Businesses aim to enable strategy through the proper use of IT to support business processes. The Operational Alignment Matrix allows a consultant to test and position a business within this framework. The axes of the matrix are first, degree of business strategy and IT alignment, and second use of Technology. The first axis defines the degree to which a business has established a strategy and the level of alignment expected to deliver it. The second axis determines how businesses will make use of technology to enable business processes so that they can deliver their products and services.
To give a bigger picture, a business may see a particular technology as being a fundamental differentiator of its products and services in a marketplace. There are 4 situations:
1. Degree of business strategy and IT alignement:HIGH and Use of Technology:LOW (A):It means the business is forward looking and has a clear view of where it is going and why. The technology is enabling the strategy, but probably not driving business change and process improvement
2. Degree of business strategy and IT alignement:LOW and Use of Technology:LOW(C):As long as the business recognizes that it is here and why, then there is no problem, although clearly there will be many opportunities to improve on both strategy and enabling technologies. The Scorecard model will be of particular help here, to develop and focus a business strategy and provide the drivers as measures to develop an IT strategy in support of the vision.
Keep reading for the next 2 situations.....
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, November 2, 2009
ENTERPRISE 2.0, What is IT??
Everyday, we hear about a lot of new terminologies that raise our curiosity level to know more about it. After Web 2.0,the new buzzword in the market is “Enterprise 2.0” which surely connects to Web 2.0.So, what really is “Enterprise 2.0“?
Enterprise 2.0 is the term for the technologies and business practices that liberate the workforce from the constraints of legacy communication and productivity tools like email. It provides business managers with access to the right information at the right time through a web of inter-connected applications, services and devices. Enterprise 2.0 makes accessible the collective intelligence of many, translating to a huge competitive advantage in the form of increased innovation, productivity and agility.
Enterprise 2.0 takes the original concept of the Web, using websites to feed content to visitors, and turns it upside down. Instead of a one-way conversation-your company talking to the site visitor-Enterprise 2.0 lets you implement a multiparty conversation to share information and manage knowledge inside and outside the organization using blogs and wikis, social networking and tagging, rating systems and the like. The link among these tools is the ability of the individuals involved to participate and to control the process while they work together, share information and create networks of people with similar interests.
Enterprise 2.0 is the term for the technologies and business practices that liberate the workforce from the constraints of legacy communication and productivity tools like email. It provides business managers with access to the right information at the right time through a web of inter-connected applications, services and devices. Enterprise 2.0 makes accessible the collective intelligence of many, translating to a huge competitive advantage in the form of increased innovation, productivity and agility.
Enterprise 2.0 takes the original concept of the Web, using websites to feed content to visitors, and turns it upside down. Instead of a one-way conversation-your company talking to the site visitor-Enterprise 2.0 lets you implement a multiparty conversation to share information and manage knowledge inside and outside the organization using blogs and wikis, social networking and tagging, rating systems and the like. The link among these tools is the ability of the individuals involved to participate and to control the process while they work together, share information and create networks of people with similar interests.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Remembering LEHMAN after a year
Last September, something unusual happened which brought a turbulence in the world economy. The major stock markets hit an all time low, fear gripped the investors minds, recession everywhere and the list of negativities continues. It’s been a year and time to relook at the major events, impacts and lessons learnt straight from the LEHMANIAN BOOKS.
The economists believe that it was capital inadequacy and not liquidity which was a major factor for the failure of Lehman Brothers. A risk management framework should be in place to identify and implement risk mitigation measures to reduce the likelihood of future credit and liquidity-based losses along with addressing the complexities of a changing regulatory landscape.
The firm should increasingly focus on these areas to mitigate the likelihood of future market and credit based losses.
* Understand and monitor counterparty, market and credit risks.
* Increase the operational effectiveness of collateral effectiveness.
* Measure and monitor liquidity risk.
* Understand the importance of transparency of internal controls surrounding the safeguarding of assets.
