Enterprise Architecture (EA) denotes management best practice for lining up business and technology resources to realize strategic results, expand upon Organizational Performance and steer departments to achieve their core missions more successfully and achieve Operational Excellence.

Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF) assists any agency of the Federal government achieve this through documentation and information that conveys a summarized outlook of an enterprise at various tiers of scope and detail.

The FEAF comprises of 6 interconnected Reference Models including Security Reference Model (SRM), linked through Consolidated Reference Model (CRM), each relating to a sub-architectural domain of the FEA framework.

Security is a worldwide concern pervading through all layers of the organization.  Effect on security at any level has an impact on each successive level, both ascending and descending.  Appropriate place for developing and charting Security standards, policies, and norms is the Enterprise Architecture Governance since it is the enforcement point for IT investments.

Security Reference Model (SRM) is a framework for maturing a security architecture created on Information Security and privacy standards.  SRM is omnipresent, entwining itself through all of the sub-architectures of the all-encompassing EA across all the other reference models.

Enterprise and solution architects have to remain aware of entire technology, business, performance, and security drivers so as to suitably steer IT Strategy and design Information Technology systems and choose apposite technology that fits their needs.  SRM offers all levels of architects a direction to understanding when and where those needs can be consolidated.

SRM facilitates in forming an even security architecture in 3 key areas:

1. Purpose
2. Risk
3. Controls

All the layers of SRM are vital for the security posture and wellbeing of an entire agency and/or system.  Highest levels of Federal architecture transform federal laws, regulations, and publications into specific policies.

Main principle of the SRM, at the enterprise layer, is to utilize the standards in place throughout the Federal or national IT security expanse to classify policy for a particular enterprise or agency.

Segment level transforms department specific policies into security controls and measurements.  Policies set in place from the enterprise layer are utilized by SRM to categorize controls for a certain agency or segment.

SRM utilizes controls set at the segment layer to enable system-specific designs and/or requirements of the individual system.  SRM employs controls chosen by the agency or segment to truly embed security into a system or application.

Proper security procedures ensure both risk reduction and regulatory compliance.  Regulatory compliance is not an aim in itself, but a constituent of the course by which risks and controls, applicable to the circumstance at hand, are chosen.  Risk mitigation is the eventual motive for the application of security controls.

In the same vein, chief goal of security is not to apply controls rather it is to diminish risks by means of layered security measures of which implementation of controls is a part.  Attaining decreased risk profile means that controls ought to be integrated throughout the organization, vertically and horizontally, across system and solution deployments, layered progressively.

Consequences of security are far more challenging to measure, and differ based on the organization’s business.  Metrics are signs of an organization’s advancement in security maturity and part of the overall IT Capability Maturity.  Undeveloped organizations have diminished capability of defining or collecting metrics.

Interested in learning more about FEAF: Security Reference Model?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on FEAF: Security Reference Model (SRM) here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

Do You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here’s what some have to say:

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“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd

With most Transformation initiatives people gradually revert back to their old habits of doing things.  Sustainable Change Management necessitates 4 key processes:

• Chartering—defining the scope, rationale, and team for the change initiative.
• Learning—testing and refining ideas before a full-blown execution of the initiative.
• Mobilizing—using symbols and metaphors to engage people and gain their buy-in for the change program.
• Realigning—redefining the roles and responsibilities and managing performance of the initiative and the people driving it.

These processes are critical to enable an Organizational Culture which encourages execution of lasting change.

In addition to these key processes, for the change to entrench into the organizational fabric, Leadership needs to put in place the environment necessary for the people to embrace and own the new processes, systems, and desired behaviors.

The 4 critical processes aid in creating the enabling conditions necessary for institutionalizing change in the organization.  These enabling conditions for sustainable Change take place in 3 settings:

1. Structural Context
2. Procedural Context
3. Emotional Context

The environment for sustainable change must be put in place way before the actual execution of the Transformation initiative.  These enabling conditions encompass making changes to the organization’s structure, procedures, and sentiments / behaviors.

Let’s dive deeper into the 3 conditions critical to enable sustainable change in the institution.

