iExec Enterprise Essentials Companion Guide

iExec Enterprise Essentials Companion Guide

by Martha Young, Ph.D. Michael Jude
Released May 2008
Publisher(s): Cisco Press
ISBN: 9781587057724

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Book description

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

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Icons Used in This Book
  3. Command Syntax Conventions
  4. Introduction
    1. Welcome to the Business Essentials Program
    2. Course Overview
      1. Critical Business Decisions
    3. Course Objectives
    4. Organization of This Book
      1. Module 1: Strategic Imperatives
      2. Module 2: Management Strategies
      3. Module 3: Organizational Readiness
      4. Module 4: ICT Solutions
      5. Module 5: Strategy Development
      6. Module 6: Portfolio Management
      7. Module 7: Business Case
      8. Module 8: Conclusion
        1. Having completed this program, you should now be able to
  5. 1. Strategic Imperatives
    1. Global Trends and Strategic Imperatives
    2. The Impact of the Internet on Global Productivity and Competitiveness
      1. The Internet and Global Productivity
      2. The Convergence of IT Standards and Productivity
      3. The Internet and Public and Private Sectors
      4. The Public Sector
      5. The Internet and Global Trends
      6. Addressing the Global Trends
    3. Conclusion
      1. Exercise
    4. IT and Its Effect on the Organization
    5. IT and the Organization
    6. IT and Productivity
    7. IT and Efficiency
    8. What Is Innovation?
    9. IT and Innovation
    10. Innovation and Efficiency Case Example
    11. IT, Efficiency, and Innovation
    12. IT and Customer Satisfaction
    13. IT and Quality
    14. Conclusion
    15. Market and Business Drivers
    16. Market Efficiency and Business Efficiency
      1. Market Efficiency
      2. Business Efficiency
    17. Drivers of Market Efficiency and Business Efficiency
    18. Efficient and Inefficient Markets and Businesses
    19. Business Scenario
    20. Conclusion
    21. External Integration and Business Value
    22. External Integration
    23. Conclusion
    24. Summary
  6. 2. Management Strategies
    1. Management and Strategy Fundamentals
      1. What Is Value?
      2. The Value Chain
      3. Cost Advantage and Competitive Differentiation
      4. Out-Tasking and Outsourcing for Competitive Advantage
      5. Tasking and Outsourcing Table
      6. Case Studies
        1. Case Study 1: In a Decidedly Low-Tech Business, CEMEX Has a Surprisingly High-Tech Workforce Customer View
          1. Background
          2. Challenge
          3. Solution
          4. Results
          5. Next Steps
        2. Case 2: IBSG Helps FedEx with a New Generation Sales Force Automation Platform
          1. Customer View
          2. Background
          3. Challenge
          4. Solution
          5. Results
          6. Next Steps
        3. Case 3: British Airways—Getting in Shape with eWorking
          1. Executive Summary
          2. Background
          3. Challenge
          4. Solution
          5. Benefits
          6. Huge Savings
          7. Motivation Through Choice
          8. Self-Servicing Queries
          9. Key Facts
          10. Brief and to the Point
          11. Intranet over the Internet
          12. The Revolution Has Begun
      7. Conclusion
    2. The Business Value Framework
      1. Overview of the Business Value Framework
      2. The First “D”: Financial Drivers
      3. The Second “D”: Business Differentiators
      4. The Third “D”: Improvement Disciplines
      5. How Does It All Fit Together?
      6. Conclusion
    3. Networked Virtual Organizations
      1. The Networked Virtual Organization
      2. Strategy One: Customer Centricity
      3. Strategy Two: Core Versus Context
      4. Strategy Three: Continuous Standardization
    4. Case Studies
      1. Kennisnet Case Study
      2. Centrelink
    5. NVOs Delivering Returns
  7. 3. Organizational Readiness
    1. Introduction
    2. What Is Organizational Readiness?
    3. Leadership: The First Pillar of Organizational Readiness
      1. Characteristics That Define IT-Savvy Leadership
    4. Governance: The Second Pillar of Organizational Readiness
      1. ICT-Centric Governance Characteristics
    5. Competencies: The Third Pillar of Organizational Readiness
      1. The Five Cs of Core Competencies
    6. Technology: The Fourth Pillar of Organizational Readiness
      1. IT-Ready Elements
    7. What Makes Internet-Enabled Organizations Successful?
      1. Formula for Success with IT
      2. Value of Organization Readiness
      3. Conclusion
    8. IT Governance and Planning
      1. IT Governance: What Is It?
        1. The Role of IT and IT Governance
          1. Strategies for Implementing a Successful IT Program
        2. How to Manage Funding for IT Governance
        3. IT Governance and Planning
          1. IT Governance Risk
      2. Funding
        1. Three Funding Models
          1. Standards
          2. Execution
          3. Importance of Communication
          4. Measurement
          5. Importance of IT Governance Planning
      3. Conclusion
        1. Moving Toward Organizational Readiness
    9. The Leadership Guide
      1. Moving Toward Leadership Readiness
      2. The Guidelines for Success
      3. The Role of Leaders and Culture
      4. Issues and Challenges
    10. The Governance Guide
      1. Moving Toward IT Governance Readiness
      2. The Governance and Operations Framework
      3. Issues and Challenges
      4. Governance Best Practices
      5. IT Governance Funding Options
    11. Governance: A Best Practice Example Insert Case Study
      1. PNB Paribas