A central lesson from Lehman Brothers is that prime brokerage clients should understand not only where their assets are being held, but also the contractual provisions and legal remedies that exist should a prime broker or other counterparty default. Assets may not be held at the legal entity with whom the prime brokerage agreement was executed, and may have been transferred to other legal jurisdictions globally. Investor protections and bankruptcy/insolvency laws differ depending on the legal jurisdiction in which assets are held at the time an entity either files for bankruptcy or otherwise becomes insolvent.
Policies should be implemented to manage capital market risk across the enterprise. This may include re-tooling or developing and implementing robust models to measure market, liquidity, and credit risk. Models and tools should be linked with effectively designed governance practices to establish risk appetite, and to monitor, manage, and report risks.
Valuation models should be appropriately stress tested to provide senior management with confidence that a complete and accuratepicture of the firm’s financial position is visible on a daily basis.
Truly said, a structured Risk Management Framework in place can help firms to weather the financial instability. Do, we want another Lehman to happen?? The answer is certainly NO.
The economists believe that it was capital inadequacy and not liquidity which was a major factor for the failure of Lehman Brothers. A risk management framework should be in place to identify and implement risk mitigation measures to reduce the likelihood of future credit and liquidity-based losses along with addressing the complexities of a changing regulatory landscape.
The firm should increasingly focus on these areas to mitigate the likelihood of future market and credit based losses.
* Understand and monitor counterparty, market and credit risks.
* Increase the operational effectiveness of collateral effectiveness.
* Measure and monitor liquidity risk.
* Understand the importance of transparency of internal controls surrounding the safeguarding of assets.
A central lesson from Lehman Brothers is that prime brokerage clients should understand not only where their assets are being held, but also the contractual provisions and legal remedies that exist should a prime broker or other counterparty default. Assets may not be held at the legal entity with whom the prime brokerage agreement was executed, and may have been transferred to other legal jurisdictions globally. Investor protections and bankruptcy/insolvency laws differ depending on the legal jurisdiction in which assets are held at the time an entity either files for bankruptcy or otherwise becomes insolvent.
Policies should be implemented to manage capital market risk across the enterprise. This may include re-tooling or developing and implementing robust models to measure market, liquidity, and credit risk. Models and tools should be linked with effectively designed governance practices to establish risk appetite, and to monitor, manage, and report risks.
Valuation models should be appropriately stress tested to provide senior management with confidence that a complete and accuratepicture of the firm’s financial position is visible on a daily basis.
Truly said, a structured Risk Management Framework in place can help firms to weather the financial instability. Do, we want another Lehman to happen?? The answer is certainly NO.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Social WORKING or NETWORKING???
I happened to come across an interesting subject called “Social Working” and I must say it was gripping enough for me to spend some of my time to go through it and also read the comments.And, being Twitter the center of discussion, I couldn’t help but start TWEET on it.
For me, social working is working with “like-minded” people with whom we share common interests and there is a mutual benefit.Simple. So, if I socialise with my team, that’s because probably our objective and work environment is common. If “x” person visits my blog and follow me, that means I and those “X” persons share something in common, might be our interestes, style of writing or a mere liking for me. Social Working is beneficial when information in any form reaches between the members uninterrupted and there is no loss of information.
Taking the discussion to the next level, do Ch1blogs and Twitter fulfills it?? CH1blogs surely does it. But, I have my reservations on Twitter. Though being a tech savvy and having used numerous social networking sites like facebook, orkut, twitter never seemed to attract my attention and there are reasons for it.
My observation on Twitter says that its an application only for certain amount of people with a certain purpose to fulfill. So, if today, Priyanka Chopra is using Twitter and has already gathered 20,000 fans, then it’s not at all a shock for me. For a celebrity like her, her fans would be interested to know her min by min updates.Twitter is a great advertising tool.So, for budding entrepreneurs and people who share knowledge, it’s a great place for advertisements and notifications.
Though I am not quite aware of the statistics of Twitter, but how many of the people would have time to update it frequently except when we are enjoying our holidays and hooked up to a computer or lazying around in office and tweeting with unknown people? Why would I like to allow some unknown people to follow me when I am not sure about their background or not aware whether we share some interests or not. I am sure TWITTER is not a tool to befriend anyone. May be it would work in a corporate environment where people within same platform would like to listen min by min update of their team members but again here too, why would people from other team would like to know about the update of some other person in some other team until and unless they share some common interest.