Structural Context

The first element of the enabling environment requires the change leadership to work on reshaping the organizational structure.  The 4 key processes have a direct bearing on the organization’s structure.  Their effect pervades over:

• The organization’s hierarchy and reporting lines.
• Compensations, benefits, and rewards systems.
• Monitoring and control systems.

The Structural Context significantly affects the way employees’ work and expend their time and their interest in certain types of projects.

The structural context is altered during the Realigning process of Transformation in the way new personnel practices are employed.  The Learning process informs the redefinition of linkage between the leadership and field staff.  The Mobilizing process informs the changes to be made in the roles and responsibilities of the management and front-line people—through storytelling and metaphors.  Whereas, the Chartering process helps instill a reformed, team-building culture in the organization.  Together, these changes in the structural context cascade down across the organization.

Procedural Context

The Procedural context pertains to a feeling of objectivity and authenticity of new processes and systems.  The Procedural environment involves the perception of people that their views are taken seriously and acted upon while designing and implementing a new initiative.

Procedural authenticity is critical in gaining commitment from the employees on initiatives that were not validated by them earlier.   It involves belief of the people that the change initiative integrates well with the philosophies of the organization and the way business should be done.  It makes the people feel heard, ensures trustworthiness of the change leadership through positive track records and effective decision making abilities, and alignment of the change initiative with the core values of the organization.

Interested in learning more about the other enabling conditions mandatory for institutionalizing change?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on Conditions for Sustainable Change here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

Did You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.  Here’s what some have to say:

“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market.  They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.  I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”

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“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd

Accelerated pace of technological disruption has forced organizations to change.  It has triggered leaders to think of the ways they must adopt to survive in these challenging times.

Organizations are confronting this scenario by embracing digital technologies.  Traditionally, the focus of the organizations in these Transformation initiatives has remained on speed of change.  To get the most out of their initiatives, they are making drastic changes, to include:

• Creating Agile Teams
• Introducing Mobile Apps
• Building Big Data and Analytics capabilities
• Experimenting with creative Digital Business Models.

Digital Transformation programs are launched with huge fanfare, see success early on, but fail to keep the momentum going.  The issues that plague the sustainability of these initiatives are typically:

• Aging Technology Infrastructure
• Incompatible Operating Models
• Archaic ways of doing business
• Change-agnostic culture.

Drivers of change for the Digital Leadership have changed significantly over the years.  There is an increased focus on building scale when executing Digital Transformation.  Leaders have realized that quick Decision Making is not the only element required for successful Transformation.  To achieve its full potential, they need to create differentiated offerings and scale the most viable initiatives across the organization to create value.

Traditional organizations have started following the footsteps of digital disrupters like Amazon and Tesla.  They are implementing new digital services and adjusting their operations.  However, typical hurdles—e.g., old enterprise systems, bureaucratic red tape, delayed decision making, and segregation between IT and business units—make them slip back into the outdated ways of doing things.

Sustainable Digital Transformation involves building not only the technology infrastructure but also revisiting the operating model.  Successful Digital Transformations essentially involve embracing 4 key strategies to enable an ecosystem that encourages change to stick as well as scale:

1. Create a strong Digital Foundation
2. Integrate and consolidate the Digital Ecosystem
3. Front-end to back-end approach
4. Create a new Business Model

Let’s delve deeper into these strategies.

Create a Strong Digital Foundation

Manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries are the major sectors that employ this strategy.  The typical state of affairs in organizations implementing this strategy is such that they are in need of developing new digital capabilities from scratch to tackle nimble rivals who are churning out novel value propositions using digital tech.  These companies are burdened by dated tech infrastructure, sluggish decision making, and dated business models.  The risk of disruption to these businesses is growing but it hasn’t challenged them to transform drastically.

To them, building a digital foundation warrants acquiring novel foundational capabilities.  Their approach should be to start implementing and managing small changes one step at a time.  For instance, building a smart technology architecture with advanced Big Data, Analytics, and predictive modeling capabilities.  This should be followed by testing prototypes of the new model to prove their worth before implementing a full-blown execution.

