iExec Enterprise Essentials Companion Guide

iExec Enterprise Essentials Companion Guide is the official print companion  to the Cisco® Entrepreneur Institute’s  new iExec Enterprise Essentials curriculum—innovative IT-related business education designed to help you transform organizations through the strategic use of IT and Internet applications. Working through a realistic, start-to-finish case study, you’ll learn exactly how to use technology to help businesses enhance their processes and drive sustainable competitive advantage.

Organized to fully align with the course’s online curriculum, this is the only authorized iExec textbook. You’ll begin by reviewing the global trends, opportunities, and strategic imperatives that now drive IT’s usage. Next, you’ll discover IT-enabled business strategies that increase productivity, efficiency, innovation, and profitability and learn how to trans-form any organization into an agile, high-performance Networked Virtual Organization (NVO). Through hands-on practice, you’ll learn how to assess and improve organizational readiness, enhance governance, Internet-enable internal and external processes, use portfolio management to plan business-driven IT investments, manage change, and more.

Martha L. Young, president and founder of Nova Amber, LLC, has more than 19 years of experience in the technology market, working and consulting with Fortune 500 companies such as Lockheed Martin and Coors Brewing Company. She holds a B.S. in international business from the University of Colorado.

Michael Jude, Ph.D., manages accounts for leading management solution vendors. He has more than 20 years of experience in telecommunications, as well as a Ph.D. in decision science from Walden University and an M.S. in engineering management and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado. Young and Jude are co-authors of The Case for Virtual Business Processes (Cisco Press).

•    Master every topic and concept in the new Cisco Entrepreneur Institute’s iExec Enterprise Essentials curriculum
•    Understand the global trends and business drivers behind today’s investments in IT and Internet technologies
•    Build Networked Virtual Organizations that respond more quickly to customers, collaborate better with partners on value-added activities, and reduce cost by standardizing processes, data, and infrastructure
•    Perform external and internal situation analysis, create an e-vision for success, and build an effective business case
•    Implement strategic planning and portfolio management to create a successful Internet-enabled business roadmap
•    Prioritize opportunities for process improvement using the Internet and IT
•    Identify change management techniques that can reduce your risks