Twitter is a great concept but definitely not an answer to “Social Working” or “Social Networking”. Social Networking happens when socialization happens with a certain amount of interdependency which Twitter fails to fulfill.
Social Working or Networking is successful when the correct person sends correct information and it flows to the correct person. And, if there is a mismatch and these three are not in sync, then the whole idea of social working or networking fails.It’s just not the information flow but also the visibility of information which is important. And, there is always a chance to block and ignore a person if you do not want to be socially connected to that person.
So, are we socially on the right path??
For me, social working is working with “like-minded” people with whom we share common interests and there is a mutual benefit.Simple. So, if I socialise with my team, that’s because probably our objective and work environment is common. If “x” person visits my blog and follow me, that means I and those “X” persons share something in common, might be our interestes, style of writing or a mere liking for me. Social Working is beneficial when information in any form reaches between the members uninterrupted and there is no loss of information.
Taking the discussion to the next level, do Ch1blogs and Twitter fulfills it?? CH1blogs surely does it. But, I have my reservations on Twitter. Though being a tech savvy and having used numerous social networking sites like facebook, orkut, twitter never seemed to attract my attention and there are reasons for it.
My observation on Twitter says that its an application only for certain amount of people with a certain purpose to fulfill. So, if today, Priyanka Chopra is using Twitter and has already gathered 20,000 fans, then it’s not at all a shock for me. For a celebrity like her, her fans would be interested to know her min by min updates.Twitter is a great advertising tool.So, for budding entrepreneurs and people who share knowledge, it’s a great place for advertisements and notifications.
Though I am not quite aware of the statistics of Twitter, but how many of the people would have time to update it frequently except when we are enjoying our holidays and hooked up to a computer or lazying around in office and tweeting with unknown people? Why would I like to allow some unknown people to follow me when I am not sure about their background or not aware whether we share some interests or not. I am sure TWITTER is not a tool to befriend anyone. May be it would work in a corporate environment where people within same platform would like to listen min by min update of their team members but again here too, why would people from other team would like to know about the update of some other person in some other team until and unless they share some common interest.
Twitter is a great concept but definitely not an answer to “Social Working” or “Social Networking”. Social Networking happens when socialization happens with a certain amount of interdependency which Twitter fails to fulfill.
Social Working or Networking is successful when the correct person sends correct information and it flows to the correct person. And, if there is a mismatch and these three are not in sync, then the whole idea of social working or networking fails.It’s just not the information flow but also the visibility of information which is important. And, there is always a chance to block and ignore a person if you do not want to be socially connected to that person.
So, are we socially on the right path??
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Principles of CHANGE Management
Two to three decades back, probably, Stability was a major goal for most of the organizations and shareholders expected nothing more than predictable earnings growth. But the scenario has changed drastically, market transparency, labor mobility, global capital flows, and instantaneous communications have blown that comfortable scenario and have forced the management of most of the organization to face a new challenge called “CHANGE“. Successful companies, as Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter in 1999, develop “a culture that just keeps moving all the time.”
This presents most senior executives with an unfamiliar challenge. In major transformations of large enterprises, they and their advisors conventionally focus their attention on devising the best strategic and tactical plans. But to succeed, they also must have an intimate understanding of the human side of change management — the alignment of the company’s culture, values, people, and behaviors — to encourage the desired results. Plans themselves do not capture value; value is realized only through the sustained, collective actions of the thousands — perhaps the tens of thousands — of employees who are responsible for designing, executing, and living with the changed environment.
Long-term structural transformation has four characteristics: scale (the change affects all or most of the organization), magnitude (it involves significant alterations of the status quo), duration (it lasts for months, if not years), and strategic importance. Yet companies will reap the rewards only when change occurs at the level of the individual employee.
