Increase Productivty

Strategic planning is often associated with larger businesses, but start-up businesses and existing small businesses seeking funding must have some form of strategic plan that underpins the business plan. In small businesses, such as a builder or retailer, the owner or owner-manager generally carries out strategic planning.

In larger organisations, strategic planning can be carried out at the corporate level and at the strategic business unit (sbu) level. At the corporate level, it is overseen by senior management, for example the board. An sbu is a division or department of a corporation that is sufficiently self-contained to be able to operate independently from the whole business.

A business that is organised on the basis of products often has managers responsible for particular products or groups of products. The product managers carry out their own strategic planning within the overall corporate framework. Larger businesses generally adopt a divisional structure and a division can be treated as an sbu.

The concept of the sbu has important implications for resource allocation. Resources are limited and should be allocated where they achieve the greatest return on investment. Within corporations, sbus may have to submit strategic plans and business plans as part of the corporate capital allocation process. For example, Whitbread, which operates several companies in the UK leisure market (hotels, eating out, and health and fitness), carries out a formal annual planning process, which includes a strategic plan. The planning process is formalised in the form of a booklet, which the sbus have to complete.

taken from; GUIDE TO BUSINESS PLANNING

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SPI is determined by measuring the performance of a new and improved process using tools such as statistical process control. First, the attributes or characteristics of an old software process are measured and analyzed to determine its performance. Then, the attributes or characteristics of a new software process are measured and analyzed to determine its performance. Classes of attributes or characteristics include effort, cost, and cycle time. Productivity, quality, reliability, precision, predictability, efficiency, simplicity, and customer satisfaction are also key attributes. Significant characteristics include degree of automation, consistency, repeatability, measurability, variety, and innovation.

Effort is a measure of how many hours a process requires. Cost is a measure of how much money a process requires. Cycle time is a measure of how long a process takes. Productivity is a measure of how many units a process yields. Quality is a measure of how many defects a process yields. Reliability is a measure of the frequency of failures encountered. Precision is a measure of exactness and conciseness. Predictability is a measure of statistical accuracy. Efficiency is a measure of resources consumed relative to process output. Simplicity is a measure of process complexity. Customer satisfaction is a measure of how well clients are served. Degree of automation is a measure of eliminating the causes of human variation. Consistency is a measure of minimal performance variation. Repeatability is also a measure of minimum performance variation. Measurability is a quantitative and often tangible or physical characteristic of a process or product. Variety is a measure of process flexibility to satisfy multiple diverse customer requirements. Innovation is a measure of the range and creativity of products and services.

taken from; ROI of Software Process Improvement: Metrics for Project Managers and Software Engineers

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In new and small businesses the owner or manager may have full responsibility for undertaking the business planning process, but in larger organisations many people may be involved. In this case, it is not essential that those who do the work on a particular section of the business plan also write it, but it often helps to ensure that the plan, as written, properly reflects the conclusion and insights gained from the analysis. However, it is more important that those who will ultimately be responsible for implementing and
delivering the business plan should be responsible or, at the very least, closely involved in preparing it. The implementers of the plan must feel “ownership” of it, as even a well researched and robust business plan will fail if it does not have the support of those who are responsible for its execution. Other people whom it is useful to involve in the planning process are those who will decide whether to approve it or not. Involving the decisionmakers ensures that their particular concerns are taken into account and gives them time to “buy in” before they are required to approve it formally.

There should be one person with overall responsibility for the business plan, even if others write sections of it. Whoever has overall responsibility should focus on the broader, bigger issues and ensure that a consistent style and a consistent set of messages are presented across all sections. Sections of the business plan and tasks within the business planning process can often be broken down easily along functional lines, and the heads of functional areas such as sales and marketing can be given responsibility for their sections. As the business plan represents a blueprint for the business, all the major disciplines
within the organisation should be involved, or at least consulted, on the contents.

In the case of large business planning exercises involving many people, it is useful to have a dedicated project manager reporting to the person with overall responsibility to ensure that the activities of all those involved are co-ordinated and to make sure that the plan is prepared on time.

It is also important to have on the team a skilled business modeller who takes responsibility for developing the business model and who is often closely involved with funding issues and risk analysis. This role is usually best suited to individuals with financial training and with strong spreadsheet skills.

taken from; GUIDE TO BUSINESS PLANNING

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SPI is important because it is the primary means by which a new and improved software process is created. This is done in order to achieve significant economic benefits at the least possible costs. Notice that benefits and costs are mentioned yet again. Aren’t these the terms of the ROI equation? Indeed they are. ROI of SPI is the ratio of benefits to costs. In fact, higher benefits and lower costs increase the ratio of benefits to costs. This helps realize a greater ROI of SPI. SPI is important because it maximizes the ROI of SPI.

A well-designed software process has a positive effect on the bottom-line economic performance of a software enterprise. Performance is often measured in terms of productivity and cost efficiency. This applies to commercial and nonprofit organizations.

