Strategic Portfolio
Workbench Purpose
Use the Internal Environment Definition workbench to compile and maintain a definition of your organization's internal environment; i.e., its organizational structure, processes, procedures, systems, required capabilities, business rules and enterprise ontology. In other words, a definition of the "language it speaks" and a description of "the way we do things around here".
An organization's internal environment is the result of its management's efforts to create and arrange structures and systems that would allow it to optimally respond to the market opportunity it targets (its "mission"). These efforts bring about standardization, structure and discipline - what is collectively referred to as the organization (i.e., organize-ation). Having these artefacts formally defined and documented establishes a good platform for driving best practice adoption and compliance throughout the organization. It also provides a baseline picture that is useful for ongoing improvement initiatives.
The enterprise ontology models the organization's business language as a semantic web of interlinked key terms (or taxonomic classes). Besides other benefits it puts everyone on the same page (i.e., "we understand each other"). For more information about the value and use of an Enterprise Ontology, click here.
Note that although these object definitions can be created using this workbench (that is, with the Internal Environment Definition workbench), they may also originate from other sources, such as specialized portals or projects that employ external systems (e.g., Visio). In other words, where appropriate, these definitions may be created elsewhere and can then either be imported or manually captured with an attachment of the relevant image.
Snapshots can be taken of relevant aspects of this information and added to the organization's profile.
Foundational Concepts
About the Bizverse
The Bizverse is a controlled, Cloud-based community that allows member enterprises to collaborate and connect with partners, clients and their own people. Each participating member has its own Workspace (also referred to as a Reposistory) in the Bizverse Cloud.
About Workspaces
A Workspace is an organization-specific (private) digital storage area in the Bizverse Cloud that is shared between applications and users of that organization. In other words, a Workspace is a (Cloud-based) container of a particular organization's application data and other information (documents, images, profiles snapshots, etc.) as produced and used by the set of linked web applications and their users. By using web applications that are linked to the Workspace, users place data and information into (and retrieve same from), the Workspace. An organization typically has one Workspace (but may have more). Users are granted access to the portal applications of a specified Workspace - if a user has access to multiple Workspaces, (s)he would have to select the Workspace (using the Workspace Selector Control that is provided in the User Interface of the application), that is appropriate for the particular action such user wishes to perform. Once the Workspace is selected, it is set as the active Workspace and will remain in effect until another Workspace is selected. Users with multi-Workspace access need to be attentive to which Workspace is active to ensure that additions and edits are made to the correct data set.
About Bizverse Communities
A Community is a purpose-oriented collaboratory that is administered and managed by a community sponsor. Bizverse communities espouse a wide range of goals and aims, each community offering a unique value proposition to its members: a portfolio of products and services called Growthware that serves the community's particular objectives.
About Growthware
The term GrowthWare is a generic reference to a wide range of products and services - including intellectual property, tools, instruments, expert know-how and outsourced services - that are provided to members of a community; a product/service offering is considered to be GrowthWare when its use by a community member is controlled by means of an agreement, such as a license or contract.
About the Enterprise Bizverse Profile
An Enterprise Bizverse Profile is composed of the Bio-sheet and snapshots of other information that is considered to be relevant for this purpose, such as the organization's Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Governance Framework, Strategic Objectives and so forth. In other words, a multi-faceted information dossier which, among other items of information includes the organization's history, number and quality of its human, financial, system and other physical resources. It reflects 'who and what you are' as an organization, and thus serves as a reference for your customers, employees, suppliers, investors, media and other stakeholders. It is especially valuable as a roadmap for growth. Appropriate elements of this profile can be selectively shared with business partners and clients via the Bizverse Object Exchange, should you choose to do so.
About Profile Snapshots
Profile Snapshots are historical information information artefacts that reflect the different facets of an enterprise's profile as it existed at a particular point in time. Snapshots can be made of any object that is considered to be relevant for this purpose, e.g., governance frameworks and registers (Risk Register, Asset Register, Policies and Procedures, and so on), registrations, licenses, audits, evaluations, dashboards, analysis outcomes and situation assessments and more.
