Articles by Results

Global 8D - Eight Wastes, Their Common Causes & Solutions

Posted by Graham Cripps on Tue, Aug 11, 2015 @ 04:40 PM

global_8d_logoGlobal 8D - Eight Wastes, Their Common Causes & Solutions

Our Subject Specialist, Graham Cripps, has produced a matrix showing the characteristics, causes and possible solutions to the Eight Wastes of Global 8D.

Download your copy here and if you have any questions email him directly on graham.cripps@resultsresults.co.uk

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Don't forget to check out our Global 8D pages here to find lots of useful resource to aid your G8D implementation

We also have a recommended reading list for you here

Enjoy, and don't forget we are here to answer any questions you may have!

The Results Team

 

Topics: Global 8D, G8D, problem prevention, 8D, 8D benefits, Business Process Improvement, Resources, lean, lean foundation

Recommended Reading - Communication, Trust & Management Tools / Techniques

Posted by Julie Camp on Wed, Jul 01, 2015 @ 12:25 PM

Recommended Reading - Communication, Trust & Management Tools / Techniques

 

Another sunny day, another recommended reading list! Our 'Man In The  North', Malcolm Hewitt has made the following recommendations, we hope you enjoy these. 

 

COMMUNICATE TO WIN

By: Richard Dennycommunicate_to_win_

Publisher: Kogan

ISBN: 0749456450

Great communication skills are absolutely vital for successful people and successful organisations to possess. This book is full of practical examples on how to improve your own communication skills and how to achieve more. It deals with many different scenarios, providing tips and techniques along the way. It is a very useful starting point for further in-depth reading

THE SPEED OF TRUST    the_speed_of_trust

By: Stephen Covey

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 1847392717

Building upon his father's impressive array of books about leadership and management, Stephen has ensured the Covey name continues to be associated with new thinking and ideas for today's managers. This book looks at how to build and develop trust with others and the benefits that accrue to both the individual and the organisation. It flies in the face of convention, given that so many organisations have a basic mistrust of their people which impacts upon organisational performance. Put simply - if we trust somebody with a £1 million training budget, why do they still need to have their expenses  signed and countersigned by three layers of management to whom they report?!

MANAGEMENT POCKETBOOKS     management_pocketbooks

By: Various

Publisher: Management Pocketbooks

ISBN: Various

These are great little (pocket sized) books covering a huge range of topics in a very easy to read, straightforward manner. They are full of tips and techniques, often in bullet form, and are easy to dip in and out of. More details of the title range can be found at www.pocketbook.co.uk, and a large part of the range is available as ebooks, via Kindle, Kobo and iBookstore. Multi user licenses are also available to allow team use for L & D.

 

We always try and provide as many details as possible with our recommended reading lists to allow you to track the publications down but if you experience any  difficulty please do not hesitate to call the team on 01371 859 344 or email to julie.camp@resultsresults.co.uk

 

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the Results Team on 01371 859 344

 

 

Topics: Resources, Leading Teams, People Development, Management Tools & Techniques

Understanding your Business Environment - The Internal Environment

Posted by Jim Killeen on Wed, Aug 08, 2012 @ 01:53 PM

Jim KilleenUNDERSTANDING YOUR OPERATING ENVIRONMENTInternal Environment Analysis

UNDERSTANDING THE INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT 

 

 

In previous blogs, I’ve looked at the Three Environments that a business or organization operates in, and examined two of them – the Far External and the Near External.

In this blog I will be looking at the third – the Internal Environment.

 

You may remember that in the Near Environment chapter, I introduced Porter’s Five Forces and suggested that Porter had identified that in order to be successful, a business must identify and develop its Competitive Advantage – the thing (or things) that it does better or differently when compared to its competitors.

 

A way of doing this is to consider the work of another academic, Robert Grant*.

He has suggested that competitive advantage comes from the resources and capabilities that lie within the firm. 

Grant's Resource Audit

 

The point of this approach is that it is the capabilities of the firm that are important, and that these capabilities rely on but are not limited by the resources available. So, first of all, we can look at resources, and then show how these resources are used to develop capability.

 

Grant believes that the resources available to a firm lie in three groupings – Tangible, Intangible and Human

 

So we will look at each of these in turn.