Integrate and Consolidate the Digital Ecosystem

This strategy has gained traction most in organizations from the Consumer Products industry.  These organizations are typically marred by scores of fragmented IT systems running in different parts of the organization.  There is a general inability to prioritize the most viable projects and scale them.  The need to reform and rapid deployment of Digital Infrastructure is critical for survival.

The approach to Digital Transformation in these organization should be to establish a central management position to manage the initiative and streamline dispersed technology landscape.  This entails revising the technology infrastructure and operating model, deploying a unified IT platform for gathering and storing customer data, establishing a common data repository accessible to all units to recognize customers’ needs, and creating a culture that encourages innovation, acts on creative ideas, and refines them through experimentation and advanced tools.

Interested in learning more about the other strategies to enable Digital Transformation?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on Sustainable Digital Transformation here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

Did You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.  Here’s what some have to say:

“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market.  They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.  I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”

– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects

“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd

Initiatives aimed at improving performance are often launched with great uproar, costing an organization significant investments.  Such initiatives necessitate extensive changes in the Organizational Culture and the way the enterprise systems and processes function.

However, most initiatives fall short of realizing success.  Decades of scholarly research on Change Management reveals that the issues that contribute the most to the failure of strategic initiatives are:

• Incompetence in sustaining process improvement.
• Lack of trust on senior leadership.
• Failure to embrace new ways of doing business.
• Performance relapse.
• Inability of the initiative to produce any positive financial returns.
• Skepticism towards the desired behaviors and return of impractical employee behaviors.

Researchers have carried out scores of studies to isolate the drivers of lasting change.  Research published in MIT SMR in 2005 discusses how leadership can design and execute Transformation initiatives that bring lasting changes in the organization.The study entailed in-depth analysis of the strategic Customer Service Enhancement (CSE) initiative undertaken by a large clothing retailer, having franchises in multiple geographic locations.

The researchers conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with leaders, in-store operations and support function managers.  Detailed notes of the interviews were shared amongst the researchers alongside an exhaustive literature review.  A case study of the initiative was prepared using independent research to have an unprejudiced viewpoint, free from any bias.  Feedback from the organization’s management was gathered and incorporated throughout the study to seek clarifications or corrections.  Data analysis was carried out employing a coding scheme developed using Atlas.ti tool.  Comparative analysis was conducted and similarities and differences in conclusions were discussed.

The study brought to light 4 key processes necessary for change to stick in an organization.   These key processes assist in laying the foundation for successful institutionalization of change initiatives by creating a company-wide culture that encourages enduring change:

1. Chartering
2. Learning
3. Mobilizing
4. Realigning

Let’s delve deeper into the first 2 processes.

Chartering

Chartering is a process through which an enterprise classifies the purpose, scope, and the way people interact with each other on a strategic initiative.  Clear delineation of project boundaries, resources, responsibilities, and reporting lines are the elements integral for the success of a change initiative.

The Chartering process entails 2 critical components:

• Boundary Setting
• Team Design

Boundary Setting involves the key steps a team takes for accurate definition of change initiative’s scope.

The project team should clearly outline the problem(s) that the project is, and isn’t, going to tackle.  Ideally, while designing and executing a change initiative, the focus of the engagement should be on confronting the most crucial problem area.  The leadership should ensure not to confuse the core team by eyeing too many priorities to deal with through the strategic initiative.

The Team Design element of Chartering involves ascertaining the roles, accountabilities, and guiding principles for team’s collaboration.  Team design entails creating ground rules for team members to interact, devising mechanisms to manage conflicts.  The leadership needs to not only maintain diversity of the project team’s expertise, but also ensure they complement each other, and inculcate a standardized approach to decision making in project teams.  There needs to be fostered a culture of positive discourse and testing ideas amongst the team members.  Incorporating these guidelines helps spark thinking, learning, and decision making.