      2. The Competencies Guide
      3. Moving Toward Competencies Readiness
      4. Improving Performance and Outcomes
        1. The Guidelines for Success
    12. Competencies: A Best Practice Example
      1. The General Electric (GE) Energy Initiative
      2. The Technology Guide
      3. Moving Toward Technology Readiness
      4. Performance and Outcomes
      5. Issues and Challenges
      6. Best Practice List
    13. Conclusion
    14. Organizational Readiness Planning
      1. Planning: The First Step to Improvement
      2. Why Plan for Organizational Readiness?
      3. Improving Organizational Readiness
        1. Step One: Evaluate Your Organization
        2. Step Two: Build Core Competencies for Organizational Readiness
        3. Step Three: Develop an Organizational Readiness Plan
      4. Conclusion
    15. Readiness Assessment and Plan Development
      1. Why Assess Your Organizational Readiness?
      2. Characteristics of Organizational Competencies
      3. Tools for Assessing Organizational Readiness
        1. What Is the Net Readiness Scorecard?
        2. Why complete a series of NRSs?
        3. How to Use the Scorecard to Assess Your Organization’s Readiness
        4. Evaluating Your Scores
      4. Net Readiness Scorecard: What Do I Do with the Results?
        1. Determine Strengths, Weaknesses, and Disagreements
        2. Generate a List of Possible Solutions
      5. Organizational Readiness Improvement Plan
      6. Conclusion
    16. Conclusion
  8. 4. ICT Solutions
    1. Understanding Internet-Enabled Solutions
      1. Examining Workforce Optimization Solutions
        1. Workforce Optimization
        2. Finance
        3. Human Resources
        4. Learning and Development
      2. Customer-Facing and Supply Chain Solutions
    2. Customer Care
      1. Manufacturing
        1. Supply Chain Management
    3. Conclusion
  9. 5. Strategy Development
    1. Introduction
      1. Situation Analysis and Visioning
      2. Planning Process Overview
        1. Business Strategy
          1. Getting from Here to There
      3. Situation Analysis and Visioning
        1. Why Create a Business Strategy?
      4. Internal Situation Analysis
    2. Business Review
      1. What is a SWOT analysis?
      2. How do you perform a SWOT analysis? Categorize
      3. Visioning Statement
    3. Conclusion
  10. 6. Portfolio Management
    1. Portfolio Management
    2. What Is Portfolio Management?
      1. Metrics
        1. Company Shareholder Metrics
        2. Business Performance Metrics
        3. Operational Metrics
      2. The Business Performance Framework
        1. Top-Down Guidance
        2. Bottom-Up Alignment
      3. Review Current Initiatives
      4. Identify New Opportunities
      5. Prioritize Your IT Initiatives
        1. Organizational Impact
        2. Ease of Implementation
        3. Project Selection
      6. Build a Project Roadmap
      7. Portfolio Management Example: Oasis Office
        1. iValue Matrix
        2. Which Projects Should Oasis Pursue?
        3. Building a Project Roadmap
        4. Business Process Management
        5. What Is Business Process Management, and Why Is It Important?
        6. Business Process and the Network Virtual Organization
        7. Project Life Cycle Management
        8. What Is Project Management?
        9. Barriers to Project Success
        10. Principles for Project Success
      8. What Is Project Life Cycle Management?
      9. Change Management and Adoption Strategies
        1. What Is Change Management?
        2. Adoption Strategies
    3. Conclusion
  11. 7. Business Case
    1. Introduction
      1. Creating a Business Case
        1. What is a business case, and why should you create one?
        2. When Should You Create a Business Case?
        3. The Major Components of a Business Case
        4. What Are the Major Components of a Business Case?
    2. Revision History
      1. Revision Table
      2. Executive Summary
        1. Mission Statement and Vision
        2. Situation Analysis
        3. Business Issue(s)/Problem Statement
        4. Solution
        5. Benefits
    3. Detailed Project Proposal
      1. Project Overview
      2. Business Requirements
      3. Executive Sponsorship
      4. Key Stakeholders
      5. Team Members
      6. Project Justification
      7. Project Benefits
      8. Project Success Measurements
    4. Risks and Assumptions
      1. Project Cost Summary
      2. Initial Project Cost
      3. Final Project Cost
      4. Return on Investment
    5. Sustainability Plan
      1. Business Support Plan
      2. Change Management Plan
      3. Training Plan
      4. Communication Plan
    6. Approval
    7. Appendixes
      1. Financial Concepts
      2. Financial and Nonfinancial Justification
      3. Overview
      4. Examples
        1. Hard Cost Reduction
        2. Increased Productivity
        3. Nonfinancial Benefits
      5. Common Financial Calculations
        1. Payback Period
        2. NPV
        3. Net Present Value: Discounting
        4. Net Present Value: Calculating NPV
        5. IRR
        6. ROI
      6. Which Calculation Is Best?
      7. Metrics and Key Performance Indicators
        1. Calculating an ROI for an IT Initiative Is Not That Different from Calculating an ROI for a Non-IT Initiative
          1. Components of an Internet-Enabled Solution
          2. Value Indicators
        2. Linking KPIs
    8. Conclusion
  12. 8. Conclusion
    1. Course Summary
    2. So, Where to from Here?

Product information

  • Title: iExec Enterprise Essentials Companion Guide
  • Author(s): Martha Young, Ph.D. Michael Jude
  • Release date: May 2008
  • Publisher(s): Cisco Press
  • ISBN: 9781587057724