As an entrepreneur and president of an engineering company, I've seen how difficult and elusive it is to get an advantage over your competitors. Many companies have started something new only to see it copied or substituted in short order. What is the "secret sauce" that companies like Apple, Southwest Airlines, and Starbucks have, and how... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
PRINCE2 is one of the world's main project management methodologies. It was developed by the UK government and is administered by Axelos, a company partially owned by the UK government. Axelos administers the two PRINCE2 certifications: PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioner. The latter is the main certification, and the former is the more basic, "associate"... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
I was once part of a project which went behind schedule and over budget. The project manager asked the project team, which included me, to come up with reasons why the project was late. Naturally the team produced several reasons, and a scope change request, along with a new budget was sent to the client. ... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are clear, specific metrics that measure an organization's progress toward a corporate goal. They generally have a time component, because they track the execution of a corporate strategy. They are the "scorecard" part of a balanced scorecard. To develop KPI's, it helps to divide them into three categories: Target Relative Progress Target... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
The Balanced Scorecard is a system for the implementation of corporate strategy. It is a performance measurement tool that helps an organization execute its strategies and turn them into measurable results "on the ground." In its practical form, a balanced scorecard is a 4-quadrant itemized list of key performance indicators (KPI's) that the organization strives... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Strategic planning involves the development of actions that support the achievement of a corporate goal. The corporate goals must be defined first, and the strategic plan becomes the "how to" manual to achieve the goals. Business schools make strategic planning more complicated than it is. If you understand these 8 tools, you've mostly mastered the... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Critical Success Factors, or CSF's, are the criteria that defines success. In project management, they are found in the project management plan and define what it means for the project to be successful. Time and Cost (deadlines and budgets) are almost always part of the CSF's, but most projects have other success criteria as well.... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
I was once part of a project which went behind schedule and over budget. The project manager asked the project team, which included me, to come up with reasons why the project was late. Naturally the team produced several reasons, and a scope change request along with a new budget was sent to the client. ... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
I was once part of a project which went behind schedule and over budget. In response the project manager asked the project team to come up with reasons why the project was late. Naturally the team produced several reasons, and a change in schedule and budget was approved. Everything sounded like it was back on... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
A corporate goal is an specific, measurable objective toward which an organization channels its efforts. Goals support a vision or mission statement. In strategic planning, the establishment of corporate goals comes right after the development of corporate vision and mission statements. These documents lay the groundwork for determining the more specific goals that an organization... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
In this article, we will take a leisurely stroll through the strategic planning process. This includes the model most used in textbooks and courses on corporate strategy. The strategic planning process consists of the following steps: Vision Statement Mission Statement Corporate Goals Corporate Strategy Metrics Vision Statement A vision statement is a statement of where the... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
