CofEe club

The thirtieth meeting will be held on the 20th March 2013 at the BBC in London

The topic for the meeting is Linking strategy to business-as-usual

The topic for the meeting is Linking strategy to business-as-usual with a particular focus on the development and management of the business’ operating model.

In ‘Business Architecture – a practical guide’ (2012), Whelan and Meaden describe business architecture as:

A discipline devoted to shaping, articulating and guiding business change and defining the optimum course between strategy and its realization.  This highly collaborative role acts as catalyst and facilitator in shaping and defining the future organization with the organizational leaders and senior managers.  That alone sets the role apart from any other role in the organization.

Time and again we observe the value of having this at the forefront of change:

The organisation needs to understand…

  • The interaction of business processes, people, management structures, business data and systems
  • The business value proposition
  • The client value proposition
  • External drivers

…in order to shape and define change by

  • Engaging with business leadership to link strategy to operations
  • Ensuring alignment of the blueprint with the organisation’s strategic intent
  • Establishing the operational blueprint of the ‘To-be’ state
  • Ensuring that the new operating model can be successfully adopted and sustained.

Our observation is that organisations successful in change invest significant senior management effort in this, engaging directly with the Board or the office of the CEO.

Moreover, where this is neglected, the future operating model is likely to be influenced by technical or other sectional interests, often to the detriment of the business.

Does your organisation have an effective vehicle for shaping the business operating model? 

To what degree are your diverse change initiatives managed as an integrated and coherent change journey?

What part are the disciplines of business architecture playing in changing your organisation?