The Enterprise Management Model:
Team Building and Continuous Improvement Made Easier
The Enterprise Management Model clearly illustrates how to achieve
enterprise-wide continuous learning and improvement, and provides a practical
tool for doing so. It offers the
guidance and support to readily and substantially improve a company’s
performance and its potential for growth.
The principles are consistent with the needs and values of most anyone
managing a business unit, be it a small or mid-sized business, or a division of
a larger company.
The notion of the
“learning organization” has proven to be an elusive concept. The primary obstacle is that there are very
few tools to show managers how and where to focus their learning initiatives. Insofar as small and mid-sized organizations
are concerned, there are no practical, yet comprehensive tools specifically
designed to help owners and managers systematically create a climate of
continuous learning and improvement.
The Enterprise Management Model presents a practical solution to the
dual challenge of management development and the need to be innovative. It is an entrepreneurial management guide,
in combination with an enterprise-wide, “operations planning guide” consisting
of over 300 possible critical success factors (make-or-break product, service
and cost factors) covering every fundamental, management and functional
discipline, and categorized accordingly in 35 sections.
It is more than just
an excellent “how-to guide.” Managers
can use it solely for self-help and/or reference whenever necessary, however,
even greater benefits can be realized when it is used as a “management tool” for interactive team learning. It provides a comprehensive framework that
enables any manager to easily facilitate an ongoing process of team building
via creative problem-solving and objective setting — “Systematic Innovative
Management” (SIM)™.
To survive and
prosper, every company must ultimately assess and reassess all its business
practices, in order to continuously improve upon its competitive advantage and
its ability to capitalize on new opportunities. This management model can be used to help detect external threats
and identify internal problems. And,
when used as a management tool, it can help build a consensus in regard to a
company’s critical success factors and action plans.
It is one of the
most practical and affordable management tools available. This management tool enables
owners and managers to help themselves — without excessive consulting fees or
overpriced seminars. Thus, the
uniqueness of this management model has the potential to create incredible value.
It is
results-oriented, much more so than it is process oriented. For example, TQM and the ISO 9000 certification standards tend to be
process oriented. In contrast, this
management model generates continuous improvement in the minds of people, not
on paper.
It will foster
creativity and innovation. The answers to the over 300
(possible) critical success factors reside in the collective imagination of an
organization, limited only by its ingenuity.
The simplicity
and flexibility of this management tool make it especially
compatible with the needs and values of small and mid-sized businesses. Many complex lessons are made very easy to
understand and apply. It can be used
for self-help and reference, and to facilitate team learning. Since it is compact and modular in nature,
individual users and teams can easily adapt it to their needs, thereby
minimizing the time required to realize its benefits.
Endorsements
“The Enterprise Management
Model” is an outstanding guide for a broad array of managers in business, from
those “incipient entrepreneurs” thinking of starting companies, to mature
business managers, wrestling with the normal occurrences and decisions that are
part of the everyday life of a firm. It
assists in addressing and solving the vital questions which one encounters
during the start-up of a new venture, yet also provides methodologies and
approaches to the active practitioner when difficult tradeoffs and weighty
problems must be overcome. One of the
keys to creating successful businesses in the upcoming decades will be a thorough
understanding of and approach to achieving enterprise-wide quality and continuous
improvement. “The Model” shows the
way. It gives examples. It asks the questions. Then it gives the answers! Alan Thomas has created a masterpiece of
management literature, one that should be in everyone’s library or desk. Amazingly advanced…it is likely to become
the most dog-eared book on the shelf!
~~~ Jack C. Rennie, Vice Chairman, AverStar, Inc.
Mr.
Rennie’s background includes positions with dozens of groups, including the
Small Business Association of New England, National Small Business United,
Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Small Business Foundation of America,
and the U. S. Chamber of Commerce. He
was also on President Clinton’s short list to head the U. S. Small Business
Administration.
Every once in a while, a profound notion is presented in a new way that deserves our attention. As an owner or manager, you may believe in knowledge sharing, continuous learning and improvement, but those beliefs must be effectively operationalized in order to create lasting value. Though the importance of continuous learning has been well established, it has indeed proved to be an elusive concept. Practical tools have long been sorely needed to help managers understand how and where to systematically focus their learning initiatives. “The Enterprise Management Model” is a powerful management tool that can be used for self-help, or to help transform the mindset of an entire organization. It clearly illustrates how to achieve enterprise-wide, continuous learning and improvement. Additionally, it provides a uniquely comprehensive operations planning guide that can be used to readily activate team learning through a process of “systematic innovative management (SIM).” It should be in every manager’s library.
~~~ Edward P. Marram, Ph.D., President/CEO,
Geo-Centers, Inc., and Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Babson College, Arthur M.
Blank Center for Entrepreneurship.
The breath of coverage is impressive. It is an excellent guide…a clear, concise,
and effective “how-to”…covering appropriate leadership styles, team building
and creative problem-solving approaches, as well as the definition and
guidelines for planning during different stages of entrepreneurial growth.
~~~ Sandra
O’Dell,
former Director of Self-Study Marketing and Executive Director of the Training
Products Division for the American Management Association
“The Enterprise Management
Model” provides a wealth of assessment tools for the thoughtful manager intent
on building a progressive, integrated, and successful enterprise.
~~~ Anne
Donnellon, Ph.D., author of the best-seller “Team Talk” and professor of management at
the F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College.
From the
practical point of view of small businesses, service firms, non-profits and
many mid-sized businesses, though sorely needed, no ideal form of quality
management has emerged. Despite years
of hype and rhetoric, considerable uncertainty exists in regard to the best
practice for implementing enterprise-wide, quality and continuous improvement
in the small and mid-sized business environment. For small businesses and many mid-sized businesses, TQM is simply
too large-scale, too process-oriented, and not results-oriented enough. Pretty much the same is true of the quality
systems required to obtain ISO 9000 certification. Like TQM, the ISO 9000 certification standards tend to be
process-oriented. They are not
necessarily results-oriented.
Furthermore, it has been shown that TQM, much more so than a set of
techniques and tools, represents a management philosophy that invokes the
objective of continuous improvement by virtue of three critical organizational
behavior features: leader commitment, an open culture and employee
empowerment. Companies that develop
habits based on these behavioral features can outperform competitors, with or
without all the techniques and tools.
The Management
Guide (Part I)
condenses a broad
range of key leadership and management concepts into seven, very brief chapters
and presents them in a unique, easy to grasp way. This
enables all key members of an organization to quickly understand, internalize and directly apply
the underlying principles of continuous learning and improvement.
The Planning
Guide (Part II) is
an “enterprise management model” in the form of an “operations planning
guide.” It can be used to readily
activate an ongoing, flexible process of team learning. In addition to several operational surveys,
there is a “shirtsleeve,” competitive analysis and an in-depth “diagnosis” of
organizational efficiency and effectiveness. It is an efficient catalyst for
building a motivated team — an excellent management development tool. The conceptual framework of over 300
possible critical success factors helps people keep the big picture in mind.
Each factor is worded in a way that challenges the imagination to strive for a
higher standard — to “think out of the box” — to go beyond one’s own mental
model of their business. This stimulates
“creative” problem-solving and objective setting. As well, every factor is designed in a way that can be applied to
any business. That is to say, they are
all at an appropriately high level of detail so that they are generic and
timeless in nature.
The central theme
is the all-important, “growth mindset.” The notions of participative management and entrepreneurial
management, historically, by themselves, failed to clearly convey a core
attitude that was easy to consistently apply.
First and foremost, enterprise-wide, continuous improvement requires the
right attitude. The essential task of management is to build
the capacity for self-sustaining growth into the organization — by creating the
means for people at all levels to grow and to act innovatively and responsibly
toward organizational objectives. This one, simple notion offers great
benefit. It succinctly conveys the
growth mindset at the core of both participative and entrepreneurial management. Anyone can readily identify with it and immediately put it to
use. And once this mindset is
instilled, it is self-sustaining. Thus,
it is a highly effective managerial mindset.
It is an effective counterweight for balancing the classic, mechanistic
management practices with the current need to leverage learning and find ways
of making organizational knowledge more productive.
A self-analysis
is included, as a means of involving the user and persuasively driving the
message home. A basic self-analysis graphically illustrates the importance
of being intellectually honest. It
inspires commitment to the notion that “creating the means for people to grow”
is indeed the path to self-sustaining growth.
“Systematic
Innovative Management” (SIM)™ is presented as a practical approach to
continuous learning and improvement. SIM is defined as creating a climate of learning,
emphasizing the total commitment to meeting and exceeding the expectations of
customers and employees, and to the
objective of continuous improvement. It
is distinguished by an
enterprise-wide, purposeful search for opportunities for improvement. And it is best accomplished through an
ongoing, yet flexible form of team building via creative problem-solving and
objective setting, featuring openness, knowledge sharing, delegation,
experimentation and continuous learning.
Sixteen, unique
“tenets” of entrepreneurial management are summarized. A broad range of key leadership and
management concepts are clearly explained for purposes of their practical
application — leadership, organizational efficiency, management, participation,
intellectual honesty, openness, delegation, employee empowerment, continuous
learning and improvement, team building, operations planning, adaptation,
overall control, successful differentiation, creating a quality niche and
contribution recognition. In combination,
the sixteen tenets make up a “model set” of core beliefs and values that can be
used as behavioral norms. The tenets
are summarized and cross-referenced to that point in The Management Guide where they are explained.
Fourteen
conditions required for “creating a climate of learning” are summarized. A company may believe in continuous
learning and place a high value on openness.
However, these beliefs must be operationalized in order to have lasting
value. Each requirement is cross-
referenced to that point in The
Management Guide where it is explained.
A unique “growth
stage model” is presented and integrated with The Planning Guide.
Never before has
“growth stage theory” been successfully distilled to the point of practical,
day-to-day application in the small and mid-sized business environment. The growth stage model makes sense of a
myriad of factors pertaining to a company’s primary objectives, organizational
structure, leadership style and reward systems, all of which must be addressed
in order to make the transition from the “start-up stage” through the “team
growth stage” to the “management stage” — and beyond — while retaining the
entrepreneurial spirit.
Definitions are
provided. The distinctions between strategic planning, tactical
planning, business planning and operations planning are made plainly
clear. As well, working definitions for
several, otherwise problematic terms are provided. As well, all “key words” are summarized for use in obtaining further
information. The key words and phrases in each chapter
are listed in an Appendix at the end of The
Management Guide. They can be used
to obtain articles pertaining to that subject, on-line, from the ABI/INFORM
Global database, which includes mostly full text articles from thousands of
business publications.
Alan Thomas is a Principal of The Transitions Group. The firm’s mission is to help its clients
create the means for growth and profitability.
We specialize in helping owners and managers implement continuous
learning and improvement processes. We
also conduct organizational and operational surveys for purposes of problem
identification, analysis and solution, and assist in the development of action
plans. As well, we provide Part-Time
CFO Services and assist in the implementation of new management and financial
control systems.
To purchase The Enterprise
Management Model and do-SIM-yourself, send a check for $95.00 to:
Alan Thomas
94 Hampden Drive, Suite 1C (781) 762-0080
Norwood, MA
02062 e-mail: athomas@ziplink.net
To e-mail an online copy of this Overview, go
to: www.ziplink.net/~athomas