No single methodology fits every company, but there is a set of practices, tools, and techniques that can be adapted to a variety of situations. What follows is a list of guiding principles for change management. Using these as a systematic, comprehensive framework, executives can understand what to expect, how to manage their own personal change, and how to engage the entire organization in the process. The principles to cater CHANGE MANAGEMENT are listed below:
1. Address the “People Issues” systematically.
2. Embracing CHANGE should start at the Management level.
3.The Transformation programs should involve all different level of organizations.
4. Creation of a Vision Statement Document and articulation of a formal case for change.
5.Ownership by leaders willing to accept responsibility for making change.
6. Communicating the right message (Top to bottom) and Feedback.
7.Assessing the cultural landscape.
8.Prepare for the unexpected, assess the risks.
Interesting, I will write on these principles in detail in my next post on Change Management and let me know the feedback whether this post is gripping enough or not.
This presents most senior executives with an unfamiliar challenge. In major transformations of large enterprises, they and their advisors conventionally focus their attention on devising the best strategic and tactical plans. But to succeed, they also must have an intimate understanding of the human side of change management — the alignment of the company’s culture, values, people, and behaviors — to encourage the desired results. Plans themselves do not capture value; value is realized only through the sustained, collective actions of the thousands — perhaps the tens of thousands — of employees who are responsible for designing, executing, and living with the changed environment.
Long-term structural transformation has four characteristics: scale (the change affects all or most of the organization), magnitude (it involves significant alterations of the status quo), duration (it lasts for months, if not years), and strategic importance. Yet companies will reap the rewards only when change occurs at the level of the individual employee.
No single methodology fits every company, but there is a set of practices, tools, and techniques that can be adapted to a variety of situations. What follows is a list of guiding principles for change management. Using these as a systematic, comprehensive framework, executives can understand what to expect, how to manage their own personal change, and how to engage the entire organization in the process. The principles to cater CHANGE MANAGEMENT are listed below:
1. Address the “People Issues” systematically.
2. Embracing CHANGE should start at the Management level.
3.The Transformation programs should involve all different level of organizations.
4. Creation of a Vision Statement Document and articulation of a formal case for change.
5.Ownership by leaders willing to accept responsibility for making change.
6. Communicating the right message (Top to bottom) and Feedback.
7.Assessing the cultural landscape.
8.Prepare for the unexpected, assess the risks.
Interesting, I will write on these principles in detail in my next post on Change Management and let me know the feedback whether this post is gripping enough or not.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Implementing CHANGE Management
The process of implementing change in an organization lies in bringing changes in people's actual behaviour and in the values, beliefs and attitudes that underlie this behaviour. The following are some of the most commonly used implementation techniques:
1. Direct communication involving, where feasible, the entire workforce, but in groups of manageable size at a time so as to facilitate exchange of viewpoints and provide opportunities for feedback.
2. Role Modelling: Leadership comes in, as top management sets an example by behaving in ways that are consistent with the standards and behaviours that the new organization seeks to reinforce.
3. Written Communication: A whole arsenal of newsletters, posters, stickers, badges etc, all carrying the messages associated with organization change, help to reinforce motivation to change.
4. Appropriate human resources policies that support the desired changes including revised performance criteria and methods of performance appraisal, revised renumeration systems.
5. Investment in Training: Training not to impart skills but also to influence attitudes and values.
Implementing Change Management means the actual business of redrawing organization charts, rewriting job descriptions, drawing up a new incentive scheme is a relatively small, albeit vital, part of the process
1. Direct communication involving, where feasible, the entire workforce, but in groups of manageable size at a time so as to facilitate exchange of viewpoints and provide opportunities for feedback.
2. Role Modelling: Leadership comes in, as top management sets an example by behaving in ways that are consistent with the standards and behaviours that the new organization seeks to reinforce.
3. Written Communication: A whole arsenal of newsletters, posters, stickers, badges etc, all carrying the messages associated with organization change, help to reinforce motivation to change.
4. Appropriate human resources policies that support the desired changes including revised performance criteria and methods of performance appraisal, revised renumeration systems.
