of strategic management, was a mathematician and business manager. In the 1950s his work was developed and eventually published providing managers and the marketing world with a simple, practical tool that is in use 50 years later.
In essence the Ansoff product/ market matrix is a tool that helps businesses decide their product and market growth strategy.
Ansoff’s product/ market matrix suggests that a business’ attempts to grow depend on whether it markets new or existing products in new or existing markets.
The traditional four box grid or matrix Ansoff model
History – The Product / Market Matrix
Igor Ansoff created the Product / Market diagram in 1957 as a method to classify options for business expansion. The simplisity of this model is that the four strategic options defined can be generically applied to any industry.
This well known marketing tool was first published in the Harvard Business Review (1957) in an article called ‘Strategies for Diversification’. It was consequently published in Ansoff’s book on “Corporate Strategy” in 1965.
About the Ansoff Matrix
It is used by marketers who have objectives for growth. Igor Ansoff’s matrix offers strategic choices to achieve the objectives. There are four main categories for selection.
■Market Penetration
■Market Development
■Product Development
■Business Diversification
The four main categories
Market Penetration (existing markets, existing products):
Here we market our existing products to our existing customers. This means increasing our revenue by, for example, promoting the product, repositioning the brand, and so on. However, the product is not altered and we do not seek any new customers.
Market penetration seeks to achieve four main objectives:
■Maintain or increase the market share of current products – this can be achieved by a combination of competitive pricing strategies, advertising, sales promotion and perhaps more resources dedicated to personal selling
■Secure dominance of growth markets
■Restructure a mature market by driving out competitors; this would require a much more aggressive promotional campaign, supported by a pricing strategy designed to make the market unattractive for competitors
■Increase usage by existing customers. For example by introducing loyalty schemes.

A market penetration marketing strategy is very much about “business as usual”. The business is focusing on markets and products it knows well. It is likely to have good information on competitors and on customer needs. It is unlikely, therefore, that this strategy will require much investment in new market research.
Market Development (new markets, existing products):
Here we market our existing product range in a new market. This means that the product remains the same, but it is marketed to a new audience. Exporting the product, or marketing it in a new region, are examples of market development.
Market development is the name given to a growth strategy where the business seeks to sell its existing products into new markets.

Effective Communication

How to Develop an Effective Communication?
We will now examine the major steps in developing a total communication and promotion programme . The marketing communicators must (1) identify the target audience (2) Determine the communication objectives (3) Design the message and (4) manage and coordinate the total marketing communication process .
Identify the Target Audience
A marketing Communicator must start with a clear target audience in mind. The audience may be potential buyers of the company’s products, current users, deciders, or influence. The audience may be individuals, groups, particular publics or the general public. The target audience will critically influence the communicators decision on what is to be said. How it is to be said, when it is to be said, where is to be said and who is to say it.
The communicators should research the audience’s needs, attitudes, preference and other characteristics as a prelude to setting communication objectives. One of the most important things to establish is the audience’s current image of the object.
Image Analysis
A major part of audience is to assess the audience’s current image of the company, its product, and its competitors. People’s attitudes and actions towards an object are highly conditioned by their beliefs about the object. Image is the set of beliefs, ideas and impressions that a person holds of an object.
The most popular tools for this is the semantic differential. It involves the following steps :
• Developing a set of relevant dimensions
• Reducing the set of relevant dimensions
• Administering the instrument to a sample of respondents
• Averaging the results
• Checking on the image variance
The marketers should now develop a picture of the desired image in contrast to the current image. An organization seeking to change its image must have great patience. Images persistence is explained by the fact that once people have a certain image of an object; they tend to be selective perceivers of further data.
Determining the Communication Objectives
Once the target audience and its characteristics are identified, the marketing communication must determine what response is sought. The ultimate response of course, is purchase. But behavior is the end result of a long process of consumer decision marking. The marketing communicator needs to know how to move the target audience from where it now stands to a higher state of readiness to buy. We will work with the “hierarchy – of – effects “models and described the six buyer – readiness states Awareness, Knowledge, liking, Preference, Conviction, and Possible, depending upon the degree of consumer involvement and the degree of brand differences.
Designing the Message
Having defined the desired audience response, the communicators moves to developing an effective message. Ideally the message should get attention, hold interest, arouse desire and obtain action. In practice, few messages take the consumer all the way from awareness through purchase , but the frame work suggest the desirable qualities .
Managing and Coordinating the Marketing Communication Process
The wide range of communication tools and messages available for reaching the target audience makes it imperative that they be coordinated. Other wise the messages might be ill timed in terms of the availability of goods: they may lack consistency: or they might not be cost effective. Left alone, each manager of a communication resource will fight for more budget irrespective of the relative merits of each tools.
Today companies are moving towards the concepts of coordinated marketing communications. This concept calls for :