Workbench Objects
Organizational Structure
The hierarchical arrangement of lines of authority, communications, rights and duties of an organization. An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization and its environment. It identifies each Position, its functions and where it reports to within the organization.
Position
A Position (or Job Position or Job Title) is typically described - by means of a Job Description - in terms of its functions (general tasks) and responsibilities. The functions performed by a position are its jobs, and responsibilities may refer to specific roles.
The definition of a position may include the reporting hierarchy (to whom the position reports) as well as relationships with other positions in the organization. A Position specifications such as the qualifications or skills required by the person in the position. A Position usually includes multiple jobs and several roles.
A position is a slot within the company hierarchy. Production Engineer, Maintenance Engineer, and Reliability Engineer are examples of job positions that various kinds of engineers (Chemical Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, etc., by their training) may be hired into. A role is the part that is played within a specific work process within the company. For example, during a large maintenance outage at a chemical plant, the Maintenance Engineer might be placed in charge of crane lifts, as a safety liaison; a Production Engineer may handle the plant shut-down and start-up logistics by interfacing with outside Utilities people--his role might be called "shutdown coordinator"; and a Reliability Engineer might fill the role of a "gatekeeper" that evaluates unplanned problems found during the planned work, to decide if the additional work should be accomplished during the outage or put off until later. So a position speaks to certain abilities and typical tasks based on training and experience, but also speaks to the level of the job within the organization (consider an Assistant Professor versus a Professor) and determines pay grade. But a role is the application of talents and abilities specific to a situation. A person holding a position can have different roles in different situations.
Procedure
Procedure - A procedure outlines how to perform a process, such as "Purchasing": Who performs what action
What sequence they perform the steps in the task
The criteria (standard) they must meet
procedures will describe how you operate and control your business
see http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/assets/process-pro.pdf
Process
Processes produce results by converting, transforming or simply using inputs to create outputs. An input could be material, information, people or a set of conditions and these are passed through a sequence of stages during which they are either used, transformed or their status changed to emerge as an output with different characteristics. Hence processes act upon inputs and are dormant until the input is received. At each stage the transformation tasks may be procedural, but may also be mechanical, chemical etc.
Inherently processes do not normally recognize departmental or functional boundaries (but are often hindered by them) nor the boundaries between customers and suppliers. Each process has an objective with both quantitative and qualitative measures of its outputs directly related to its objectives. The transformation or process stages are designed to ensure the combination of resources achieves the objectives - the desired outputs. Of course this means that the process has to receive the right inputs to deliver the desired outputs and that the correct resources are applied at the right stages, in the correct quantities and in the right manner (it is true that a process can be illustrated as a sequence of steps just as a procedure is illustrated, but the similarity ends there).
Process - any activity or set of activities that uses resources to transform inputs into outputs can be considered a process.
Processes must have defined (but not necessarily measurable) objective(s), input(s), output(s), activities, and resources. You should be able to ask these when defining a process:
Activities
What are the basic jobs carried out in your department?
Can you explain to me your operations here?
Inputs/Resources:
What information do you need to start your work?
Where does it come from?
Outputs
Who receives the result of your work?
How do you know if you've done your job correctly? (meet objectives)
Work Instructions - A work instruction describes how to perform a task, which is a more detailed portion of the procedure such as "Completing a PO" or "Ordering supplies".
You may need more detail than that described in the procedures. Many businesses include work instructions to aid in training, to reduce mistakes, a point of reference for jobs, etc.
Management System
A management system is the framework of processes and procedures used to ensure that an organization can fulfill all tasks required to achieve its objectives. For instance, an environmental management system enables organizations to improve their environmental performance through a process of continuous improvement.
'A set of components, interconnected for the guidance and control of action'. The structure, processes and resources needed to establish an organisation's policy and objectives and to achieve those objectives.'
A management system comprises the elements of policy, planning, implementation and operation, performance assessment, improvement and management review.'
Some key objectives of (defining) a management system might be to achieve compliance, to encourage standardisation and reduce variation and to help staff to understand what they have to do and how they fit into the organisation. It should also provide a sound basis for managing change and making improvements.
