The Capable Company Building the capabilites that make strategy work

by Lynch, Richard L.; Diezemann, John G.; Dowling, James F.

• ISBN13: 9781405111829
• ISBN10: 1405111828
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-29
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Most companies don't flounder because of poor strategy. The culprit is poor execution of the game plan. If executives know this, why don't they do something about it? The problem is that strategic intent, written in the language of a few visionaries, gets lost when the rank and file tries to interpret it in operational ways. The Capable Company provides the Rosetta Stone executives have been seeking: a systematic way to translate strategy into capabilities and projects. While some companies do this intuitively, this book lays out a repeatable process so that leaders at all levels can rapidly focus and align their actions - even as business conditions change - to build competitive advantage.

Author Biography

Richard L. Lynch and James F. Dowling are Partners at Results-Based Leadership, Inc. (www.rbl.net).

John Diezemann is a management consultant in Groton, Massachusetts.

Rich Lynch the lead author of Measure Up! Yardsticks for Continuous Performance, 2nd edition and Corporate Renaissance: The Art of Reengineering, also from Blackwell Publishing.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	xi
List of Tables	xiii
Preface	xv
Acknowledgments	xviii
1 Introduction	1	(12)
The New Business Reality	1	(2)
Kairos Moments	3	(2)
The Anatomy of the Capable Company	5	(5)
Just How Capable Is Your Company?	10	(3)
Part I Setting Direction	13	(66)
2 Enable Capable Leaders	15	(20)
The Challenges	16	(1)
Getting the Right Results in the Right Way	17	(2)
Driving the Agenda	19	(3)
Generating Intellectual Capital	22	(3)
Accelerating the Development of Leaders	25	(2)
Relentless Focus on Execution	27	(5)
The Building Blocks of the Capable Company	32	(3)
3 Chart the Company Course	35	(21)
The Challenges	35	(1)
Setting the Course	36	(9)
Reading the Local Charts	45	(1)
An Agenda for Action	46	(1)
Opportunities, Obstacles, and an Ever-Changing Environment	47	(2)
Scenario Planning	49	(1)
Picking the Right Course	50	(2)
Making Mid-Course Corrections	52	(2)
Assess Your Company's Adaptability	54	(1)
The Building Blocks of the Capable Company	55	(1)
4 Make Strategy Visible	56	(23)
The Challenges	56	(1)
Taking the "Capable Company Eye Chart" Test	57	(1)
Desired Relationships Among the Businesses	58	(2)
Ramifications of How the Business Chooses to Compete	60	(6)
Identifying the Work that Creates Advantage	66	(4)
Defining Business Capabilities and Gaps	70	(3)
From Capabilities to Projects	73	(1)
Company DNA Under the Microscope	73	(4)
The Building Blocks of the Capable Company	77	(2)
Part II Delivering Value	79	(32)
5 Build the Value Exchange	81	(12)
The Challenges	81	(1)
Determining the Right Products and Services	82	(2)
Making the Right Choices on Acquiring Capabilities	84	(2)
Building Requisite Capabilities and Partnerships	86	(3)
Balancing Infrastructure and Superstructure	89	(2)
Alignment in a Boundaryless World	91	(1)
The Building Blocks of the Capable Company	92	(1)
6 Forge Customer Relationships	93	(18)
The Challenges	94	(1)
The Customer Life Cycle	94	(2)
Attracting the Right Customers	96	(1)
Converting Prospects/Browsers to Customers	97	(5)
Fulfilling Customers' Needs	102	(3)
Retaining and Leveraging Customers	105	(4)
The Building Blocks of the Capable Company	109	(2)
Part III The Development and Alignment of Capabilities	111	(30)
7 Architect Business Structure	113	(17)
The Challenges	113	(1)
An Architecture Primer	114	(3)
Architecture Requirements	117	(8)
Aligning IT to Business Strategy	125	(1)
Creating a Dynamic Architecture	126	(1)
Balancing Organizational and Corporate Structure	127	(2)
The Building Blocks of the Capable Company	129	(1)
8 Align Capabilities	130	(11)
The Challenges	130	(2)
The Problem with Best Practices	132	(1)
Organization Archetype Implications	133	(9)
Aligning People, Process, and Technology Proactively	142	(4)
The Building Blocks of the Capable Company	146
Part IV Accelerating Change	141	(47)
9 Track a Moving Target	149	(14)
The Challenges	150	(1)
Solving the Scorecard Conundrum: Where and When to Start	150	(1)
Aligning Measures with Business Strategy	151	(6)
Taking the Enterprise Perspective	157	(1)
Driving Accountability	158	(1)
No Excuses: Getting and Delivering the Right Data	158	(1)
Allowing Performance Measurement to Be Interdependent	159	(2)
The Building Blocks of the Capable Company	161	(2)
10 Continually Refresh Capabilities	163	(25)
The Challenges	163	(1)
A Model for Continual Business Alignment	163	(2)
Take Account of New Business Realities	165	(3)
Extract Change Drivers	168	(2)
Identify Business Capabilities	170	(2)
Updating Architecture Requirements	172	(3)
Tuning Capabilities Through Projects	175	(3)
Changing the Course of In-Flight Projects	178	(1)
Orchestrating a Projects Agenda	179	(3)
Coming Full Circle	182	(1)
The Building Blocks of the Capable Company	183	(2)
Example of a Capability Refresh Cycle	185	(3)
Epilogue: Governance in a Capable Company	188	(3)
Suggested Reading	191	(4)
Bibliography	195	(2)
Glossary	197	(10)
Index	207