5. Investment in Training: Training not to impart skills but also to influence attitudes and values.
Implementing Change Management means the actual business of redrawing organization charts, rewriting job descriptions, drawing up a new incentive scheme is a relatively small, albeit vital, part of the process
Friday, July 3, 2009
KUDOS to STRATEGYAAN: Rated 6.7 on Blogged.com
Dear Ashutosh,
Our editors recently reviewed your blog and have given it a 6.7 score out of (10) in the recreation category of Blogged.com.
http://www.blogged.com/blogs/ashutosh-boses-consulting-blog.html
We evaluated your blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style.
After carefully reviewing each of these criteria, your site was given its 6.7 score.
Please accept my congratulations on a blog well-done!!
Sincerely,
Amy Liu
Marketing Department
amy@blogged.com
http://www.blogged.com
Our editors recently reviewed your blog and have given it a 6.7 score out of (10) in the recreation category of Blogged.com.
http://www.blogged.com/blogs/ashutosh-boses-consulting-blog.html
We evaluated your blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style.
After carefully reviewing each of these criteria, your site was given its 6.7 score.
Please accept my congratulations on a blog well-done!!
Sincerely,
Amy Liu
Marketing Department
amy@blogged.com
http://www.blogged.com
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
RECESSION synonymous with IT
I have been hearing a lot about recession in India, job cuts everywhere, panic all around etc. What recession mean to the people of India?? Even I have been a victim of recession in the early 2008, the reason, quite same to that of everyone, my ex-company which used to work for US Clients suddenly didn't have any projects. The sceanario is quite same everywhere. The problem is more external rather "UNITED" more than Internal. Even if there is a rise in the GDP growth, govt. focussing on more investments in the Railways sector, a confident political scenario beaming but this doesn't help.
I somehow feel that the word "Recession" is synonymous to IT. It's all about how Lehman and GM getting bankrupt, turmoil is the financial industry esp sub prime crisis taking a toll on India's IT health, market dynamics in US directly affecting the IT market dynamics in India. There's a saying which goes, if US sneezes, India catches Cold which is very true.The Indian IT companies are so very dependent on the US market ranging from Banking, Retail, Healthcare etc, that if there is even a slight variation in the performance of those sectors in US, the Indian IT companies performance too varies. Suddenly, they are left out with no projects, big companies loosing out on major chunks, people losing their jobs and ITS RECESSION everywhere in India!!!
US is not the only reason for the recession in IT companies in India. The other thing which affects is "CAUTION". Fear grips the world market because of certain incident affecting the world economy for e.g Sub prime crisis and then other financial companies in the world get alarmed and take more precautions to stop such incidents in the future. This "Caution" leads to shrinking of budget,putting hold to some on-going projects and plans and take a strategic shift from transformation to settlement. In this scenario when the whole world sits and takes a close watch rather than focussing on their future plans, it too affects our IT economy.
The problem is not how and where Recession started, but how and what to do so that it doesn't affect us in the future!!!
I somehow feel that the word "Recession" is synonymous to IT. It's all about how Lehman and GM getting bankrupt, turmoil is the financial industry esp sub prime crisis taking a toll on India's IT health, market dynamics in US directly affecting the IT market dynamics in India. There's a saying which goes, if US sneezes, India catches Cold which is very true.The Indian IT companies are so very dependent on the US market ranging from Banking, Retail, Healthcare etc, that if there is even a slight variation in the performance of those sectors in US, the Indian IT companies performance too varies. Suddenly, they are left out with no projects, big companies loosing out on major chunks, people losing their jobs and ITS RECESSION everywhere in India!!!
US is not the only reason for the recession in IT companies in India. The other thing which affects is "CAUTION". Fear grips the world market because of certain incident affecting the world economy for e.g Sub prime crisis and then other financial companies in the world get alarmed and take more precautions to stop such incidents in the future. This "Caution" leads to shrinking of budget,putting hold to some on-going projects and plans and take a strategic shift from transformation to settlement. In this scenario when the whole world sits and takes a close watch rather than focussing on their future plans, it too affects our IT economy.