Learning

Learning aids in anticipating and dealing with hurdles during implementation of Transformation initiatives.  Learning enables the managers to improve the quality of the new processes.  it is a process through which managers develop, test, and refine ideas before full-scale implementation.  The process entails 2 critical components:

• Discovery
• Experimentation

For more information on Learning and Development and how to elevate your organization into a Learning Organization, check out the frameworks and tools on Flevy here: https://flevy.com/business-toolkit/learning-organization

The discovery element involves gathering data to identify the objectives of the change initiative and outlining ways to achieve those objectives.  Before rolling out a complete implementation of a change initiative, testing and refining the individual elements of the initiative immensely assists in the success of the initiative.  Gathering adequate information relevant to the initiative, setting up baseline metrics to measure performance, and identifying issues hampering customer satisfactions are the key aspects of this phase.  The team should learn from the failures of prior initiatives, introduce change in a systemic fashion rather than piecemeal, and encourage people to change rationally as well as emotionally.

Interested in learning more about the other processes critical for change to stick?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on 4 Processes of Sustainable Change here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

Did You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.  Here’s what some have to say:

“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market.  They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.  I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”

– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects

“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd

Top products are the creation of top designers and developers. Lean Product Development helps in developing expert designers and developers, who are excellent problem solvers and are adept at creating innovative solutions.  Developing Key Talent for Product Management accelerates Innovation and time to market while lowering costs.

Managers responsible for developing creative products and solutions need to take 5 key steps, in order to facilitate Learning and Development of Key Talent in the manufacturing sector:

1. Incorporate Technical Excellence into the Organization DNA
2. Create and Implement Design Standards
3. Hold Regular Technical Design Reviews
4. Evaluate Organization’s Product Development Process
5. Revisit Organizational Leadership Culture to Focus on Learning

Let’s dive deeper into the steps to effective Talent Management.

STEP-1 Incorporate Technical Excellence into the Organizational DNA

Technical mastery needs to be at the heart of everyday work practices and the guiding principle for manufacturing concerns.  Incentives, recognition, and rewards should be created based on technical competence, and it should be incorporated into routine business practices.  Likewise, training programs need to be geared towards enhancing the engineers’ technical capabilities.

For instance, technical competence is an integral element of training new engineers at Toyota.  One of the main requirements for qualifying for an engineering leadership position at the company is mentoring of young engineers.  Similarly, Ford Motor Co. has a technical maturity model in place for each department in the engineering function.  The giant automaker reinforces this when creating roles and responsibilities, conducting design reviews, and remunerating its engineers.  These measures help curb attrition and motivate people to stay longer.

STEP-2 Create and Implement Design Standards

The next step is to develop design standards and execute them.  Design standards should be set in place and implemented by using the existing organizational knowledge.  Design leaders should hold regular sessions with developers on a smart board and solicit their views on the layout of a certain system and training an apprentice in design principles.  These design guiding principles should be compiled into user-friendly handbooks for future design and development programs.  Lessons learnt from each project should be incorporated into the design standards with regular updates to the handbooks.

Toyota reserves 10-15 days out of the development project time period for the development team to ponder over the lessons learned from an ongoing project.  The development team incorporates these lessons into the design standards and updates the design manuals with these newer experiences.

STEP-3 Hold Regular Technical Design Reviews

The 3^rd step involves holding frequent technical design reviews to nurture people via action learning and collaboration. The product design and development units should organize weekly technical design assessments.  The assessments need to be conducted at the design and development facilities—factory premises, test lab, or prototype shop—instead of a conference room.  This helps in gaining practical knowledge and skills.  Regular assessments assist in developing design and engineering teams through on-the-job experiences and cross-unit cooperation.

Interested in learning more about the other steps to facilitate Learning and Development of Key Talent in the manufacturing sector?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on Lean Product Development: Talent Development here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

Did You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.  Here’s what some have to say:

“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market.  They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.  I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”

– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects

“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd

Business and technology resources are lined up by employing Enterprise Architecture (EA) so as to realize strategic results, augment organizational performance, and direct departments to meet their key missions more effectually and achieve Operational Excellence.

Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF) achieves these objectives for any U.S. federal agency and aids systems exceed interagency boundaries.

The FEAF comprises of 6 interconnected Reference Models, each relating to a sub-architectural domain of the framework.