Conversely, poorly designed software processes have negative consequences on the economic performance of an enterprise. Poor software processes result in high cost of operations, inefficient use of resources, and lost market opportunities. Lack of quality and reliability, poor customer satisfaction, and poor internal morale are the results of poorly designed processes.

It is important to remember that ROI is just one tool for evaluating the performance of a new and improved software process. SPI is used to create a new and improved software process for a variety of reasons, not just ROI. At a very basic level, SPI can be used to increase productivity, quality, cycle time reduction, and cost reduction.

However, SPI can also be used to create a new and improved software process to respond to a new industry standard. SPI is often performed to adhere to a new customer standard, lower operating capital, and changing skill requirements. Technological innovations, changes to organizational structures, and increased competition are also reasons to perform SPI. Unprecedented and ambitious product and service offerings usually result in broad sweeping SPI initiatives. SPI may be performed to effect incremental changes in operating efficiency.

SPI is even performed in support of aggressively new market maneuvers that require radically new software processes. SPI is the primary means by which operating performance is deliberately measured and manipulated. This is done to achieve basic business goals, leading to improved economic performance.

Getting new customers doesn’t satisfy them, entering markets doesn’t capture them, and cutting costs doesn’t lower them. Hiring and firing people doesn’t improve productivity, and reorganizing doesn’t implicitly increase operating efficiency. However, SPI can result in higher customer satisfaction, lower costs, increased productivity, and greater operating efficiency.

taken from; ROI of Software Process Improvement: Metrics for Project Managers and Software Engineers

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Strategic review and plan

The process begins with a strategic review that is designed to examine the current state of the business and also identifies the axes around which the future might evolve. A business’s vision, mission and objectives can be an input or an output of the business planning process.

The strategic review examines the business’s customers, suppliers and competitors as well as the industry dynamics that govern how these groups interact. The review also includes the wider environment in which the business operates and might take in the political, economic, social and technological changes that affect the business. Lastly, the review examines the business itself and the analysis may include the financial capabilities of the firm, its operating infrastructure, patents and knowledge and the skills of its staff.

Marketing plan
Having examined the current state of the business and its environment, the planning process examines the future. Scenario planning techniques can be used to forecast a variety of future market environments in which the business may have to operate and for which alternative marketing strategies and tactics can be developed within the marketing plan. The distinction between strategy and tactics is not always particularly clear. Strategic planning addresses the issue of what the business should do. Tactics are sometimes portrayed as addressing the question: “How should the business do it?”

Operational plan
By this stage of the process the business should be clear about its vision and mission as well as some of its objectives. A number of strategic options will have been arrived at, designed to achieve these goals, and the strategies will be supported by a set of tactics. The tactics can then be broken down into operational plans, which spell out how the tactics are to be executed. When the business planning process has reached the operational planning stage a financial model should be developed.

taken from; GUIDE TO BUSINESS PLANNING

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If you were going to drive from Dallas to Los Angeles, would you just wake up one morning, get in the car, and start driving? Of course not, you’d make a plan!
There are dozens of books about how to write a business plan. In fact, there’s even software you can buy, such as Business Plan Pro, that will ask you a series of questions about your potential business and help you build a basic template you can use. Here, however; we’re going to touch on the key areas of your plan.
But you don’t have to get professional software to write a business plan. In most cases, the purpose of the plan is to layout the roadmap for where you want the business to go. You don’t have to develop a long, drawn out plan like a public company might do. Just a simple plan that identifies the following information:
1. What product or service you’re going to sell
2. What you want to accomplish with the business
3. Information on the market you’re going in to (who is your competition?)
4. How you’re planning on marketing your product or service
5. Determine how much money you need to start and do some simple projections about what you expect to make.
That’s it! Give yourself a basic roadmap and you’ll be half way there. Again, you’re not writing a business plan necessarily to raise capital, so you don’t need to go to business school to layout your plan. Keep it simple.

taken from; How To Make Money From Your Hobbies and Ideas

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The executive summary is the most important section of the business plan since it may be the only section that is read; and because it is usually the first section to be read it must engage readers and excite them about the potential of the business idea. It should not be an introduction to the business plan; it should be a 2–3 page encapsulation of the defining characteristics of the business proposition and the request being made to the reader in terms of approvals or funding. The executive summary should be the most carefully written of all the sections. Any errors in it will undermine the reader’s confidence in the
accuracy and credibility of the whole plan.