The problem is not how and where Recession started, but how and what to do so that it doesn't affect us in the future!!!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Journey of KM in Tata Steel
Last week, I attended the KM Community Meet in Infosys organized by Cognizant Technology Solutions in Chennai. No doubt, it was an informative session and the AVP-KM of Infosys spoke about the KM initiatives that Infosys have adopted down the years and how successfully the initiatives have repead benefits in the organization. I came across another organization Tata Steel who decided to embark on formal KM initiative in the year 1999 and yes the results are there to see. Please click the link below to know more on
Knowledge Management in Tata Steel
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
RECESSION Bug on INVESTMENT
Recession everywhere, no jobs, less pay package, cost cutting, phew!!! It’s time for basics, putting a cap on your expenditure and think about some serious investments. Where to invest, well, here goes the answer:
•Bond Funds
Now is an especially good time to consider bonds, some planners say — perhaps for as much as 20% of assets. The percentage of corporations defaulting on their debt obligations is on the rise as the economy slows, the risk to investors is particularly low for investment-grade bonds. Moody's says the default rate on these products is less than 1%, compared with the 7% default rate on much riskier high-yield or junk bonds. The risk associated with investment-grade bonds is further minimized in a broad-based corporate bond fund. "If you hold an investment-grade bond fund, your exposure to defaults is pretty low," says John Puchalla, a Moody's economist. "But if you start buying individual bonds, you start raising that risk."
Investors with a greater risk tolerance — and much deeper pockets — may even want to consider buying into a junk-bond fund. Recent history has shown that junk-bond investors have earned their best returns the year after the junk-bond market bottoms out.
•Exchange-Traded Funds
For those investors itching to play the stock market again, planners say now isn't the time to try to pick hot stocks. Instead, they suggest buying shares in several exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. That way, they can participate in any early rally in stocks without being overly exposed to any single company's poor earnings performance. In the past few years, ETFs have grown in popularity with individual investors because they're cheaper and easier to invest in than traditional stock index funds.
•Money-Market Accounts and CDs
Finally, financial planners say that in a recessionary environment, investors shouldn't be ashamed to keep some extra money in an interest-bearing money-market account — especially if they're investing money they'll need fairly soon. He also suggests investors stash some money in six-month or one-year bank certificates of deposit, which on average pay a 2% higher annual yield than a money-market account. The bottom line is diversification. And that's a valuable lesson investors should keep in mind even when stocks are again heading due north.
For more, read SMART MONEY
•Bond Funds
Now is an especially good time to consider bonds, some planners say — perhaps for as much as 20% of assets. The percentage of corporations defaulting on their debt obligations is on the rise as the economy slows, the risk to investors is particularly low for investment-grade bonds. Moody's says the default rate on these products is less than 1%, compared with the 7% default rate on much riskier high-yield or junk bonds. The risk associated with investment-grade bonds is further minimized in a broad-based corporate bond fund. "If you hold an investment-grade bond fund, your exposure to defaults is pretty low," says John Puchalla, a Moody's economist. "But if you start buying individual bonds, you start raising that risk."
Investors with a greater risk tolerance — and much deeper pockets — may even want to consider buying into a junk-bond fund. Recent history has shown that junk-bond investors have earned their best returns the year after the junk-bond market bottoms out.
•Exchange-Traded Funds
For those investors itching to play the stock market again, planners say now isn't the time to try to pick hot stocks. Instead, they suggest buying shares in several exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. That way, they can participate in any early rally in stocks without being overly exposed to any single company's poor earnings performance. In the past few years, ETFs have grown in popularity with individual investors because they're cheaper and easier to invest in than traditional stock index funds.
•Money-Market Accounts and CDs
Finally, financial planners say that in a recessionary environment, investors shouldn't be ashamed to keep some extra money in an interest-bearing money-market account — especially if they're investing money they'll need fairly soon. He also suggests investors stash some money in six-month or one-year bank certificates of deposit, which on average pay a 2% higher annual yield than a money-market account. The bottom line is diversification. And that's a valuable lesson investors should keep in mind even when stocks are again heading due north.
For more, read SMART MONEY
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