How to analyse a company performance or identifying its strategy's effectiveness

A process is not a merely words to express a certain flow of activities in business such as production, services; it actually involves all parts of our life. Cooking such baking a cake, marriage, business services; construction, education provider, transportation are having processes within its activities.And hence process is important in our life.  

Some people might also address it as flow process and lately people are using the 'value chain' which turn many people to confusion state. So the questions is what all these words means and how it is related to strategy?

A business process is a collection of linked tasks which find their end in the delivery of a service or product to a client. A business process has also been defined as a set of activities and tasks that, once completed, will accomplish an organizational goal.

Values chain is a high-level model of how businesses receive raw materials as input, add value to the raw materials through various processes, and sell finished products to customers. In value chain normally the financial part is inserted and hence efficiency is one of the important discussion in value chain analysis. 

Chart 1. A tool that could be use as a value chain analysis

Value-chain analysis looks at every step a business goes through, from raw materials to the eventual end-user. The goal is to deliver maximum value for the least possible total cost. 

Chart 2. An example Value Chain in use in manufacturing

Chart 3. Another example Value Chain in action

From above charts of value chain we could see that how value chain are being used from the base chart of Porters value Chain in chart 1 and later how it is being used in manufacturing in chart 2.

In turn around of companies from loss to profit or profit maximization for a company process, a few tools are being use such as; external analysis, competitors analysis, internal analysis such as resource evaluation analysis, . One of the most important tools in internal analysis is the value chain analysis which is being used as one of the analysis tools to evaluate efficiency and later transpired the process to profitability value.

It is important to remember that in analyzing a company's operations or proposing actions for a company to undertake in ensuring its profitability; a few tools needed. In a normal practice, the process of the action should be:
  1. Analyzing the company general operation - what are they doing?
  2. Analyzing the external environment
  3. Analyzing its internal environment
  4. Identify what strategy are they using or suppose to use.
 5. How does the organization chart related to the strategy? Is it very much linked?
  6. Analyse its value chain
 7. Is the strategic implementation effective- look at the 10 components of  strategic 
      implementation - is it being applied (Thomson 2011).
  8. What is the finding from all those analysis above and you can provide a
      comments and propose action to be taken for an improvement.

In most cases if we use all the above tools or methodology, we are able to resolve the company non performance or improving its profitability. This could be applied to any size of the company.

Assignment: 
Fashion design has been a new life style demand for generation Y. In the perspective of strategy, what could you explain in relation to external and internal environment of a company; if a fashion design house to be open in ARA DAMANSARA. What are the best strategic (business and corporate level) option. Explain in detail.

Note:
Font size: 12
Words count: 2500 - 3000
Spacing: 1.5

Presentation:
You are to select a small business entity or a SME. Analyze its operation.How is its performance? Provide the monitoring and control tools and method for continuos improvements. 

Note:
Prepare only 5-6 slides for this presentation. 

3 critical activities in Managing a Project

Picture of Fremantle Port in Perth. Task are executed here with proper planning and
 following the 4 elements, as in this article.

Project management is a chain process of activity or a flow of  activity in ensuring a task is completed and meet the project sponsor and project owner requirement. A project owner might not be a project sponsor. 

Example, the owner of the project might be the state government but financed by the Federal Government. A simpler example, a wedding, the project owner might be the two bride to be but the financier or the project sponsor who finance mitt be the parents.

In being a project manager, these two parties must be satisfied to the project. And a project might be as big as a mega project in Oil and Gas and as small as wedding planning or a birthday party or even the annual anniversary celebration.

The question is how to ensure that the project will satisfy both parties, the project owner and the project sponsor. However it might also be only one party involve where the same party is the project owner and project sponsor.

In most books, the element or the important segments are:

a. Time: Project Schedule

b. Cost: Project Budget and expenses

c. Scope : the work scope; deliverable

In my experience, there is one more thing which important that is the quality. The question is how? Simple to say but need serious attention and focus. 

To ensure all the 3 elements are achieved or 4 as I mention the additional element (quality) is a proper monitoring and control. What to use? I will answer you, use the 7 QC Tools and intact, I have been using the control chart successfully. Remember; evaluation must be done periodically or as soon as any positive or negative spikes. 

Sample of control chart

The negative spikes is when it runs lower than the LLV (lower limit value) and positive spike is when the achievement is so good; beyond the target or even beyond the ULV (upper limit value). If you reed more or google the knowledge on using control chart, you will get what I meant by ULV and LLV.