- Appointing a marketing communication director who has over all responsibility for the company’s persuasive communication efforts
- Working out a philosophy of the role and the extent to which the different promotional tools are to be used.
- Keeping track of all promotional expenditure by product, promotional tools , stage of product life cycle, and observed effect, as a basis for improving further use of these tolls
- Coordinating the promotional activities and their timing when major campaigns takes place
Coordinate marketing communicates, will produce more consistency in the company’s meaning to its buyers and publics. It places a responsibility in someone’s hand, where none existed before to unify the company carries on. It leads to a total marketing communication strategy aimed at showing how the company can help customers solve their problem.
Marketing communication is one of the four elements of the company’s marketing mix. Marketing must know how to use advertising, sales promotion, publicity and personal selling to communicate the product’s existence and value to the target customer.
The communication process itself consists of nine elements: Sender, receiver, encoding, decoding, message, media, response, feedback, and noise. Market must know how to get through to the target audience in the face of the audience’s tendencies toward selective attentions, distortion and recall.
Effective sales promotion tactics must be employed keeping in mind the target audience’s tastes and preferences. Each and every product offered by the company should have its own individuality and it’s own market share. For example: Lets take Hindustan Lever”s products. It produces shampoos and soaps under different brand names. However each and every product and brand in the same segment carries its own value in the market and commands its own market share. This was made possible only by effective sales promotion tactics.

It identified to the customer as to the uniqueness of every brand although they are in the same category(shampoos). The product’s existence should be known and serve as a value added brand to every customer. Effective advertising is important for the product to reach various markets. Advertising catches the attention of the customer, however if its not going to be effective, its not going to serve the designated purpose. Advertising should be smart and should convey the right message so that it reaches the target audience. Understand that advertising should portray the benefits of the products and not only the features. Consumers tastes and preferences keep changing, so should the benefits of the products.

Follow these eight steps to develop an effective corporate communications plan:
1. Define your goals and desired results.
• What is your strategic purpose with regard to corporate communications?
• What's the tie-in to your organization's business plan?

2. Conduct an audit to determine and evaluate your current communications materials and initiatives. You must determine
• What communications initiatives each department is using
• What each initiative is designed to achieve
• Each initiative's effectiveness

3. Define your overall communications objectives. Such as reinforcing
• Customer service
• Customer loyalty
• Increased sales
• Employee morale and teamwork
• Improved employee retention and recruitment
• Media relations
• A positive corporate image and reputation
• Crisis control

4. Determine which audiences you want to influence. Such as
• Current and prospective customers
• Suppliers
• Current and prospective employees
• Federal, state and local legislators
• Wall Street
• The media.

5. Decide which tools you can use -- and afford -- to achieve your goals and get your points across. Such tools can include:
• Print publications
• Online communications
• Manuals
• Meeting and conference materials
• Media and public relations materials
• Marketing and sales materials
• Legal and legislative documents
• Employee and customer newsletters
• Corporate identity materials -- logos, print and packaging,
• Quarterly and annual reports
• Signage
• Presentations
• Website content
• Blogs
• Internet initiatives

6. Estimate the cost of each initiative, then establish a budget.

7. Establish your timetable.

8. Include methods in your plan to periodically measure and evaluate results, then, at year's end, evaluate the program's overall results.
A written communications plan is as much a defense against chaos, confusion and wasted energy as it is a business priority.
Once in place, your plan will establish priorities, fend off last-minute and inappropriate demands and bring a semblance of order to a hectic job.