Competency
Competitor
Competencies are the measurable or observable knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors (KSABs) critical to successful job performance. In other words, the capability to apply or use a set of related knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform "critical work functions" or tasks in a defined work setting. Competencies often serve as the basis for skill standards that specify the level of knowledge, skills, and abilities required for success in the workplace as well as potential measurement criteria for assessing competency attainment.
Competencies define the applied skills and knowledge that enable people to successfully perform their work while learning objectives are specific to a course of instruction. Competencies are relevant to an individual’s job responsibilities, roles and capabilities. They are a way to verify that a learner has in fact learned what was intended in the learning objectives. Learning objectives describe what the learner should be able to achieve at the end of a learning period. Learning objectives should be specific, measurable statements and written in behavioral terms. In short, objectives say what we want the learners to know and competencies say how we can be certain they know it.
Choosing the right competencies allows employers to:
Plan how they will organize and develop their workforce.
Determine which job classes best fit their business needs.
Recruit and select the best employees.
Manage and train employees effectively.
Develop staff to fill future vacancies.
Competency Types
Knowledge Competencies - practical or theoretical understanding of subjects.
Skill and Ability Competencies - natural or learned capacities to perform acts.
Behavioral Competencies - patterns of action or conduct.
Job descriptions explain the duties, working conditions, and other aspects of a job, including the competencies needed to perform the job's essential functions. Position-specific competencies are determined through the process of job analysis, and are documented in the Position Description (PD) form. These competencies form a basis for recruiting, hiring, training, developing, and managing the performance of employees.
Used In Recruitment, Assessment, and Selection, Employee Performance Management, Training and Development, Career and Workforce Planning, compensation
Enterprise Ontology
The ontology (or ontological model) of an enterprise provides the common understanding of the operation of an enterprise to all stakeholders, that is completely independent of the realization and the implementation of the enterprise. The enterprise ontology, as developed by Dietz, is the starting point for profoundly understanding the organization of an enterprise and subsequently for analysing, (re)designing, and (re)engineering it.
Facilitates:
Requirements engineering
Business process (re)design and (re)engineering
Intra and inter enterprise collaboration
Interoperability of information systems
Function/job identification and description
IT portfolio management
The ontological view on enterprises has the potential to give rise to new kinds of approaches to the analysis and design of enterprises (in which IS approaches can properly be embedded) because:
• It focuses on the essence of business processes, being the entering into and complying with commitments by human actors.
• It puts the role of the human being as social individual ‘on top of’ his being an intellectual individual. By doing this, it provides the fundamental link between organization and information.
• It relates the notions of competence, authority and responsibility to the operation of an enterprise in a rigorous way. To learn more
Assignment
something assigned, as a particular task or duty; a position of responsibility, post of duty, or the like, to which one is appointed.
Role/Job
The particular tasks or duties assigned to a position, or post of duty, to which one is appointed
the functions that are expected to be performed by a person appointed to a certain position.
Workbench Architecture
Workbooks & Functions
A single instance of the Bio-Sheet is maintained per Workspace. In other words, there is only one Bio-Sheet for your organization which reflects its current information (you can take snapshots of this sheet each time it is updated should you wish to maintain a historical perspective of this information; if your organization is part of a group, each organization would have its own Workspace and thus its own Bio-Sheet - you can use the Organization Hierarchy Workbook that is provided by the Enterprise Environment Workbench to show your organization's relationship to others in the group; a snapshot of this hierarchy can be added to the profile).
Besides the normal object attributes that are included with the Bio-Sheet (e.g., organization name, legal type, description, etc.), the workbook object model makes provision for multiple NAIC and SIC industry classifications, multiple executive and management resources, product brands, outside service firms and social media assets. A wide range of snapshot types can also be used to add additional facets to the profile, such as financial performance (e.g., balance sheets and income statements) and any of the outputs of the Enterprise Environment Definition Workbench (such as the organization's hierarchy).
Snapshots can take one of two formats; it can either be an instance of a specifically defined object type, or alternatively, it can be an undefined attachment. Undefined in this context refers to (image) attachments, where the details of the attachment are undefined (the snapshot instance is described in terms of the date, time, source and the 'kind of' snapshot is is, but the attachment's content elements are not defined).