Here, we deliberate on 1 of the 6 reference models of the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework—the Application Reference Model (ARM).  ARM sets the foundation for categorizing software applications and their components.

Through the implementation of ARM, we can achieve a number of positive outcomes throughout the enterprise.  Mapping of existing and future information systems to ARM categorizations assists in detecting gaps and redundancies.  Gap detection helps identify occasions for sharing, reuse, and merging or renegotiation of licenses.  Gap information is used in conjunction with other models to identify opportunities.

ARM has been based on guiding principles that emanate from Common Approach to Federal EA with further refinement based on the purpose and desired outcomes of the Application Reference Model.  The principles are:

• ARM should be based on the Separation of Concerns principle i.e., founded on an adaptive structure that permits addition of new methods of providing IT capabilities.
• Definition of ARM should be with reference to applications supplied within the Service Oriented Architecture enabling facilitation of shared services and interoperability.
• Definition of ARM should be in terms of a hierarchy of broadly paired IT application components.
• ARM ought to be standards based along several levels of abstraction to circumvent vendor lock-in, under permitting circumstances.
• Ascertained touch points should enable ARM to back the Business Reference Model (BRM) and the Data Reference Model (DRM).

ARM contains 3 levels in its structure: Systems, Application Components, and Interfaces.  ARM is also strongly connected with the rest of the 5 reference models of the Consolidated Reference Model Framework.  More on that in the FEAF: Application Reference Model presentation.

ARM uses 3 potential methodologies in combination with one another to assist in taking advantage of information and strategizing of applications and investments:

1. Capability Modeling and Analysis
2. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
3. Portfolio Management

These 3 methods help take advantage of the information in the ARM structure as well as the agency mapping of applications and investments to it, in addition to the other Reference Models.

Let us dive a little deeper into these methods.

Capability Modeling and Analysis

Capability Modeling and Analysis is a requirements analysis technique that converts business or mission as well as technical requirements into distinct competencies that assist in sharing and reuse analysis.

Instead of employing standard requirement or business process analysis techniques, breaking down requirements into detailed capabilities, and modeling the capability dependencies, leads to a clearer picture regarding commonality of requirements.

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

For assembly of IT solutions, a collection of interacting services enables an architectural style—SOA—a layered diagram that depicts the services and their dependencies.  SOA offers extra application flexibility due to ease of modification and replacement of services.

Portfolio Management

Portfolio management techniques are employed to gauge assets for feasibility of use in future and to mature a service lifecycle plan for each asset thus promoting reuse and sharing of services.

Interested in learning more about the Application Reference Model (ARM)?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on FEAF: Application Reference Model (ARM) here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

Do You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here’s what some have to say:

“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market.  They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.  I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”

– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects

“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd

Improving Product Development competencies in designers and developers is a concern for senior leaders in the manufacturing sector.

The approach most organizations take in developing Human Resources does not go beyond staffing the cream of the crop from leading global educational institutes.  Talent Development to them is, typically, sending their people to attend workshops and keeping up with employee annual training hours’ goals, and that’s it.  Companies usually spend more on acquiring latest manufacturing equipment or modern collaboration tools than they do to develop their greatest asset—their people.

Research on manufacturing practices unequivocally suggests that it’s primarily the inspiration to adopt a culture of Continuous Improvement in people that results in operational excellence.  This Continuous Improvement Culture has more significance than implementing Lean practices across all processes.

The “Lean Product Development” concept isn’t a new notion.  The practice has been around since the 1980s.  An MIT study in the 1980s revealed that manufacturing practices in Japanese automakers were totally opposed to those of auto manufacturers in the rest of the world.  These approaches were referred to as “Lean” practices.  Research into manufacturing practices of Toyota has spread the knowledge about Lean Product Development globally.

Lean concept is strikingly opposing to the philosophy that emphasizes on delegating the responsibility of developing the designers’ / developers’ capabilities to the Human Resources Department.  In order to develop and deliver superior products, Lean Product Development focuses on enabling the developers build “personal dexterity” as the key element of success.  The concept necessitates technical training and collaboration between developers.

