Benchmarking for Best Practices: Winning Through Innovative Adaptation Review

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Benchmarking for Best Practices: Winning Through Innovative Adaptation ReviewAs a responsible management consultant, virtually every one of my engagements involves measurement and benchmarking in one form or another. This is one of several books I turn to time and again to assist me in ensuring that my clients' initiatives are (1) meeting expectations (2) providing competitive advantage and (3) delivering customer satisfaction. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me - adamleft@webspan.net.Benchmarking for Best Practices: Winning Through Innovative Adaptation Overview

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The Next Wave of Technologies: Opportunities in Chaos Review

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The Next Wave of Technologies: Opportunities in Chaos ReviewThe next wave of Technologies is a very rich, and up to date, source of information. Chances are the reader has already heard, read and possibly work with some of these technologies. And of course we can always search for information on the internet. But this book bundles it all together in a consistent and comprehensive way. It also provides information that one can use as a starting point to investigate further. This book will also serve as an excellent reference book.
Next to describing and explaining the technologies, the reader gets an insight on:
- when and how these technologies and concepts, evolved to there current status
- benefits, costs, risks, limitations, and challenges
- who are (current) players (form vendor- as well as user and customer side)
- role and strategies of vendors/suppliers, and customer/user expectations
- impact on organizations
- best practices, key factors, models and frameworks
- development, management and deployment
- references to specific research done, literature, articles, whitepapers etc. (can serve as point for further study)
Phil Simon has done a great job in bringing together 15 other authors and there knowledge and expertise to form this excellent bundle of information. Each author writes a chapter on his/her specific area of expertise. One of the things I like of books written by different authors, is that each chapter has a bit different writing style, which to me makes it more interesting to read. Every chapter is written with a bit different style, while still maintaining an overall general structure. Nicely done!
Each chapter ends with a summary and a `next steps' section. The `next steps' section is intended to help the reader think about steps he/she can take when considering using, or is already using, the specific technology in their organization.
The book is structured in 4 parts:
Part1 - Introduction, Background and Definitions
Part2 - Architecture, Software Development, and Frameworks
Part3 - Data, Information, and Knowledge
Part4 - Management and Deployment
Part5 - Conclusion
the chapters are:
Part-1
Ch1 - The changing Landscape of Business and Technologies
Ch2 - How the Game has changed
Ch3 - The role of IT in an Enterprise 2.0 World
Part-2
Ch4 - Cloud Computing
Ch5 - Opens Source: The War that both Sides Won
Ch6 - Software as a Service
Ch7 - Service Oriented Architecture
Ch8 - Managing Mobile Business
Ch9 - Social Networking
Part-3
Ch10 - Enterprise Searc and Retrieval
Ch11 - Enterprise 2.0 Business Inteligence
Ch12 - Master Data Management
Ch13 - Procurement in Chaos
Part-4
Ch14 - Agile Software Development
Ch15 - Enterprise Risk Management
Ch16 - Implementing Open Source Software
Ch17 - Global Engineering
Ch18 - Enterprise 2.0 IT Project Failure
Ch19 - Readying the troops for Battle
Ch20 - Sustainability and Green IT
Part-5
Ch21 - Finding Opportunity in Chaos
That's it for my review. I hope it gives an insight of what to expect from the book.
Thansk fo reading the review.
*********The Next Wave of Technologies: Opportunities in Chaos Overview

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The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action Review

