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Approaches to Strategy Part 4

January 13, 2006 by Leave a Comment

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR (CSF) ANALYSIS (part 1 0f 2)

Mostly for businesses, this methodology was developed by John Rockart in the 1970s.

CEOs need to know what is critically important for the success of the organisation. By identifying these and stating them clearly, they can remain focused on what really matters.

CSFs are the areas on which results, if they’re satisfactory, will ensure competitive successful performance of whatever you’re doing. They are the vital things that must go right for you to succeed.

Sources of CSFs:
1. The industry- each industry has its own distinct CSFs. e.g. in banking customer confidence is critical.

2. The company itself and its position withing the industry-The company’s competitive strategy in the industry will influence what is critical e.g actions take by a large dominant company in an industry may provide one or more CSFs to the smaller companies.

3. The environment- Use PEST analysis to identify possible CSFs e.g. what is critical in economic booms is different from what is different in economic recessions.

4. Temporal Organisational Factors- These are the areas of company activity that raise concern because they need attention in the short term e.g. too much or too little stock may generate a temporary CSF.

Once you identify the CSF(s), set up a performance indicator for each CSF. These are measured targets for CSFs and are used to monitor the actual success of each CSF.

Once the CSF and its corresponding performance indicators have been pointed out, CSF analysis may begin:

Filed Under: Articles
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Tricool #4

January 12, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Howdy….
Today we have:

1. SundayLeague– a great fantasy football(soccer) site where you can join (and play) relatively comfortably, for free.

2. How Stuff Works– here, you can get to know how all kinds of stuff works. From invisibility cloaks to banking, its all here.

3. Alsscan– me being me, I just had to give you a link to what I consider the best adult site on the net. Its just refreshingly different from the rest.

Filed Under: Internet, My Personal Projects
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Tricool # 3

January 12, 2006 by Leave a Comment

1. OpenCourseWare– get access to material of all programs offered at MIT. Considering that you literally get world-reknown-proffessors’ notes, FREE, this is cool.

2. Thinkgeek– the place where you can buy (or just view i.e ‘windowshop’) all sorts of handy and not-so-handy cool geeky gadets.

3. Bored? If you are, this great site is just what you need. Go ahead, kill some time.

Filed Under: Internet, My Personal Projects
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To all KBWers: Kenyan Blogs Webring CARNIVAL

January 6, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Hi. Has anyone noticed that the Kenyan Blggers webring is getting too large! (To large to keep in touch with all the blogs, or at least many of them)?

In fact, my friend who joined very recently says that he doesn’t even feel he is in a webring. We (him and I) have been thinking very hard about this. I think the KBW should be a more active part of the blogoshpere. We all keep our blogs up to date, but thats not what I’m talking about. We need to do something together, we as members of the KBW should be more involved in each other’s blogs. We need some activity to galvanize us as one and compell us to know our webring much better. (This will also help in next year’s Kaybees, ama?)

Having thought about this really hard, today I think I came across our solution: A Blog Carnival. This can be a neat way to keep up with all KBW blogs and give everyone a chance to be heard(read?) by the rest of us. I think its an idea worth thinking about.

What is a blog carnival?

I identified two types of carnivals, the first one, common in blog rings, is a type of travelling party in which each member of the ring is given an opportunity to host the carnival. Since we have 700+ blogs, we can give everyone one day on the spotlight. As in the carnival start from blog 1 on the ring going forwards. At least then, some of us would have 700 days to prepare for that day when all eyes and mice(that rhymes) are on us. I ruled out the carnival being weekly coz some of us would have to wait 700 weeks!!!

The other type of carnival is a type where the carnival management team (that would be KBW management?) gives us a topic that we all blog about and then hosts everyone’s posts on that topic on some site or, even better, on someone’s blog. This is much like what happened on Kenyan Blogger’s Day 2006.

I propose a sort of hybrid carnival; a travelling carnival in which each week we all write on a specific topic and then all our posts are collected and posted on one person’s blog. Of course this person should be someone who contributed to that week’s carnival. Sine KBW is so large, this thing can’t move from blog 1 onwards since some people would never get to participate so I propose that we come up with some way to choose the next week’s hosting blog. We could, probably, leave this decision to teach week’s host.

This is a very rough idea but I think all of us, as members of the KBW, should give it a serious thought.

Updates
1.This can significantly boost each hosts blog rank (eg at technorati)
2. Check out Blog Carnival.

Filed Under: Ideas, Kenya
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Desperate Times

December 19, 2005 by Leave a Comment
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I recently joined a rugby team and, every morning, we train a bit at a soccer field. Last week, we were surprised to see that a goal-post had been …er…. stolen. Yes, hack-sawed right through and carried away!
This got me thinking. The theft required at least three people to carry out and it must have taken place very late at night.
Think about it. How much is a goal post worth? Probably, selling it as scrap metal is the best option and can generate, at most 350-450 shillings. So the 3 thieves put in so much effort to take home, what, 150 shillings? Totally not worth it.
But we do live in desperate times. I suppose when you have mouths to feed and bills to pay you will take any opportunity to do so. Think then of the desperaton that arises when your wife and infant child(ren) have’nt really eaten in weeks and you have’nt paid rent for your mud-hut (or cardboard shack) in months.
At this level of desperation, a goal post must look like pure gold.
So, when you hear of strangely petty thefts or other crimes, do not immediatley jump the gun and yelp for the perpetrator’s blood. ( He/she could be a parent of seven, living on the mean streets of Nairobi).
Yelp, instead, for the head and blood of Kibaki and Co.
Do they care that we live in desperate times? I think not. Look at them, driving thir big fancy cars, eating in overly expensive restuarants, pocketing bags of money – all without a damn worry in the world!
Do you think that, amidst the buckets of tender chicken at his table, a guy like Kiraitu ( or any other fat cat) gives one ounce of thought to the fact that the particular tax-payer whose money he is burning probably died of hunger last week?
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‘A voice was heard in Ramah
Weeping and great lamentation
Rachel weeping for her children
And she would not be comforted, because they are not’
Filed Under: Articles, Kenya
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