Before embarking on the Lean Product Development and Innovation journey, organizational leadership should work on finding answers to these 3 fundamental questions:

1. In order to design better products, which critical insights do we need to develop regarding customers, products, and processes?
2. Which mediums, organizational knowledge, and tools are required to develop these insights?
3. Which organizational structures and ways of doing businesses are ideally suited to develop these valuable insights and improving the expertise of developers?

Pondering over these critical questions and answering them facilitates in creating a pool of skilled Product Designers and developers.

Let’s dive deeper into these questions.

Question 1

Lean Product Development emphasizes on developing a steady stream of products at an even pace—referred to as “Takt.”   iPhone 1 and iPhone 2 are examples of a steady stream of products released at regular intervals in Apple’s iPhone value stream.

Takt has evolved the way products are designed.  An initial product is developed as a means to validate an idea.  Products are progressed from the initial product based on stakeholders’ feedback.  The purpose of a value stream of products is to improve the current product offerings, inspire the existing customers to upgrade, and tempt potential customers to try the product.  In these evolving value streams, every product release serves as an opportunity to gain insights into the market.

The value enhancement through Takt has 2 broad objectives:

• Fixing problems in existing products and creating offerings meeting the customer needs.
• Lowering manufacturing costs and improving quality.

Question 2 

Lean Product Development underscores the significance of the medium through which developers should learn in order to create superior products.  Developers’ capabilities in technical Problem Solving and learning what the others are doing helps enhance the quality of each new release.  Development teams should have quick access to accumulating a thorough knowledge of the entire supply chain and the effect of their decisions on manufacturing.  This assists in improving the efficiency of the developers.

Instead of learning and gaining knowledge through traditional ways, Lean Product Development encourages the developers to learn through Action Learning—the process where teams are continuously mentored and encouraged to learn collectively on the job, solve problems creatively, and test models to cope with real-life issues.

Interested in learning more about the key elements to consider before enabling Lean Product Development & Innovation, and the phases of the Lean process?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on Lean Product Development & Innovation here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

Did You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.  Here’s what some have to say:

“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market.  They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.  I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”

– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects

“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd

Enterprise Architecture (EA) conveys management best practices for positioning business and technology resources to fulfil strategic goals, enhance Organizational Performance, and guide departments to achieve their core missions more successfully via Operational Excellence.

The Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF) realizes this goal for U.S. Federal agencies and assists systems surpass interagency boundaries.  FEAF facilitates through documentation and information, and conveys a summarized outlook of an enterprise at various tiers of scope and detail.

The FEAF comprises of 6 interconnected Reference Models, linked through Consolidated Reference Model (CRM), each relating to a sub-architectural domain of the FEA framework.

Data Reference Model (DRM) is a FEA tool for ascertaining the data that the Federal government has and the process through which that data will be shared when business/mission requirements occur.

DRM is propounded as a theoretical framework from which actual implementations may be derived.

DRM offers a uniform way to describe, categorize, manage, share, and reuse data/information within and across the Federal government.  DRM also enables detection and communication of core information across organizational boundaries.

What DRM is not is static and invariable nor is it a data management manual for how to build and maintain data architectures.  It is neither a pan-government conceptual data model nor an all-embracing / fully attributed logical data model.  DRM is not supposed to be a comprehensive collection of XML schemas or a substitute of prevailing data structures within the agencies.

DRM works in consonance with other reference models in various ways.  For example, it identifies opportunities for strategic coordination through relationships among data sources by linking with Performance Reference Model (PRM) while improving business processes and decision-making performance through data sharing with Business Reference Model (BRM).

Data Reference Model arrangement is demarcated by a 3 layered hierarchy.  The 3-layer arrangement of the Data Reference Model delineates domains, subjects, and topics.

• Domains – Uppermost level of the hierarchy comprises of 4 Domains.
• Subjects – Central level of the hierarchy covers 22 Subject elements.
• Topics – Lowermost level of the hierarchy consists of 144 Topic elements.

DRM refers to data and information required to execute Federal business and mission functions.  In order to assist agencies in consistently categorizing, describing, and exchanging their data, there are 3 fundamental method areas associated with the DRM:

1. Data Description
2. Data Context
3. Data Sharing

Let us delve a little deeper into the DRM methods.

