Operational Maturity: What It Means, How to Assess It
Operational maturity describes how consistently, predictably, and measurably a company’s processes actually run, independent of how good the people executing them happen to be on any given day. A company with low operational maturity depends on…
customer Focused Membership Level That Work
customer focused membership level names The names you give your membership tiers do more work than most businesses expect. “Bronze, Silver, Gold” tells a customer nothing about what they get and quietly implies that the base tier is a…
Business Strategic Diagnosis: How to Run One Well
A business strategic diagnosis is a structured assessment of a company’s internal capabilities and external environment, done before setting or revising strategy, so decisions are based on an honest read of the company’s actual position…
Baldrige Performance Excellence: What It Is, How to Use It
The Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework is a free, congressionally established set of criteria that helps a company evaluate its leadership, strategy, and operations against a consistent standard, without requiring the company to apply for any…
Fit Gap Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide for Software Projects
A fit gap analysis is a structured comparison between what a software system can do out of the box and what your business actually needs it to do, with every requirement sorted into a clear category so a team knows exactly where standard functionality…
Merger and Acquisition Strategies: A Decision Framework
Merger and acquisition strategies: A merger and acquisition strategy is the specific rationale and approach a company uses to grow through buying or combining with another business, rather than an ad hoc decision to “do a deal” when an…
Business Transformation Planning: A Practical Framework
Business transformation planning is the process of defining, sequencing, and governing a major, company-wide change effort, whether that’s a shift in business model, an operating model redesign, a cost restructuring, or a technology-driven…
Procurement Master Data Management: A Practical Guide
Procurement master data management is the discipline of keeping the core data your procurement function depends on- supplier records, item and material records, and contract records- accurate, standardized, and consistent across every system that touches…
Public Sector Procurement News: The FAR Overhaul Explained
Public Sector Procurement News: The federal government is in the middle of the largest rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in its history, and the details matter for any business that sells or wants to sell to a federal agency. Some of…
Retirement Plan Outsourcing: What Employers Can Hand Off
Retirement Plan Outsourcing: An employer that sponsors a 401(k) can hand off most of the day-to-day administration and a meaningful share of the fiduciary liability that comes with it. What an employer cannot do is hand off all of it. Under the Employee…