The executive summary should contain the following information:
 Current state of the business
 Products and services and the customers
 Sources of sustainable competitive advantage
 Shareholder objectives and business strategy
 Summary financial forecasts
 Decision or funding being sought

The historic elements
The history of the business is another useful section to write before starting the business planning process. Capturing the evolutionary path of the business to its current state provides a valuable context for the business planning activities and is useful to those who are not familiar with the business. The history should include the following:
 Date founded
 Founders
 Changes in name
 Scope
 Environmental changes
 Dates and explanations of any major acquisitions or divestitures
 Major obstacles faced
 Periods of growth and slow-down

Once the outline of the business plan has been prepared and a first draft of the executive summary written, the process of generating the content to complete the remainder of the business plan can begin.

taken from; GUIDE TO BUSINESS PLANNING

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SPI is the act of creating a new and improved software process in order to obtain a benefit. In other words, SPI is used to create a new and improved software process to achieve some level of benefits. The benefits are often increased revenues or profits, decreased costs, and significant cost savings. It is somewhat ironic that the field of SPI has evolved to include cost savings. Early attempts at SPI were designed to improve quality and reliability at any cost.

SPI is simply the act of changing the software development and maintenance process. The goals are usually to increase efficiency, decrease costs, and increase profitability. For instance, SPI can be used to create a new and improved process for software project management.

This may result in faster cycle times, shorter time to market, higher customer satisfaction, and alignment with strategic goals. Improved project management also leads to accurate time and budget accounting and better cost and schedule performance. Lower defect rates, smaller module sizes, increased verification and validation efficiency, and increased productivity also result. Improvement certainly leads to better cost, quality, and reliability estimation and higher software quality and reliability.

SPI is used to create a new and improved software process. First, the performance of an old software process is measured using statistical process control. Then, a new and simplified software process is formed to improve performance. Oftentimes, the new and improved software process is piloted to measure its new performance. Finally, the new software process which exhibits the desired performance level may be institutionalized.

SPI is used to create new software processes for strategic software activities. Software project management and software quality management are certainly strategic activities. However, software design management is a very strategic software activity.

SPI of processes for software quality management is a proven discipline which yields orders-of-magnitude improvement. SPI of processes for software project management is starting to achieve international recognition. It is fueled by emerging data and hard economic justification for this discipline. SPI of processes for software design management is a fledgling discipline. Its economic underpinnings are anchored in the fields of software reuse and product line management.

taken from; ROI of Software Process Improvement: Metrics for Project Managers and Software Engineers

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Have you decided where will you go on your next holiday? Is it having leisure time in Europe? Visiting your old friends back in your hometown? Or maybe have a nice vacation with your family? One international organization offers you unique travel experiences as volunteers for individuals who are globally minded. This organization seeks for volunteers that will do humanity tasks in Asia, Africa and Asia. This program called volunteer abroad international programs.

The programs provided by this organization id customized and personalized. The start date and the length of the program can be set to your availability. Personalized means the programs will be suited with your skills and preferences. There are many types of programs that you join, they are: child care/orphanage projects, HIV/AIDS awareness projects, education/vocation projects, medical and dental projects, construction/community development projects, conservation and environmental projects and also language and cultural immersion. Each type of programs will give you different experiences and a broader view of the world and of course they are interesting to do.

The child care/orphanage program is one of the best programs that you can do. You will be taking care of orphan children and street kids in countries like Tanzania, Ghana, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru, Nepal and Costa Rica. As a volunteer your main task in this program is to assist the daily care of the kids. You will do feeding babies, teaching English, reading activities, art classes, playing games and even sing songs with them.

The other program that is quite interesting is education/vocation projects. In this program you will assist the kindergarten, primary and secondary teachers in teaching math, science, English and vocational skills like carpentry, electronic and computer training. You will be sent to countries like Uganda, Chile, Peru, Tanzania, Malawi and Honduras.

Don’t worry if you know nothing about a country, you can try volunteer abroad travel guide. In its website, there is much important information that you can get if you want to join this program. After you get enough information you can also sign up for the program online by simply filling the online registration form provided. In the other part of the website you can also find information about travel guide for volunteers.

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The basic business information can usually be prepared and written quickly and will be a valuable reference for future contributors to the document. It should include the following:
 Title
 Contents
 Contact information
 Document control
 Professional advisers
 Definitions
 Legal structure and corporate data

Prepare a title for the document and a contents page. Establishing the contents page at the outset will provide a structure for the document and is a useful tool for checking completeness.

The contact details of the individual responsible for the business plan should be easily accessible. A page should be devoted to document and version control so that any reader can be confident that they are reading the latest version and can also see where the most recent changes have been made. Where professional advisers such as bankers, accountants, lawyers or management consultants have been involved, their contact details should also be provided. In business plans with a large amount of technical information, a glossary will often be necessary as an appendix. However, it is often useful and less frustrating for the reader if some key definitions can be provided early in the document. Definitions
should be provided in the basic business information section and terms should be used consistently throughout the document. When a term is used for the first time in the main text it should be defined again.

The section of legal structure and corporate data should include the following pieces of information:
 The full name of the business
 The corporate status of the business
 Its capital structure
 The address of the registered office
 The registration number
 The head office address

taken from; GUIDE TO BUSINESS PLANNING

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