Category: Computers and Networking
Covers: Network Technology

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Sample Pages

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Table of Contents

Introduction xiv
Module 1 Strategic Imperatives 1
    Global Trends and Strategic Imperatives 1
    The Impact of the Internet on Global Productivity and Competitiveness 2
        The Internet and Global Productivity 2
        The Convergence of IT Standards and Productivity 6
        The Internet and Public and Private Sectors 7
        The Public Sector 9
        The Internet and Global Trends 10
        Addressing the Global Trends 11
    Conclusion 12
        Exercise 13
    IT and Its Effect on the Organization 14
    IT and the Organization 14
    IT and Productivity 15
    IT and Efficiency 15
    What Is Innovation? 17
    IT and Innovation 17
    Innovation and Efficiency Case Example 18
    IT, Efficiency, and Innovation 19
    IT and Customer Satisfaction 20
    IT and Quality 21
    Conclusion 22
    Market and Business Drivers 22
    Market Efficiency and Business Efficiency 23
    Drivers of Market Efficiency and Business Efficiency 24
    Efficient and Inefficient Markets and Businesses 25
    Business Scenario 28
    Conclusion 30
    External Integration and Business Value 30
    External Integration 31
    Conclusion 37
    Summary 37
Module 2 Management Strategies 39
    Management and Strategy Fundamentals 39
        What Is Value? 40
        The Value Chain 44
        Cost Advantage and Competitive Differentiation 48
        Out-Tasking and Outsourcing for Competitive Advantage 49
        Tasking and Outsourcing Table 51
        Case Studies 52
            Case Study 1: In a Decidedly Low-Tech Business, CEMEX Has a Surprisingly High-Tech Workforce Customer View 53
            Case 2: IBSG Helps FedEx with a New Generation Sales Force Automation Platform 56
            Case 3: British Airways—Getting in Shape with eWorking 60
        Conclusion 66
    The Business Value Framework 66
        Overview of the Business Value Framework 67
        The First “D”: Financial Drivers 67
        The Second “D”: Business Differentiators 69
        The Third “D”: Improvement Disciplines 70
        How Does It All Fit Together? 71
        Conclusion 72
    Networked Virtual Organizations 72
        The Networked Virtual Organization 73
        Strategy One: Customer Centricity 74
        Strategy Two: Core Versus Context 75
        Strategy Three: Continuous Standardization 75
    Case Studies 76
        Kennisnet Case Study 76
        Centrelink 78
    NVOs Delivering Returns 79
Module 3 Organizational Readiness 81
    Introduction 81
    What Is Organizational Readiness? 81
    Leadership: The First Pillar of Organizational Readiness 82
        Characteristics That Define IT-Savvy Leadership 83
    Governance: The Second Pillar of Organizational Readiness 83
        ICT-Centric Governance Characteristics 84
    Competencies: The Third Pillar of Organizational Readiness 85
        The Five Cs of Core Competencies 86
    Technology: The Fourth Pillar of Organizational Readiness 87
        IT-Ready Elements 88
    What Makes Internet-Enabled Organizations Successful? 88
        Formula for Success with IT 89
        Value of Organization Readiness 91
        Conclusion 92
    IT Governance and Planning 92
        IT Governance: What Is It? 93
            The Role of IT and IT Governance 93
            How to Manage Funding for IT Governance 94
            IT Governance and Planning 94
        Funding 95
        Conclusion 100
            Moving Toward Organizational Readiness 101
    The Leadership Guide 101
        Moving Toward Leadership Readiness 101
        The Guidelines for Success 102
        The Role of Leaders and Culture 102
        Issues and Challenges 103
    The Governance Guide 105
        Moving Toward IT Governance Readiness 105
        The Governance and Operations Framework 106
        Issues and Challenges 106
        Governance Best Practices 107
        IT Governance Funding Options 107
    Governance: A Best Practice Example Insert Case Study 108
        PNB Paribas 108
        The Competencies Guide 108
        Moving Toward Competencies Readiness 109
        Improving Performance and Outcomes 109
            The Guidelines for Success 110
    Competencies: A Best Practice Example 110
        The General Electric (GE) Energy Initiative 110
        The Technology Guide 110
        Moving Toward Technology Readiness 111
        Performance and Outcomes 111
        Issues and Challenges 113
        Best Practice List 113
    Conclusion 115
    Organizational Readiness Planning 115
        Planning: The First Step to Improvement 115
        Why Plan for Organizational Readiness? 115
        Improving Organizational Readiness 116
        Conclusion 117
    Readiness Assessment and Plan Development 117
        Why Assess Your Organizational Readiness? 118
        Characteristics of Organizational Competencies 118
        Tools for Assessing Organizational Readiness 119
        Net Readiness Scorecard: What Do I Do with the Results? 121
        Organizational Readiness Improvement Plan 123
        Conclusion 124
    Conclusion 124
Module 4 ICT Solutions 127
    Understanding Internet-Enabled Solutions 127
        Examining Workforce Optimization Solutions 141
            Workforce Optimization 141
            Finance 144
            Human Resources 146
            Learning and Development 149
        Customer-Facing and Supply Chain Solutions 152
    Customer Care 152
        Manufacturing 157
            Supply Chain Management 163
    Conclusion 167
Module 5 Strategy Development 169
    Introduction 169
        Situation Analysis and Visioning 169
        Planning Process Overview 170
            Business Strategy 170
        Situation Analysis and Visioning 171
            Why Create a Business Strategy? 172
        Internal Situation Analysis 177
    Business Review 178
        Visioning Statement 184
    Conclusion 187
Module 6 Portfolio Management 189
    Portfolio Management 190
    What Is Portfolio Management? 191
        Metrics 194
            Company Shareholder Metrics 194
            Business Performance Metrics 194
            Operational Metrics 194
        The Business Performance Framework 195
            Top-Down Guidance 195
            Bottom-Up Alignment 195
        Review Current Initiatives 198
        Identify New Opportunities 201
        Prioritize Your IT Initiatives 205
            Organizational Impact 205
            Ease of Implementation 205
            Project Selection 206
        Build a Project Roadmap 207
        Portfolio Management Example: Oasis Office 208
            iValue Matrix 208
            Which Projects Should Oasis Pursue? 208
            Building a Project Roadmap 209
            Business Process Management 209
            What Is Business Process Management, and
            Why Is It Important? 210
            Business Process and the Network Virtual Organization 212
            Project Life Cycle Management 215
            What Is Project Management? 216
            Barriers to Project Success 217
            Principles for Project Success 218
        What Is Project Life Cycle Management? 219
        Change Management and Adoption Strategies 220
           What Is Change Management? 221
            Adoption Strategies 224
    Conclusion 226
Module 7 Business Case 227
    Introduction 227
        Creating a Business Case 227
    Revision History 231
        Revision Table 231
        Executive Summary 231
            Mission Statement and Vision 231
            Situation Analysis 231
            Business Issue(s)/Problem Statement 231
            Solution 232
            Benefits 232
    Detailed Project Proposal 232
        Project Overview 232
        Business Requirements 232
        Executive Sponsorship 233
        Key Stakeholders 233
        Team Members 233
        Project Justification 233
        Project Benefits 234
        Project Success Measurements 234
    Risks and Assumptions 234
        Project Cost Summary 234
        Initial Project Cost 234
        Final Project Cost 235
        Return on Investment 235
    Sustainability Plan 235
        Business Support Plan 235
        Change Management Plan 235
        Training Plan 236
        Communication Plan 236
    Approval 23
    Appendixes 236
        Financial Concepts 237
        Financial and Nonfinancial Justification 237
        Overview 237
        Examples 238
            Hard Cost Reduction 238
            Increased Productivity 239
            Nonfinancial Benefits 239
        Common Financial Calculations 241
        Which Calculation Is Best? 246
        Metrics and Key Performance Indicators 247
            Calculating an ROI for an IT Initiative Is Not That Different from Calculating an ROI for a Non-IT Initiative 247
            Linking KPIs 249
    Conclusion 250
Module 8 Conclusion 251
    Course Summary 252
    So, Where to from Here? 253
Index 255