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The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action ReviewKaplan and Norton are the visionaries behind the Balanced Scorecard (BSc), and this is their first book on the subject. BSc as Kaplan and Norton conceived of it was focused on measurement, specifically measuring variables that had some linkage to corporate financial results so that the direction of the organization could be determined prior to the occurrence of a bad quarter or two. THE MEASURES OF ANY MANAGEMENT CONCEPT ARE ITS ADOPTION AND ITS STAYING POWER, AND KAPLAN AND NORTON'S BSc IS AN OVERWHELMING SUCCESS.
BUT companies that enacted BSc's started to tie them to corporate strategies, making them strategic management tools and not just measurement tools. One of the advancements was to tie define measures that measured the success of strategic intent as defined by specific objectives and goals. Another was to create cause and effect maps of the objectives, called "strategy maps."
Measurement is, of course, still an important part of the BSc, but the process of determining what to measure begins higher up the strategic ladder. KAPLAN AND NORTON THEMSELVES CHRONICLE THE GROWTH OF BSc INTO A STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT TOOL IN THEIR SUBSEQUENT WORK.
So, this book is a bit outdated, though it is still a useful introduction. However, I recommend that you try:
* Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes by Kaplan and Norton
* The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment, also by Kaplan and Norton
* Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step: Maximizing Performance and Maintaining Results by Paul R. Niven
And a good introductory article to the idea of strategy mapping is "Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System", a Harvard Business Review article by Kaplan and Norton that is also available on Amazon.The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action Overview

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Roadmaps and Revelations: Finding the Road to Business Success on Route 101 Review

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Roadmaps and Revelations: Finding the Road to Business Success on Route 101 ReviewOften I've contemplated the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. In my experience, that statement is true and I've also observed that the viewers frequently derive significantly different information from a picture. Some will see simply a scene or in abstract art they will be reminded of vastly different experiences than I might recall. What we learn from the picture will be different depending on the lenses through which we view the scene. Those lenses are shaped, polished and given refractive characteristics through our values and life experiences.
Much the same happens when we hear an interesting story, which, next to a picture, is the second most engaging and inspiring way to share information. In Road Maps and Revelations, Niven spins a compelling fable and manages to fit in very sound principles for developing a strategic business plan. The story takes place in a trip down the California coast between San Francisco and San Diego. This was especially interesting to me since I have made that very same trip several times. Rory Newman, the protagonist, uncovered many lessons through the improbable character, Sydney Wise, who is both a surprise visitor and a successful serial entrepreneur who has figured out exactly how to create a strategic plan. He doesn't make it easy on Rory, but rather seeks to engage Rory's imagination in discovering the lessons for himself.
Those lessons are: (1) Start with a consistent definition of strategy; (2) examine the organization's core purpose and timeless mission; (3) create a strategy that is simple, clearly understood and easily implemented by the employees; (4) create an organic plan which is dynamic rather than details of facts and figures; (5) develop a plan that fits with, complements and creates synergy with your corporate culture; (6) communicate your plan as a story in which every employee is central to the exciting success of the company. Niven further espouses getting clear on your mission and then answer four fundamental questions: (1) what propels us forward? (2) What do we sell [not really a trivial question!]? (3) Who are our customers? And (4) how do we sell? Each of these questions is answered looking at them through the lenses of social/cultural impact, Human point of view, technological issues and financial point of view. Keep in mind that this is a high level method of creating and presenting a plan. There is much work hidden in these simple steps.
When written and summarized in this short list, the lessons seem boring and somewhat trivial. Niven's book itself, on the other hand, demonstrates exactly why weaving a story to make your point and communicate your plan is the most effective way to get everyone on board. In using his story to develop how to go through the sometimes overwhelming task of developing a clear and compelling strategy, the author manages to break things down into bite-sized tasks. We know that each one is going to be a challenge by itself, yet we no longer feel that we have such a monumental task in front of us. And best of all, the plan developed will be easily understood and will not comprise reams of paper with incredible detail. All that will, of course, exist. However it will be backup data rather than the plan itself. I am reminded of Chief Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes who once famously said, "I would not give a fig for simplicity on this side of complexity. But I would give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity." Niven gives us a simply understood method for digging through the incredible complexity required of a solid strategic business plan so that we arrive at a concise and simple to understand strategy on the other side.Roadmaps and Revelations: Finding the Road to Business Success on Route 101 Overview

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