Writing a Thesis

In some ways, writing a thesis is no different than writing other academic papers, and much of the advice that appears elsewhere in this site will be relevant to the thesis writer. Still, as any thesis writer will tell you, there are some important differences between writing a thesis and writing a course paper. Moreover, because we feel that the best advice comes from those who've actually "been there," the advice we offer here is gleaned from Dartmouth students involved in the thesis-writing process.
Sizing Up Your Topic
Most thesis writers caution that topics are almost always initially too big and try to include too much. Some tips to remember:
 Make your topic broad enough to address an important issue, yet narrow enough to address that issue thoroughly in the time allotted. You will want, in six months' time, to feel as if you know just about everything about your topic.
 Understand the limitations of your particular situation. For instance, if your project requires lab work, know how much you can reasonably expect to accomplish in the time you have.
 Understand that your topic will only seem bigger once you get into your research. If your topic is interesting and rich, new issues and new ideas will always emerge, so, focus your ideas tightly as soon as you are able. If you can't summarize your argument in a single paragraph, your topic is too big.
 Think about pertinent classes you have taken or may want to consider taking while you are working on your thesis. Theses are very time-consuming, so you may appreciate being able to tie it into your other academic work (both because of the light your research may shed on your other classes and because of the light your classes may shed on your research).
Creating a Timetable
Most students agree that you should begin your preliminary reading during the summer before your senior year, and that you should count on reading right up until the time you finish your thesis. You obviously will want to get a good sense of the context for your thesis early on, but know that you will continue to find pertinent material throughout the entire time you are working on your thesis.
Most students reported doing the majority of their focused reading and research during their senior fall. As to how many hours you might budget for this research: one science student estimated that he put in as many as 25 hours a week.
If you are writing a thesis that depends on physical research and analysis, thoroughly discuss your timetable with your advisor. Things you may not consider, like equipment availability, may be out of your control and may dictate your timetable.
As to the actual writing of the thesis: while most thesis writers were writing as they read (at least to take notes or to write short summaries of existing scholarship), they found that they did the majority of their writing during the winter term. Spring term is best reserved for editing and touching-up - things that take much longer for a thesis than they do for a regular research paper.
Reading Strategies
It's important to understand and accept that you are not going to know exactly what you are looking for in the beginning.
Initially, you should read to explore. As you read, you will find that certain aspects of your topic interest you more than others, and that certain approaches offer more opportunities for new scholarly work.
Even if you are doing scientific experimentation, you need to be flexible in the beginning and willing to modify the initial question you're trying to answer. As one science major told us, "I had specific questions to answer when I started. As I got further, those questions were refined and others evolved."
When it comes to secondary sources, pay attention to the footnotes. This strategy will help you to contextualize your ideas. It will also tip you off to marginal issues in the field that have not been overly explored.
Writing as You Research
Perhaps the most useful tip we can give you is to write all through the research process. As you read, take notes. Write summaries or short reactions to everything you read. It's also a good idea to keep a journal. Not only will you find that you can cut and paste some of these notes and summaries into your final project, but you'll also find that you've kept track of where your information came from. If you have a good sense of what sources provided you with what information, you can save yourself a lot of time.
In short, don't view the research process as entirely separate from the writing process. Whether you are writing in the Humanities, Social Sciences, or Sciences, you should begin drafting perhaps even before you finish your preliminary research. Granted, much will have to be changed down the road, but the writing process itself will help you to answer some of your questions and figure out where you need to do more research. One student notes that "Most ideas won't coalesce just by reading without writing." Writing throughout the research process keeps your thought process active and records your responses to new ideas as you're having them.
Taming "The Beast"
Before they begin to research and to write, many students think of a thesis as just a really big paper. It is indeed usually much larger in size than anything you will have tackled before. But while the sheer bulk of the project is overwhelming, the nature of the thesis is actually more complex than a matter of size. As one student put it, "There is absolutely no comparison at all between even a 30 page research paper and 'The Beast.' It's just not in any way comparable."
There are few "tricks" to tame the "thesis beast," but what students recommend over and over is starting early and having a structured work plan. Breaking your thesis up into smaller components of things "to do" and things "to say" is the easiest way to make the project more manageable. Your "to do" plan is your list of tasks: meetings with professors, due dates, books you need to read, articles you need to find, and so on. Your "to say" plan is your list of argumentative goals for your thesis - what your points are and how you plan to make them.
If your "to say" plan starts to look unwieldy, think of each chapter of your thesis as a course paper with its own discreet argument. But give yourself enough time in the drafting process to make sure that your chapters are connected by good, strong transition paragraphs, and that each chapter contributes clearly and coherently to your larger argument.
Remember to work closely with your advisor at every step of the process. You can also make an appointment at the RWIT, to talk through your ideas at any point.
Writing Your Thesis Sentence
Like all papers, your senior thesis needs to have a strong thesis sentence. Look at our advice on Developing Your Ideas and Finding a Thesis for good, basic information. Also make sure that your thesis:
 Is a complete, declarative, beautifully written sentence. Don't express your thesis as a question, and don't merely state your topic.
 Is an arguable point. If your thesis sentence doesn't have controversy attached to it, then your thesis project will not be very interesting.
 Is well focused - not too big, and not too small.
 Is relevant to your research.
 Points to what's original, interesting, or unusual about your particular argument or research. The reader should want to read your work.
Considering Structure
When considering a structure for your thesis, be sure to outline, outline, outline. As you do your reading, you'll begin to see relationships between ideas. Note those connections as you go, and attempt your first outline as soon as you think you begin to glimpse even the vaguest form for your paper. Of course these outlines will change as your thinking evolves - but each outline you create will be helpful in keeping track of the evolution of your ideas, and in determining the shape of the argument you eventually settle on.
As we've said earlier, once you have your outline you may find it easier to think in terms of chapters rather than in terms of the thesis as a whole. You may even find that chapters are good units to try to research, write and edit one at a time. However, we will remind you again that it is important that you leave significant time in the writing process to synthesize these smaller units into a unified and coherent document.
Questions to Guide You in the Revision Process
Most students who we talked to recommended at least two full drafts of your thesis, as well as numerous complex revisions of problem spots and individual chapters. Here we provide a number of questions you might ask yourself as you revise, to ensure that your revision process is thorough and effective:
 Do your argument and purpose remain clear throughout the paper?
 Is your tone appropriate?
 Are you considerate to your reader? Appreciative of her level of knowledge/familiarity with your topic?
 Have you given your reader a sense of the current views on your topic so that he has a context in which to consider your argument?
 Does your paper's introduction clearly introduce your idea? Explain its significance? Provide background information? Attract the interest of your audience? Provide a clear plan for the paper? Present your thesis clearly?
 Does the body of your paper cover your major points in a logical order?
 Is each of your major points supported by the appropriate amount of evidence and analysis?
 Do you make clear transitions as you move from point to point?
 Does your conclusion follow logically from your introduction and body?
Remember: advisors are crucial to the revising process. Who better to spot the problems in your argument than a scholar in the field? And don't hesitate to ask others to look at your thesis. Not only can your advisor have good advice for you, other professors and other thesis-writers in your department may be very helpful. RWIT can also set you up with a tutor who can advise you throughout the revision process.
The Worst Part About Writing a Thesis
In general, students complain that thesis writing is time consuming and frustrating:
 "I'm sure you'll have a moment when you're editing one small part of one chapter and you'll stop and can't even remember what you thesis is, and you'll realize that you're so up to your neck in the grindstone (excuse the mixed metaphor) that you've lost the big picture. It can be real drudgery at times."
 "The time. There's not enough of it, and the added burden of classes makes life tough in winter and spring."
 "It's hanging over you all senior year. Even if you are right on schedule, the thesis is not like an exam or a paper that is over and done with at the end of the term. Until you turn it in, it's always there waiting for you."
The Best Part About Writing a Thesis
While writing a thesis can be frustrating, it's also a very rewarding experience. First, writing a thesis presents you the challenge and the opportunity of pursuing a an intriguing intellectual question. Second, they allow you to work in close proximity with an advisor. And finally, there's that great feeling of satisfaction when the job is done.
Here are some testimonials:
 "The entire project has been amazing - knowing you've accomplished (or will accomplish) such a major project is wonderful, and knowing that these ideas are yours is satisfying. Working with professors has also been a highlight - I've gotten very close to several professors as a result."
 "You have a substantial piece of work that's all yours at the end of the process, and you can impress your friends at the presentation. If you stay on top of it and write as you read, your thesis doesn't have to take away from your senior-year experience."
 "I'm really glad I wrote a thesis and I'm really proud of it. It's more for you, and maybe your advisors, than anything else. But don't do it unless you really love your topic and are really crazy about the idea."
 "I think it's worth it, even if it's a tough experience sometimes. I think I'm a better person for having done it, and I think later on in life when I need to tackle something really big, I'll be ready."

