Simulation assisted business improvement
Whether we are looking externally at markets, or internally at business processes the real world is characterised by complex systems. These systems have feedback loops and time delays, and hard and soft (people driven) elements. Time and time again these cause the law of unintended consequences to rear its head. The solution is to use the well proven disciplines of simulation modelling to inform any proposed strategic change. Enstra's approach to Market Value optimisation (MVO) and Process Value Optimisation (PVO) does exactly this.
We help clients to successfully navigate change by explicitly marrying up the definition and understanding of the business system (the Value Map), the desired direction of change (The Strategy) and the changes to the Processes, People and IT (seen as an integrated whole) needed to successfully deliver the strategy and create the value.
How do we achieve this?
For internal business processes...
We first of all create a "Value Map" of the business system together with an "as is" picture of the processes and supporting IT and people capabilities and numbers.
We then build a simulation of the internal business which has within it its links to the parts of the business system which are both touched by it and where the interaction with the business system creates or destroys significant value.
We can then look at changes to the processes, their supporting IT and people and investigate the impact on value of alternative process designs.
Clearly such experimentation would be unthinkable in the real world since the disruption of the operational business would be unmanageable. However, with a simulation available whole ranges of alternatives can be tried and tested to find the optimum way forward.
Furthermore, with a simulation which is linked to value - the alternatives can be judged on overall business value created - the true test, rather than being judged on internal process metrics.
Deploying this approach allows organisations to:
- Identify the optimum process configuration to support the strategy of the enterprise
- Ensure that the portfolio of change initiatives undertaken are those that have maximum impact on overall value
- Try alternatives without disrupting business as usual
- Identify the unexpected outcomes of process change before they occur in practice
For market engagement...
We again create a "Value Map" which identifies the drivers of profit for the players in the market place. This "Value Map" is a diagrammatic representation of how the competitive system works. We then add the mathematics to this conceptual model and calibrate the model to history which gives us a means by which we can play with future strategies without disrupting the market in real time. We then look at the processes, IT and people changes required to bring the chosen strategy to fruition.
Deploying this approach allows organisations to:
- Really understand the dynamics of the market place they operate in
- Explore the outcome of strategic alternatives without impacting the market place
- Identify the practical implications of implementing a particular strategy
These services are led by Warren Winslow and Peter Franklin.
Warren is a guru in the field of process improvement and author of the book �Strategic Business Transformation". Warren has over 20 years experience assisting organisations across a variety of sectors, including energy and the Utilities to improve their processes.
Peter is a world leader in the field of Value Mapping and is fully familiar with building simulations with enstra network partners who are leaders in the non-linear modelling fields of systems dynamics and agent based modelling.
Warren focuses on internal process change and Peter on market strategy.
To find out more about our MVO (market value optimisation) and PVO (process value optimisation) approaches please contact us on 020 8780 3313 or email consulting@enstra.com