Data Description

Data Description offers an approach to consistently arrange, portray, and share data.  Customarily, Data Description was exclusively concentrated on arranging and describing structured data.  To tackle the challenge of unstructured data, DRM Data Description section was revised to focus on Metadata.

Metadata is broadly classified into 2 types, business or technical.

Data Context

Data Context is any information that gives added sense to data and a perception of the reason for which it was created.  Data Context permits Data Governance and forms the basis for exhaustive Data Description.  Data categorization methods such as Data Asset Catalog and Information Discovery and Search portray common data architecture artifacts.

Data Sharing

Data Sharing concentrates on architectural patterns for sharing and exchanging data.  Data Sharing assists in retrieving and swapping of data, where access involves supplementary requests and exchange involves permanent, repeating transactions between interest groups.

Interested in learning more about the Data Reference Model?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on FEAF: Data Reference Model (DRM) here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

Do You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.  Here’s what some have to say:

“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market.  They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.  I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”

– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects

“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd

Although organizations invest heavily in Learning and Talent Development, most CEOs when interviewed complain about the shortage of learned managers, leaders, and skilled workforce.

The capabilities of knowledge workers, not technology or capital, is often a key constraint for organizational growth.  Research reveals that a number of managers consider employee performance to remain the same even if their organization’s learning function is totally abolished.  Studies further indicate:

• Ineffectiveness of Corporate Learning.
• Wrong investments in Learning and Development.
• Lack of linkage of learning with strategic goals.
• Focus on learning but not on employees’ development.

Investments and efforts on learning are concentrated towards wrong things.  Abundance of online courses and mobile knowledge apps are triggering organizations to revisit their Corporate Learning Strategies.  Utilization of innovative learning techniques—and modes—for leadership development has become the top agenda for senior learning leaders.

Learning and Development is important for organizations as:

• Employee engagement and leadership sets the right impetus for the organization.
• Competencies of knowledge workers makes the difference in achieving organizational growth.
• It delivers value, critical to survive—and outperform—competition.
• Effective learning experiences engage the emotional and cognitive centers of human brains, making employees appreciative of their organizational learning efforts.

Leadership, today, is more aware of the significance of Corporate Learning in Organizational Development and profitability.  Leaders are now proactively striving to align their Corporate Learning objectives with demands of knowledge workers and strategic organizational goals.

The following learning practices represent 4 key phases of the process for defining and executing a research-substantiated Corporate Learning Strategy:

1. Formulate the CEO Agenda
2. Align Learning & Development (L&D) Resources
3. Gain Buy-in from Key Stakeholders
4. Activate the Learning Agenda

These learning practices have been grounded on senior leadership interviews and surveys on company strategy and decision-making rationale to develop corporate learning initiatives.

Let’s dive deeper into these 4 phases of Corporate Learning Strategy.

Formulate the CEO Agenda

Corporate Learning Strategy is much more than top management attending training events.  It warrants making the corporate learning agenda an extension of the CEO agenda.  Learning programs typically entail doing a Training Needs Assessment by interviewing mid-level management, who aren’t part of the organization’s strategic management, which makes the assessment flawed.  Outsourcing the training function further compounds the problem.

The first phase of the Corporate Learning Strategy warrants gathering data from company reports, websites, and leadership interviews to enable documentation of senior leadership’s pain points, key issues, and strategic priorities.  Mapping the CEO Agenda—uncovering the leadership priorities—should be the foremost element of aligning learning with strategy.

The step necessitates extensive meetings to identify leadership needs and attributes essential for future leaders and incorporating feedback of business leaders to develop new corporate learning initiatives.  Chief Learning Officer reporting directly to the CEO facilitates the process.

Align Learning & Development (L&D) Resources

The matter as important as creation of a learning inventory is typically skipped at companies.  The executives, there, find it difficult to track expenditure on learning programs carried out by scores of external consultants.  Preparation of a repository of current Learning and Development resources has to be done regularly to make sure that the learning portfolio aligns with the organizational learning strategy.

