Month: May 2014

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Sustainable Competitive Advantage – Sustainable Competitive Advantage Analysis – Sustainable Competitive Advantage Framework – Sustainable Competitive Advantage Business Methodology – Competitive Advantage is a favorable relevant position of a company in a market place above its competitors. This may include possession of a superior product, better supply chain, talented workforce, etc.

The sustainable competitive advantage is essentially a recurring or continuous favorable position in regards to competitors. Some argue that this is the holy grail of business, something everybody dreams of but no one is really able to achieve unless one is a monopoly in the market and is protected from other market participants. However, this does not mean one should give up trying and if location, operational, product and customer excellence are achieved, at least temporary, the customer value is created and the competitive advantage is achieved.

sustainable competitive advantage

Harvey Balls

Harvey Balls – Harvey Balls Analysis – Harvey Balls Framework – Harvey Balls Business Methodology – Harvey Balls is one of the most widely used visualization tools to indicate the maturity and/or level of business challenges base on a simple scoring method. Essentially the score is 1 to 5 with a full circle representing a 5 and an empty one representing 1.

The Harvey balls can instantly tell you, which business processes require attention and, which are wellfunctional. This is an alternative to a heat map. Below sample images are examples of how Harvey Balls are used in business presentations.

harvey balls

Project Management

Project Management – Project Management Analysis – Project Management Stages – Project Management Framework – Project Management Business Methodology – Project Management model is one of the top business frameworks used for managing and leading projects and other kind of engagements. The model brings some structure to the project phases and makes it more organized.

The project stages include initiation, planning and design, executing or implementation, monitoring and controlling, closing. There may be other stages depending on the nature of the work. Work planning varies depending on the resources assigned, project timelines, etc. Below sample images are examples of Project Management stages.

project management

Time Cost Quality

Time Cost Quality – Time Cost Quality Analysis – Time vs. Cost vs. Quality Tradeoffs – Time Cost Quality Framework – Time Cost Quality Business Methodology – Time Cost Quality model is one of the business strategy frameworks that states that you can provide a product which is either of low cost, high quality or delivered quickly or a combination of any of the two components. However, because of the tradeoffs, you cannot have all three.

This has been disputed somewhat in recent history and many companies are trying to achieve all three. Think of an Apple’s Iphone when it first came out, it was so revolutionary that you could argue that it met all three criteria. New inventions and blue ocean ideas can sometimes break the tradeoffs associated with time, cost and quality and allow for all three to be present as part of one’s product. Below sample images are examples of Time vs. Cost vs. Quality frameworks used in business management.

time cost quality

Process Map

Process Map – Process Map Analysis – Process Map Framework – Process Map Business Methodology – Process Mapping is a tool to documenting business processes and is an effective way to think about the inefficiencies associated with each process step. Process mapping is used as part of the Lean Six Sigma toolkit. There may be few process levels with Level 1 usually representing the high level view, level 2 is more detailed with level 3 focusing on procedural.

Key process map symbols include boxes, which represent steps and procedures, diamonds are decision points.
Below sample image is an examples of a Process Map used in business management with legend and explanations on what each symbol means.

process map