Logistics Strategy

What Is a Logistics Strategy?
When a company creates a logistics strategy it is defining the service levels at which its logistics organization is at its most cost effective. Because supply chains are constantly changing and evolving, a company may develop a number of logistics strategies for specific product lines, specific countries or specific customers.
Why Implement a Logistics Strategy?
The supply chain constantly changes and that will affect any logistics organization. To adapt to the flexibility of the supply chain, companies should develop and implement a formal logistics strategy. This will allow a company to identify the impact of imminent changes and make organizational or functional changes to ensure service levels are not reduced.
What Is Involved in Developing a Logistic Strategy?
A company can start to develop a logistics strategy by looking at four distinct levels of their logistics organization.
• Strategic: By examining the company’s objectives and strategic supply chain decisions, the logistics strategy should review how the logistics organization contributes to those high-level objectives.
• Structural: The logistics strategy should examine the structural issues of the logistics organization, such as the optimum number of warehouses and distribution centers or what products should be produced at a specific manufacturing plant.
• Functional: Any strategy should review how each separate function in the logistics organization is to achieve functional excellence.
• Implementation: The key to developing a successful logistics strategy is how it is to be implemented across the organization. The plan for implementation will include development or configuration of an information system, introduction of new policies and procedures and the development of a change management plan.
Components to Examine when Developing a Logistics Strategy
When examining the four levels of logistics organization, all components of the operation should be examined to ascertain whether any potential cost benefits can be achieved. There are different component areas for each company but the list should at least include the following:
• Transportation: Does the current transportation strategies help service levels?
• Outsourcing: What outsourcing is used in the logistics function? Would a partnership with a third party logistics company improve service levels?
• Logistics Systems: Do the current logistics systems provide the level of data that is required to successfully implement a logistics strategy or are new systems required?
• Competitors: Review what the competitors offer. Can changes to the company’s customer service improve service levels?
• Information: Is the information that drives the logistics organization real-time and accurate? If the data is inaccurate then the decisions that are made will be in error.
• Strategy Review: Are the objectives of the logistics organization in line with company objectives and strategies.
A successfully implemented logistics strategy is important for companies who are dedicated to keeping service levels at the highest levels possible despite changes that occur in the supply chain.

Statistical Analysis , SPSS

SPSS is a computer program used for statistical analysis and is also the name of the company.SPSS (originally, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) was released in its first version in 1968, and is among the most widely used programs for statistical analysis in social science. It is used by market researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, and others. In addition to statistical analysis, data management (case selection, file reshaping, creating derived data) and data documentation (a metadata dictionary is stored with the data) are features of the base software. The many features of SPSS are accessible via pull-down menus (see image) or can be programmed with a proprietary 4GL command syntax language. Command syntax programming has the benefits of reproducibility and handling complex data manipulations and analyses. The pull-down menu interface also generates command syntax, though the default settings have to be changed to make the syntax visible to the user. Programs can be run interactively, or unattended using the supplied Production Job Facility. Additionally a "macro" language can be used to write command language subroutines and a Python programmability extension can access the information in the data dictionary and data and dynamically build command syntax programs. The Python programmability extension, introduced in SPSS 14, replaced the less functional SAX Basic "scripts" for most purposes, although SaxBasic remains available. From version 14 onwards SPSS can be driven externally by a Python or a VB.NET program using supplied "plug-ins". SPSS places constraints on internal file structure, data types, data processing and matching files, which together considerably simplify programming. SPSS datasets have a 2-dimensional table structure where the rows typically represent cases (such as individuals or households) and the columns represent measurements (such as age, sex or household income). Only 2 data types are defined, numeric and text (or "string"). All data processing occurs sequentially case-by-case through the file. Files can be matched one-to-one and one-to-many, but not many-to-many. SPSS can read and write data from ASCII text files (including hierarchical files), other statistics packages, spreadsheets and databases. SPSS can read and write to external relational database tables via ODBC and SQL. Statistical output is to a proprietary file format (*.spo file, supporting pivot tables) for which, in addition to the in-package viewer, a stand-alone reader is provided. The proprietary ouput can be exported to text or Microsoft word. Alternatively output can be captured as data (using the OMS command) as text, tab-delimited text, HTML, XML, SPSS dataset or a variety of graphic image formats (JPEG, PNG, BMP and EMF). Statistics included in the base software:

Descriptive statistics: Cross tabulation, Frequencies, Descriptives, Explore, Descriptive Ratio Statistics
Bivariate statistics: Means, t-test, ANOVA, Correlation (bivariate, partial, distances), Nonparametric tests
Prediction for numerical outcomes: Linear regression
Prediction for identifying groups: Factor analysis, cluster analysis (two-step, K-means, hierarchical), Discriminant
Add-on modules provide additional capabilities. The available modules are:

SPSS Programmability Extension (added in version 14). Allows Python programming control of SPSS.
SPSS Data Validation (added in version 14). Allows programming of logical checks and reporting of suspicious values.
SPSS Regression Models - Logistic regression, ordinal regression, multinomial logistic regression, and mixed models (multilevel models).
SPSS Advanced Models - Multivariate GLM and repeated measures ANOVA (removed from base system in version 14).
SPSS Classification Trees. Creates classification and decision trees for identifying groups and predicting behaviour.
SPSS Tables. Allows user-defined control of output for reports.
SPSS Exact Tests. Allows statistical testing on small samples.
SPSS Categories
SPSS Trends™
SPSS Conjoint
SPSS Missing Value Analysis. Simple regression-based imputation.
SPSS Map
SPSS Complex Samples (added in Version 12). Adjusts for stratification and clustering and other sample selection biases.
SPSS Server is a version of SPSS with a client/server architecture. It has some features not available in the desktop version, one example is scoring functions.

Versions
SPSS version 16.0 runs under Windows, Mac OS 10.4 and earlier, and Linux. The graphical user interface is written in Java. The Mac OS version is provided as an Universal binary, making it fully compatible with both PowerPC and Intel-based Mac hardware. Prior to SPSS 16.0 different versions of SPSS were available for Windows, Mac OS X and Unix. The Windows version was updated more frequently, and had more features, than the versions for other operating systems. SPSS version 13.0 for Mac OS X was not compatible with Intel-based Macintosh computers, due to the Rosetta emulation software causing errors in calculations. SPSS 15.0 for Windows needed a downloadable hotfix to be installed in order to be compatible with Windows Vista.

SPSS Inc.
The program SPSS is sold by SPSS Inc., a company that sells a wide range of software for market research, survey research and statistical analysis. These include AMOS for structural equation modeling, SamplePower for power analysis, AnswerTree used for market segmentation, SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys to code open-ended responses, Quantum for cross-tabulation, Clementine for data mining and mrInterview for CATI and online surveys. The company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

See also
List of statistical packages
Comparison of statistical packages
References
SPSS 15.0 Command Syntax Reference 2006, SPSS Inc., Chicago Ill.
Raynald Levesque, SPSS Programming and Data Management: A Guide for SPSS and SAS Users, Fourth Edition (2007), SPSS Inc., Chicago Ill. PDF
External links
SPSS Inc Homepage - support page includes a searchable database of solutions (login using "guest" as User name and Password)
Raynald Levesque's SPSS Tools - library of worked solutions for SPSS programmers (FAQ, command syntax; macros; scripts; python)
Archives of SPSSX-L Discussion - SPSS Listserv active since 1996. Discusses programming, statistics and analysis
UCLA ATS Resources to help you learn SPSS - Resources for learning SPSS
UCLA ATS Techical Reports - Report 1 compares Stata, SAS and SPSS against R (R is a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics).
Using SPSS For Data Analysis - SPSS Tutorial from Harvard
SPSS Developer Central - Support for developers of applications using SPSS, including materials and examples of the Python programmability feature
SPSS Wiki - A wiki on SPSS statistics (since December 2005)
SPSS Log - A blog posting answers on SPSS questions (since March 2006)
SPSS Experts - Profiles of six SPSS experts around the world
comp.soft-sys.stat.spss - SPSS Usenet newsgroup via Google Groups
SPSS Forum - A forum for SPSS users (since June 2007)
GNU PSPP - PSPP is a free SPSS replacement

Business Process Improvement

Business Process Improvement (BPI) is a systematic approach to help any organization optimize its underlying processes to achieve more efficient results.
The organization may be a for-profit business, a non-profit organization, a government agency, or any other ongoing concern. Most BPI techniques were developed and refined in the manufacturing era, though many of the methodologies (like Six Sigma) have been successfully adapted to work in the predominantly service-based economy of today. While there are differences in the challenges that each type of industry poses, the fact remains that the core principles of BPI and how they apply to business improvement remain portable across industries and functions.
It should be noted that BPI focuses on "doing things right" more than it does on "doing the right thing". In essence, BPI attempts to reduce variation and/or wastage in processes, so that the desired outcome can be achieved with better utilisation of resources.
BPI works by:
• Defining the organization's strategic goals and purposes (Who are we, what do we do, and why do we do it?)
• Determining the organization's customers (or stakeholders) (Who do we serve?)
• Aligning the business processes to realize the organization's goals (How do we do it better?)
The goal of BPI is a radical change in the performance of an organization, rather than a series of incremental changes (compare TQM). Michael Hammer and James Champy popularized this radical model in their book ‘’Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution’’ (1993). Hammer and Champy stated that the process was not meant to impose trivial changes, such as 10 percent improvements or 20 percent cost reductions, but was meant to be revolutionary (see breakthrough solution).
Unfortunately, many businesses in the 1990s used the phrase "reengineering" as a euphemism for layoffs. Other organizations did not make radical changes in their business processes and did not make significant gains, and, therefore, wrote the process off as a failure. Yet, others have found that BPI is a valuable tool in a process of gradual change to a business.
Roles
There are four roles within a business Management system: Business Leader, Process Owner, Operational Manager, and Process Operator. The responsibilities of each of these roles are unique, but work together as a system. Some employees in an organization may perform as many as all four of these roles over the course of a day, week, month, or year.
Business Leader
Business Leaders are responsible to create the Business plans (including strategic plans created during the Strategic planning process) and associated resourcing plans necessary to cause the organization to be successful.
Senior leaders (Corporate) are responsible to define the customer and business objectives the organization needs to achieve in order to be successful. This process includes overseeing the development of the organization’s mission, vision, and values.
Lower leader levels (Business Unit and Functional) are responsible for translating senior leaders' business objectives into business objectives that make sense for their level and that support the accomplishment of the senior leaders' business objectives.

PDCA was made popular by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, who is considered by many to be the father of modern quality control; however it was always referred to by him as the "Shewhart cycle." Later in Deming's career, he modified PDCA to "Plan, Do, Study, Act" (PDSA) so as to better describe his recommendations.
The concept of PDCA comes out of the Scientific Method, as developed from the work of Francis Bacon (Novum Organum, 1620). The scientific method can be written as "hypothesis" - "experiment" - "evaluation" or Plan, Do, and Check. Shewhart described manufacture under "control" - under statistical control - as a three step process of specification, production, and inspection.[1] He also specifically related this to the Scientific Method of hypothesis, experiment and evaluation. Shewhart[2] says that the statistician "must help to change the demand [for goods] by showing...how to close up the tolerance range and to improve the quality of goods." Clearly, Shewhart intended the analyst to take action based on the conclusions of the evaluation. According to Deming[3] during his lectures in Japan in the early 1950's the Japanese participants shortened the steps to the now traditional Plan, Do, Check, Act. Deming preferred Plan, Do, Study, Act because 'Study' has connotations in English closer to Shewhart's intent than "Check."
A fundamental principle of the scientific method and PDSA, is iteration - once a hypothesis is confirmed (or negated), executing the cycle again will extend the knowledge further. Repeating the PDSA cycle can bring us closer to the goal, usually a perfect operation and output.
In Six Sigma programs, the PDSA cycle is called "Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control" (DMAIC). The iterative nature of the cycle must be explicitly added to the DMAIC procedure.
PDSA should be repeatedly implemented in spirals of increasing knowledge of the system that converge on the ultimate goal, each cycle closer than the previous. One can envision an open coil spring, with each loop being one cycle of the Scientific Method - PDSA, and each complete cycle indicating an increase in our knowledge of the system under study. This approach is based on the belief that our knowledge and skills are limited, but improving. Especially at the start of a project, key information may not be known; the PDSA - scientific method - provides feedback to justify our guesses (hypotheses) and increase our knowledge. Rather than enter "analysis paralysis" to get it perfect the first time, it is better to be approximately right than exactly wrong. With the improved knowledge, we may choose to refine or alter the goal (ideal state). Certainly, the PDSA approach can bring us closer to whatever goal we choose.
Rate of change, that is, rate of improvement, is a key competitive factor in today's world. PDSA allows for major 'jumps' in performance ('breakthroughs' often desired in a Western approach), as well as Kaizen (frequent small improvements associated with an Eastern approach). In the United States a PDSA approach is usually associated with a sizable project involving numerous people's time, and thus managers want to see large 'breakthrough' improvements to justify the effort expended. However, the Scientific Method and PDSA apply to all sorts of projects and improvement activities.
The power of Deming's concept lies in its apparent simplicity. The concept of feedback in the Scientific Method, in the abstract sense, is today firmly rooted in education. While apparently easy to understand, it is often difficult to accomplish on an on-going basis due to the intellectual difficulty of judging one's proposals (hypotheses) on the basis of measured results. Many people have an emotional fear of being shown "wrong," even by objective measurements. To avoid such comparisons, we may instead cite complacency, distractions, loss of focus, lack of commitment, re-assigned priorities, lack of resources, etc.
The responsibilities of the Business Leaders follow the Plan, Do, Check, and Act PDCA Cycle.

Plan: The Business Leaders create and own the business performance objectives of the organization. Senior leaders need to first understand the requirements of their customers, stockholders, workforce, suppliers, and communities. They need to understand their competition. They need to understand the environmental, economic, technological, social, legal, and political environments that they do business within. Senior leaders need to consider all of these elements as they design a Business model and business Strategy map that will meet the customer and business requirements. Business Leaders then translate these requirements and business environment issues into business performance objectives. Business Leaders then create business plans and associated resourcing plans that will cause the organization to achieve these business objectives. The Business Leaders establish business performance metrics to measure the business’s capability to meet these business objectives. Many organizations create a Balanced scorecard to organize and communicate business performance metrics.
Do: The Business Leaders are responsible to communicate to the organization their business plans. As the organization conducts business, the Business Leaders are responsible to build bridges and remove barriers that will allow the business performance objectives to be met. The business performance metric data is produced and collected as business is performed by the organization.
Check: The Business Leaders periodically analyze the business performance data and use it to visualize the business’s capability to meet business objectives over time (performance trends), compare actual performance against performance targets, and identify performance issues.
Act: The Business Leaders are responsible to create improvement actions to address the performance issues that are identified during their analysis of the business performance data. These improvement actions are created to ensure the organization is able to achieve their business plans.
Process Owner
The Process Owner is the person who is responsible to design the processes necessary to achieve the objectives of the business plans that are created by the Business Leaders. The Process Owner is responsible for the creation, update and approval of documents (procedures, work instructions/protocols) to support the process. Many Process Owners are supported by a process improvement team. The Process Owner uses this team as a mechanism to help create a high performance process. The Process Owner is the only person who has authority to make changes in the process and manages the entire process improvement cycle to ensure performance effectiveness. This person is the contact person for all information related to the process.
The responsibilities of the Process Owner follow the Plan, Do, Check, and Act PDCA Cycle.
Plan: The Process Owners create and own the process performance objectives of the organization. The Process Owner first needs to understand the external and internal customer requirements for the process. This person uses the business plans as a source to help understand the long term and short term customer and business requirements. This person then translates these requirements into process performance objectives and establishes product (includes service) specifications. This person establishes process performance metrics to measure the process’s capability to meet the product specifications and overall process objectives. The set of metrics that are to be reviewed by Operational Managers and Process Operators are called Key performance indicators (KPI’s). The Process Owner then designs process steps to describe work that when performed will have the capability to produce product that meets the customer and business requirements.
Do: The Process Owner is responsible to communicate to the Operational Managers the details of the processes that the Operational Managers are responsible to execute. As the Operational Managers and Process Operators perform the processes, the Process Owner is responsible to build bridges and remove barriers that will allow the process performance objectives to be met. The process performance metric data is produced and collected as the process is performed by Process Operators. The Process Owner is continually involved with the Operational Managers and Process Operators as they use Kaizen to continually improve the process as they are performing the work.
Check: The Process Owner periodically analyzes the process performance data and use it to visualize the process’s capability to operate within control limits over time (performance trends), compare actual performance against performance targets, and identify performance issues.
Act: The Process Owner is responsible to create improvement actions to address the performance issues that are identified during their analysis of the process performance data. Improvement actions may include the initiation of Lean projects to reduce waste from the process or include the initiation of Six Sigma projects to reduce variation in the process. Improvement actions may include the use of problem solving tools that would include risk assessment and root-cause analysis. Risk assessment is used to identify and reduce, eliminate, or mitigate risk within the process. This is the proactive approach to avoid problems being created from the process. Root-cause analysis is the reactive way to respond to problems that occur from the process. Root-cause analysis is used to identify the causes of problems within the process and identify and implement improvement actions that will ensure these problems do not occur again.
Operational Manager
The Operational Manager is responsible to bring the resources and processes together to achieve the objectives of the business plans that are created by the Business Leaders.
The responsibilities of the Operational Manager follow the Plan, Do, Check, Act PDCA Cycle.
Plan: The Operational Managers - in collaboration with each Process Operator, create Process Operator performance objectives for the employees they supervise. The Operational Manager needs to understand the performance requirements of the process. They match employees (Process Operators) with the competency and skill requirements of the process to be performed. They ensure that the Process Operators have the budget, facilities, and technology available to them that is necessary to achieve the performance objectives of the processes.
DO: The Operational Manager is responsible to teach Process Operators how to perform the processes (work). Process Operator instruction usually consists of classroom and on-the-job training (OJT). The Operational Manager oversees the work and ensures Process Operators receive ongoing informal feedback as to their performance. As the Process Operators perform the processes, the Operational Managers are responsible to build bridges and remove barriers that will allow the process and Process Operator performance objectives to be met. Process and Process Operator performance metric data is produced and collected as the process is performed. The Operational Manager ensures that Process Operators are using Kaizen to continually improve the process as they are performing the work.
Check: The Operational Manager periodically analyzes the Key performance indicators (KPI’s) during the production cycle to evaluate the work group’s ability to achieve the process and Process Operator performance objectives. This data is used to visualize the process and Process Operator capability to meet business plan objectives over time (performance trends), compare actual performance against performance targets, and identify performance issues. They review this performance data and sort out Process Operator performance issues from process performance issues. Many organizations use a War Room concept to post performance data. Within the War Room, the Operational Manager conducts periodic review and analysis of this performance data.
Act: The Operational Manager is responsible to create improvement actions to address the performance issues that are identified during their analysis of the process and Process Operator performance data. They address Process Operator performance with ongoing feedback to the Process Operator and/or by using an employee performance management review process. They communicate process performance issues to the Process Operator(s) and the Process Owner.
Process Operator
The Process Operator is responsible to learn and perform the processes (work) necessary to achieve the objectives of the business plans that are created by Business Leaders.
The responsibilities of the Process Operator follow the Plan, Do, Check, and Act PDCA Cycle.
Plan: The Process Operators - in collaboration with their Operational Manager, create and own their performance objectives. Process Operators are responsible to understand the performance objectives of the process they are to perform and the specifications of the product they are to produce.
Do: Process Operators are responsible to learn the processes (work) that they are to perform. They ensure the processes are performed to meet the process performance objectives and produce product that meets specification. As the Process Operators perform the processes, they are responsible to communicate to their Operational Manager (supervisor) the bridges that need to be built and the barriers that need to be removed to allow the process and Process Operator performance objectives to be met. Process and Process Operator performance metric data is produced and collected as the process is performed.
Check: The Process Operator periodically reviewes the Key performance indicators (KPI’s). The Process Operator makes adjustments to their work based on their actual performance compared to KPI targets. The Process Operator is responsible for identifying and reporting any performance issues and stopping production if necessary.
Act: Process Operators practice Kaizen to continually challenge the process and communicate improvement suggestions to their Operational Manager (supervisor).
BPI: Key Considerations
Processes need to align to Business Goals An organization's strategic goals should provide the key direction for any Business Process Improvement exercise. This alignment can be brought about by integrating programs like Balanced Scorecard to the BPI initiative. e.g. When deploying Six Sigma, identification of projects can be done on the basis of how they fit into the Balanced Scorecard agenda of the organization.
Customer Focus Fast-changing customer needs underscore the importance of aligning business processes to achieve higher customer satisfication. It is imperative in any BPI exercise that the "Voice of Customer" be known, and factored in, when reviewing or redesigning any process.
Importance of Benchmarks BPI tools place a lot of emphasis on "measurable results". Accordingly, benchmarks assume an important role in any BPI initiative. Depending on the lifecycle of the process in question, benchmarks may be internal (within the organization), external (from other competing / noncompeting organizations) or dictated by the senior management of the organization as an aspirational target.
Establish Process Owners For any process to be controllable, it is essential that there be clarity on who is the process owners, and what constitutes success/failure of the process. These success/failure levels also help establish "control limits" for the process, and provide a healthy check on whether or not a process is meeting the desired customer objectives.
Methodology of BPI
• Carrying out BPI is a project, so all principles of project management apply.
• The first step in BPI is to define the existing structure and process at play (AS-IS).
• Then, the BPI process owners should determine what outcomes would add value to the organization's objectives and how best to align its processes to achieve those outcomes (TO-BE).
• Once the outcomes are determined, the organization's work force needs to be re-organized to meet the new objectives, using the variety of tools available within the BPI methodology.
Rummler-Brache Methodology
Geary Rummler and Alan Brache defined a comprehensive approach to organizing companies around processes, managing and measuring processes and redefining processes in their 1990 book, Improving Performance. This is probably the best known, systematic approach to business process change and ideas first introduced in this book have been very influential on other, less comprehensive approaches. This book draws heavily from the basic approach laid out in Improving Processes.
Implementing BPI
Most resistance to BPI comes from within an organization. Managers often do not wish to change existing structures. The labor force may resist BPI because of fears of layoffs; however, an organization using BPI on a regular basis, argue many proponents, will already have the proper work force to meet existing business challenges.
Some organizations have implemented BPI on a smaller scale and reported success, by doing the following:
• Start with a small process that can be completed in a short time frame.
• Set clear timelines.
• Do not spread resources thinly and focus on the short term payoff.
• Management and primary stakeholders must be involved, or else even a limited implementation will fail.