Business units should align priorities and investment with top-level strategy.  L&D leadership has to ensure that their interventions are tailored to the needs of the business.  There should be regular reviews and calculated reorganization of the development infrastructure and processes (e.g., promotion and succession planning).  The approach should focus towards strengthening the on-the-job learning experience, busting silos, and developing collaboration.

Gain Stakeholders Buy-in

Reorganization of Corporate Learning initiatives necessitates gathering input and support from all levels of the organization.

Interested in learning more about the other phases of Corporate Learning Strategy?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on Corporate Learning Strategy here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

Do You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.  Here’s what some have to say:

“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market.  They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.  I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.

– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects

“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd

Do people always follow a rational linear process to come to a decision?  Studies have suggested that a combination of Decision Making Models are used by people to reach quality decisions.

Strategic Decision Making is a complex process with a lot riding on those decisions.  Eliminating risk from Decision Making is unthinkable but radically enhancing chances of success is a realistic goal.

In making Strategic Decisions, executives tend to rely only on those Decision Support Tools they know best.  The usage of non-optimal Decision Support Tools is, in part, due to lack of knowledge about which tools work best in a particular scenario and, in part, due to lack of information regarding what tools are available out there.

Having access to a variety of Decision Support Tools increases the likelihood of making a successful decision provided the decision maker has knowledge of which tool to employ or a combination thereof in various scenarios.

The following 5 Decision Support Tools or their combination is applicable in a variety of Decision Making scenarios:

1. Conventional Capital-Budgeting Tools
2. Quantitative Multiple Scenario Tools
3. Qualitative Scenario Analysis
4. Case-based Decision Analysis
5. Information Aggregation Tools

 In some cases, just one tool is needed while in others an assortment of tools makes for the best combination.

Let us delve a little deeper into some of these tools.

Conventional Capital Budgeting Tools

Projected Incremental Cash Flows are used from likely investments to ascertain whether a project merits being funded through the firm’s Capitalization Structure.  Included in it are Discounted Cash Flow, Expected Rate of Return, and Net Present Value models.

Quantitative Multiple Scenario Tools

Decisions are analyzed by completely specifying possible outcomes and their probabilities. Mathematical, Statistical, and Simulation methods are employed to distinguish the Risk and Return properties of prospective choices.  The tools include:

>  Monte Carlo Methods

>  Decision Analysis

>  Real Options

Qualitative Scenario Analysis

These techniques are beneficial to decision makers who encounter excessive levels of uncertainty about outcomes because the techniques do not assume a conclusive and entirely specified set of possible outcomes.

Real-life business Decision Making often comprises of judgments that are based on incomplete and uncertain information.  This can be mitigated by using appropriate Decision Support Tools.  However, which tools are appropriate will depend on the answer to the following critical questions:

1. Do I know what it will take to succeed?
2. Can I predict the range of possible outcomes?

The Causal Model question—combination of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and economic conditions leading to success—needs settling before we can proceed to answer the 2^nd question regarding Outcome Prediction.

Managers need to ask the following in order to clarify the state of the Causal Model hence the answer to the question:

1. Do I comprehend what combination of Critical Success Factors will decide if my decision leads to a successful outcome?
2. Do I recognize what metrics need to be met to guarantee success?
3. Do I have an accurate understanding of how to attain success?

The other question to answer is: Can I predict the range of possible outcomes?

Managers should ask the following in scenarios predicting various outcomes and probabilities:

1. Can I outline the range of outcomes that may result as a consequence of my decision, both as a whole and for each Critical Success Factor?
2. Can I measure the probability of each outcome?

Even where the CSFs and Model for Success are understood, it sometimes becomes difficult to predict range of outcomes and their probabilities due to uncertain conditions.

Interested in learning more about Decision Support Tools?  You can download an editable PowerPoint on Decision Support Tools here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

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Do You Find Value in This Framework?

You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library.  FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.  Here’s what some have to say:

“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market.  They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.  I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”

– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects

“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.  For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”

– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting

“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.  In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!  The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”

– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd