Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

Business leaders can't develop and execute effective strategy without first gathering the right information, says Harvard Business School professor Robert Simons. In his new book, Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution, Simons explains how managers can identify holes in their planning processes and make smart choices. Here's an excerpt outlining the seven questions every manager should ask.

1. Who Is Your Primary Customer?

The first imperative—and the heart of every successful strategy implementation—is allocating resources to customers. Continuously competing demands for resources—from business units, support functions and external partners—require a method for judging whether the allocation choices you have made are optimal.

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The BestWork™ People - The Keys to Cultural Change

The BestWork™ People - The Keys to Cultural Change

The Psychology of Liking

I couldn't help but bring forward the powerful notion of belonging which anthropologists have written about at length. So here is view of the sense through the facebook "like" experience.

The Psychology of Liking

Ethnography

One cannot understand a culture without becoming its component part. Therefore we have to live with the people we study, learn from them and listen to them. These are the basic rules of ethnography as the basic anthropological research method. Based on interviews, group discussions and particularly participant observation and fieldwork, we study how people (co)operate and what the relations are between them. The essence of ethnography is in the presence of the researcher or counsellor in the environment they wish to explore. This environment can be very diverse as the researcher may explore organisations, foreign markets and new target groups as well as works among customers and employees, i.e. in any group of people that might be interesting for the client.

http://www.ergo-institut.com/en/316/Ethnography.aspx

Culture

The notion of culture can be explained in many different ways. However, when transferring anthropological knowledge into the business world, the trouble with definitions is quite limited since culture is understood as an endless and constantly changing process of people's activity and consideration. Typically its limits are not clearly defined, it has no geographical or national limitations.

 It is therefore impossible to comprehend and understand, if not explored professionally. Only when proper methodology is used, we can analyse and interpret cultural differences and similarities, and explain the influence of cultural particularities on the business environment, consumerism, relationships within organisations, as well as needs and desires of customers.

Business Anthropolgy

Business anthropology

Anthropologists are experts in people and their habits, their particular research approach enabling them an “inside” view on cultures. 

Business anthropology  transfers anthropological approaches into companies and  organisations  utilizing traditional anthropological methodologies  inclusive of  participant observation.


Anthropologists are of the view that everything is connected

Business anthropology is significant in solving the following issues:

Digital Media Culture

Dr. Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Digital Ethnography for Kansas State University explains a very interesting subject. 
A look into Digital Media Culture.

Social Media and the Brain: A Business Anthropologist’s View

August 1st, 2009

A number of innovations have changed the face of commerce in my lifetime.  Credit cards greatly enabled commercial exchanges.  Email and FedEx both sped up communication and reduced cost.  The internet both transformed information transfer, and introduced people around the world who would not have otherwise found each other.  In each case, exchanges – the fundamental unit of commerce – became easier.  Barriers were lowered and trade flourished.  

Are social media another facilitator of trade?

Business is a Social Activity – A Business Anthropologist's View

October 16th, 2009

For many, the insight that business is social is something of a surprise.
In much of Western tradition, work and play are viewed as a dichotomy: business falls in the former, and sociality in the latter.

But that’s not how the brain is organized.

New insights from Neuroscience clarify how the brain functions to keep us focused on others (with emotions – ever heard of them?)

5 Steps to Services Leadership in a Product-Centric Company

June 1, 2007

The Stranger in a Strange Land Series: 5 Steps to Services Leadership in a Product-Centric Company
Step Two: Revise
By Jim AlexanderSuccessfully leading a professional services organization in a product-centric company is not for the faint of heart. Learn what works. In last issue’s discussion of Step One, Analyze, I stressed the criticality of getting relevant, in-depth, current information about key clients, the marketplace, and your professional services organization. In this issue, I will talk about .......

Once Upon a Time, There Was a Wonderful Brand

May 12, 2010

Once Upon a Time, There Was a Wonderful Brand
By Martin Lindstrom
http://www.martinlindstrom.com/
The year was 1895. King Camp (his real name) stood before his shaving mirror, as he'd done many times before. A new thought occurred to him. His cut-throat razor was performing its job as well as usual, but so little of the blade was actually used in the shaving process. King Camp wondered about a new type of blade, one practically all edge. He thought about housing it in a device that would make shaving cuts and accidents nearly impossible. Then, he thought about making it disposable. If he could make a blade that was thin, flat, efficient, cheap, and disposable... did I neglect to mention King Camp's surname was Gillette?

We all love a good story. More important, we remember good stories. Good stories make things personal. We identify with characters and recall details associated with them. The effect is the same when characters are brands. Introduce a brand in the context of a good story, and the corporate entity gains personality. It becomes warm and friendly.

Many brands forget interesting bits and pieces of their pasts, the details that make them unique and differentiate them from other brands. Why all this talk about branded story telling? The Web is probably the best place for sharing a story.

A Web audience can explore fascinating stories, like why a Coke bottle looks like it does or how Band-Aid andMars Bar got their names. A good story around a brand, one intrinsic to its identity, is an effective way to generate consumer understanding and loyalty. Why are stories untold by Fortune 500 companies? You hardly ever find a good story on a brand's Web site, despite the fact most companies would have a story to tell that makes them unique.

AIPMM: Product Management Articles for Product Management

Product Management Articles for Product Management

Marketing Strategy And Product Portfolio Mix - How Do You Develop Your Marketing Portfolio?

Marketing Strategy And Product Portfolio Mix - How Do You Develop Your Marketing Portfolio?

Agile Development - A Brief Introduction

September 3, 2009

Agile Development - A Brief Introduction
By S. Gwyn Fisher
Agile is based upon a number of guiding principles that all Agile teams follow. For the purposes of this discussion, three principles - or values - are of particular interest:
Quality software development; Iterative flexibility; Continuous improvement
Quality Software Development
The primary focus of Agile development is to enable the development of quality software that satisfies a customer need - i.e. provides a functioning feature or capability - within a specific period of time (typically no more than a few weeks) called an "iteration". In theory, a product developed in an Agile environment could be market-ready after each iteration.
Delivering a series of market-ready products, each in just weeks, demands that a rigorous quality process be built into the Agile development cycle. Each iteration must be fully developed: tested, defect-free, and complete with documentation. Our expert team solve source code analysis problem easily with wide experience.
Iterative Flexibility
With a focus on speed and nimbleness, Agile is open to changes that inevitably arise throughout the development cycle. The iterative process is flexible, based on an understanding that original requirements may (or will likely) need to change due to customer demand, market conditions, or other reasons. Because business users are involved throughout the process, and because each iteration is short, new requirements can be introduced and prioritized very quickly.
Continuous Improvement
An Agile environment provides developers with an opportunity to learn new skills and to exercise greater autonomy to do their jobs. The iterative framework is empowering because it enables continuous improvement, with testing/quality assurance occurring as part of the iterative process, rather than only periodically or at the end of a long process when it is often difficult or not cost effective to fix coding defects or to incorporate lessons learned along the way. Agile also makes the testing and QA process transparent to the developers who originate the source or static code analysis, further contributing to their learning and facilitating future improvements and coding efficiencies.
Bug-Free Code Greases Agile's Wheels
One of the development principles put forth in the Agile Manifesto (widely recognized as the de facto definition of Agile) states that, "Working software is the primary measure of progress." Working software implies software that is free of issues that break builds, cause unexpected behaviour, or which do not meet the product's requirements, as well as mundane programming defects (a.k.a. "bugs").
This principle is not unique to Agile - many software development processes, including formal ones such as CMMI and Six Sigma, encourage the creation of bug-free code as a fundamental principle. These processes encourage in-phase bug containment - the practise of preventing bugs from being passed downstream from the phase in which they are created. Agile also implicitly emphasizes in-phase bug containment. Given its focus on short iterations, Agile processes must ensure that any potential software degradations are quickly identified and corrected so that the whole team can move on to the next iteration - all while creating functionally complete, working software.
S.Gwyn Fisher is the CTO of Klocwork, a leading developer of source code analysis software and he is expert in software quality tool.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=S._Gwyn_Fisher
http://EzineArticles.com/?Agile-Development---A-Brief-Introduction&id=2693480

Ethnography: Your Guide to Doing it Right

October 27, 2009

Ethnography: Your Guide to Doing it Right

By Gavin Johnston, Chief AnthropologistIntroduction
Over the past decade, ethnography has been embraced by the business community. But the term "ethnography" has been used fairly loosely and expectations about the work and final outcomes vary as much as the people calling themselves ethnographers. Many researchers who feel at ease interviewing people in a "natural" setting claim to be doing ethnography but this is often not the case. Trained ethnographers do more than talk with people - they rely on a set of analytical tools that take experience and specialized training. Before deciding to use an ethnographic approach to answer your research question, it is imperative to know what to expect from a provider.
What to Expect

Belonging to the Brand

March 11, 2010

Persuasion in the Marketplace; Belonging to the Brand
By Paula GrayPersuasion is the act of changing an individual's attitude or belief as a result of receiving a message. This is a large part of brand management; to create an environment and opportunity to persuade a consumer to purchase one product over another. How do companies go about persuading consumers? How do they differentiate their product from a competitor's nearly identical product, in the mind of the consumer? How do they create a particular attitude or belief around their product? Why would individuals allow themselves to be persuaded?

Three Tips For Successful Product Management Today

March 5, 2010

Three Tips For Successful Product Management Today
By Philip Casini
What happened to the days when product management meant targeting a customer base, identifying specific needs, taking the time to build the right product, and growing marketshare though strong brand and quality satisfaction promotions? They are long gone. Several key dynamics have changed product management forever:

Roadmap to a Customer-Centric Strategy

Author: A Nutt
Part of the appeal of customer-centricity is that it takes very little business acumen to grasp its core concept. Focus intensely on customers, align your products or services with their interests, and voila: a customer-centric culture is born. Simple, right? Not quite. Becoming a truly customer-centric organization is perhaps one of the most difficult transitions an organization can make, fraught with hidden obstacles and unanticipated challenges. Here are three potential roadblocks on the path to a customer-centric strategy, and how to get around them.

Failing to understand your most valuable customer

A customer-centric strategy is only as good as its customers. You cant let the average customer dictate what you do, says Robert Duboff, CEO of Hawk Partners LLC and coauthor of the book Market Research Matters. Generally speaking, Duboff says, 20 percent of a company's customer base generates 80 percent of its profits. Given that split, its imperative to put your most valuable customers at the heart of your approach.

What's All the Fuss About Anthropology?

July 30, 2009

What's All the Fuss About Anthropology?
by Paula Gray, AIPMM
The reason that the social science discipline, Anthropology, is gaining emphasis and focus in the business world is that someone very learned and insightful, remembered that people drive all business decisions. They took a step back from being product-focused and turned the focus to people. People buy your products, people design your products, people analyze and write about your products. People do these things - not industries, not corporations, not media, not demographic data. A person or a group of people form opinions and make these all-important decisions. This is precisely where cultural anthropology, the study of human culture, comes in. Cultural anthropology offers us a peak into the context within which all decisions are made, including buying decisions. Culture is the framework that cultural anthropology uses to create this context.
The American Anthropological Association states that "Culture represents the entire database of knowledge, values, and traditional ways of viewing the world, which have been transmitted from one generation ahead to the next -- nongenetically, apart from DNA -- through words, concepts, and symbols."
In anthropology, culture is also described as the lens through which an individual sees the world. Individuals who hail from the same cultural background will share this lens in common, even though their individual views and experiences may be different. Through this lens your product, marketing campaigns, and customer service efforts will be viewed. By understanding the common cultural lens shared by a group of people, you can better understand what they view as important, how your product fits into their lives, what traditions or taboos you may be up against or on which you can capitalize.

What Can Marketers Borrow From the Anthropologist's Toolbox?

August 13, 2009

What Can Marketers Borrow From the Anthropologist's Toolbox?
by Paula Gray, AIPMM
Anthropology's toolbox can offer much to assist business practices, especially marketing. Anthropology answers the question of what it means to be human. It is the scientific study of humankind, human origins and human variation, wherever and whenever humans have been found. This can include humans in shopping malls, boardrooms and offices. What marketers can do is to use anthropological methodologies to help inform business activities, tasks, and decisions because customers are humans, too.
Anthropology, as the study of humans, uses a particular methodology as a way of studying humans, called ethnography. Ethnography gathers data through the following methods: participant observation, interviews, life histories, photos and film, surveys, and historical artifacts. What makes anthropology more relevant than the other social sciences alone is that it encompasses much more. Anthropology encompasses sociology by addressing social institutions and relationships. It encompasses biology by addressing the environment within which humans live and how humans interact with that environment. It encompasses physiology by recognizing the limits and unique attributes that the human body has including aging, health, disease and physical characteristics. Anthropology also encompasses psychology by addressing human mental and behavioral characteristics including their beliefs, values and fears. According to the anthropologists at Palomar College,

4 Tips for Understanding and Interpreting Nonverbal Communication

4 Tips for Understanding and Interpreting Nonverbal Communication
by Paula Gray, AIPMM
Recognizing that an ethnography respondent, focus group participant or interviewee may be offering much more information nonverbally than they are with words, is crucial to gathering a deeper level of information. Here are 4 key insights to understanding what they aren't saying.

The Shopper Continuum

November 5, 2009

The Shopper Continuum
By Gavin Johnston, Two West Chief Anthropologist
To the credit of marketing, advertising, and research people the days of talking about the consumer as the sole focus of shopping activity are essentially gone. We recognize that the shopper and the consumer are not always the same. Indeed, it is often the case that they are not.

The focus has shifted to the process that takes place between the first thought a consumer has about purchasing an item, all the way through the selection of that item. While this is a reasonable approach to understanding the people who buy and use a company'™s products, it still has one principle flaw. Namely, it focuses on individuals rather than systems of people and the behavioral and cultural drivers behind their actions. The distinction is subtle but important because it assumes the shopping experiences goes well beyond the product itself, which is largely functional, and considers the product (and brand) as a means of facilitating social interaction. In other words, it thinks about shopping as a means of establishing cultural norms, emotional bonds, and identity.