变革型领导问卷

1－非常不同意
2－不同意
3－不好确定
4－同意
5－非常同意
德行垂范
1、廉洁奉公，不图私利。
2、吃苦在前，享受在后。
3、不计较个人得失，尽心尽力工作。
4、为了部门/单位利益，能牺牲个人利益。
5、能把自己个人的利益放在集体和他人利益之后。
6、不会把别人的劳动成果据为己有。
7、能与员工同甘共苦。
8、不会给员工穿小鞋，搞打击报复。
愿景规划
1、能让员工了解单位/部门的发展前景。
2、能让员工了解本单位/ 部门的经营理念和发展目标。
3、会向员工解释所做工作的长远意义。
4、向大家描绘了令人向往的未来。
5、能给员工指明奋斗目标和前进方向。
6、经常与员工一起分析其工作对单位/部门总体目标的影响。
个性化关怀
1、在与员工打交道的过程中，会考虑员工个人的实际情况。
2、愿意帮助员工解决生活和家庭方面的难题。
3、能经常与员工沟通交流，以了解员工的工作、生活和家庭情况。
4、耐心地教导员工，为员工答疑解惑。
5、关心员工的工作、生活和成长，真诚地为他（她）们的发展提建议。
6、注重创造条件，让员工发挥自己的特长。
领导魅力
1、业务能力过硬。
2、思想开明，具有较强的创新意识。
3、热爱自己的工作，具有很强的事业心和进取心。
4、对工作非常投入，始终保持高度的热情。
5、能不断学习，以充实提高自己。
6、敢抓敢管，善于处理棘手问题。
Working for a Transformational Leader can be a wonderful and uplifting experience. They put passion and energy into everything. They care about you and want you to succeed.

转型工作的领导者可以是一个美好的和令人振奋的经验。他们把激情和精力投入到一切。他们关心你，希望你成功。