When a snapshot is an instance of a specifically defined object type, it means that an Object Type definition exists which describes each element of the snapshot instance (in other words, a subtype definition is available for the particular snapshot, e.g., Balance Sheet, Income Statement, etc.). These snapshots are typically created using the functions provided by another Bizverse portal (for example, a Growthware offering that is provided by a certain Community sponsor may allow the user to develop a strategic enterprise development plan; using the facilities provided by such portal one would be able to take a snapshot of the resultant Strategic Portfolio, which can then be added it to the Enterprise's Bizverse Profile).
For more information, see Related Topics below.
Navigation & Processing Options
With the Enterprise Bizverse Portal active - www.bizverse.biz - use the Workbench Selector to activate the Enterprise Profile Workbench. Workbook objects and related structures that can be accessed once this workbench is active are as follows:
Enterprise Bio-sheet - use the Workbook Selector to pick this option from the list that is presented in the drop-down control; use the Edit button control located in the Workbook Toolbar to update the Bio-sheet information; use the Drill-Down button control located in the Workbook Toolbar to activate the Attributive Objects Pane which allows you to manage the following sub-components of the Enterprise Bizverse Profile:
Snapshots - click the Snapshots Tab in the Attributive Objects Pane to view the set of snapshot instances that are part of your organization's profile; with the Snapshots Tab in the Attributive Objects Pane active, double click the desired snapshot instance to open and view its content; use the Add Snapshot Instance Button control to add another snapshot instance; use the Delete Snapshot Instance Button control to remove and archive a selected snapshot instance;
Industry Classifications - click the Industry Classifications Tab in the Attributive Objects Pane to view the set of industry classification instances that are part of your organization's profile; with the Industry Classifications Tab active, double click the desired classification instance to open and view its content; use the Add Industry Classification Instance Button control to add another classification instance; use the Delete Industry Classification Instance Button control to remove and archive a selected classification instance;
Product Brands - click the Product Brands Tab in the Attributive Objects Pane to view the set of product brand instances that are part of your organization's profile; with the Product Brands Tab active, double click the desired product brand instance to open and view its content; use the Add Product Brand Instance Button control to add another product brand instance; use the Delete Product Brand Instance Button control to remove and archive a selected product brand instance;
Executives & Management - click the Executive & Management Tab in the Attributive Objects Pane to view the set of executive and management resource instances that are part of your organization's profile; with the Executive & Management Tab active, double click the desired executive and management resource instance to open and view its content; use the Add Executive & Management Resource Instance Button control to add another executive and management resource instance; use the Delete Executive & Management Resource Instance Button control to remove and archive a selected executive and management resource instance;
Outside Service Firms - click the Outside Service Firms Tab in the Attributive Objects Pane to view the set of outside service firm instances that are part of your organization's profile; with the Outside Service Firms Tab active, double click the desired outside service firm instance to open and view its content; use the Add Outside Service Firm Instance Button control to add another outside service firm instance; use the Delete Outside Service Firm Instance Button control to remove and archive a selected outside service firm instance;
Social Media Assets - click the Social Media Assets Tab in the Attributive Objects Pane to view the set of social media asset instances that are part of your organization's profile; with the Social Media Assets Tab active, double click the desired social media asset instance to open and view its content; use the Add Social Media Asset Instance Button control to add another social media asset instance; use the Delete Social Media Asset Instance Button control to remove and archive a selected social media asset instance;
Processing Sequence
When a Bizverse Workspace is created (as part of the registration procedure), the Bio-sheet record instance is automatically created (in other words, it is created when you register a Bizverse Workspace for your organization). Once a user has been granted appropriate access rights, the Bio-Sheet can be accessed and updated.
The attributive objects (or sub-components) of the Enterprise Profile (e.g., snapshots, product brands, executives & management, etc.) can be accessed and updated from this point in the portal's user interface. That is, from the Bio-Sheet display, use the Drill-down Button control to access the desired attributive object - the Attributive Objects Pane will appear with the attributive object options shown as tabs across the top of the pane; click the tab label to bring the related sheet into focus.
With the relevant attributive object sheet active, select and use the appropriate tool to perform the required action (e.g. add, edit or remove an instance of the active object type).