 

 

 

TANGIBLE

Financial Resources include the money that the company has available to it, or money it can easily acquire, that allow it to compete in the market. This can include money to pay salaries needed to attract the best candidates to positions, money needed for investment in new technology, money for advertising, marketing, and so on. Financial resources also include the financial history of the business. So a company with excellent financial results may be more likely to secure loans to be able to invest.

 

Physical Resources include the things that you can touch, that allow the business to operate. This includes machinery, premises, computers, tools and the like.

 

INTANGIBLE

The Brand of the firm is the acknowledged identity of the firm and the level of service or product it promises, and is closely linked to the Reputation. It generally is a measure of how consistently it is perceived by customers to meet their needs well, over time. It is very hard won, and can be easily lost.

 

The Culture of the firm is the Values, behaviours and patterns of judgments that the firm exhibits over time. It is very difficult to define, but in essence is the Personality of the firm. It might include things like always being honest, valuing employees, being good business citizens and so on.

 

HUMAN

The Knowledge of the firm is the “Intellectual Ability” possessed by the firm and available to it, in order for it to better meet its aims and objectives. It includes knowledge of the market, knowledge of customer groups, what the competition is doing and might be likely to do, and so on.

 

The Skills in the firm are the trained and experienced abilities of people within the firm to carry out key tasks and activities.

 

The Motivation in the firm is the peoples’ individual, internal drive to carry out activities well and to be successful.

 

The Capacity for Collaboration is the ability within the firm for individuals to work together for the success of the firm. It includes the ability of people within departments to work well with people from other departments for the common good of the firm, without putting their own department first, ahead of the firm.

 

 

Resources are important to the success of the firm over time. But of much more importance is the ability of the firm as a whole to use these resources to develop Capabilities. A capability is the ability of the firm to use various resources together, efficiently and effectively to meet the overall goals of the firm. A firm may have potential resources available to it, but usually, unless it uses these resources collectively, imaginatively and efficiently, it will never be as successful as it could potentially be.

 

The easiest way to think about this is to use an analogy.

 

Think of the firm as a carpenter. His Resources include his tools, his skills and the wood he has. His Capabilities are how well he uses these tools together to meet an objective – to make the wardrobe. He might be able to buy less wood due to limited financial resources, but if he has less waste then he’s at an advantage – his costs are lower. He may not be able to buy new tools regularly, but if he has the skills and motivation to keep his tools in tip-top condition, he won’t have to (and his costs are lower).

 

This brings us to a concept known as Leverage. Leverage is when a firm uses its small levels of resources, but with high capability, to out-perform another firm with greater resources but with less well developed capabilities. 

This is sometimes known as the David and Goliath approach to business.

Small firms, using initiative, being able to use scant resources very effectively, working together, collaboratively, to out-perform much larger rivals, and /or much better resourced rivals.

 

You may remember from the last blog, that I introduced the idea of identifying the want or need of a customer. By really understanding the want or need properly, it is possible for a firm with very limited resources, but using them together effectively (Capabilities), to meet the customers’ needs or wants much better than another firm with far greater resources.

 

An example of this can be taken from the Space Race.

 

NASA realised that when astronauts are in the space there is no gravity. Without gravity to force ink downwards towards the nib, pens do not write. So they gave astronauts a “Space Pen”. The space pen had been developed over several years, at a cost of $5 million. It writes upside down and in zero gravity. Lots of expense and time devoted to a problem, using imagination and high levels of technology, and lots of co-operation.

 

The Russians used a pencil.

 

NASA relied upon high levels of financial and technological resources. The Russians were less well financed and so could not afford the technology. They Leveraged their Knowledge – their understanding of what the customer really needed – (something to write with), the Culture of finding simple solutions, and the Motivation to find a solution suitable for the customer – the cosmonauts. A pencil does all of that.

 

So the key here is that Resources available to the firm are important, and you do need some of each. But acquiring resources for their own sake is counter-productive. Of much more importance is to use the resources you have got, but to use them effectively, efficiently and imaginatively, and together, in other words, to develop Capabilities.

 

Jim Killeen

 

 

Some of you may have spotted that I have used the “Space Pen” Urban Myth. I do apologise – it’s just such a good example that I couldn’t resist.

(*Robert Grant is a Business Professor in Milan and also teaches at Georgetown in the USA. He is highly regarded in the field of Business Strategy.)

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Topics: Small business, Business plan, 3 Environments Model, Business Advice, Internal Environment, Resources, Capabilities, Leverage, Grant's Resource Audit

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