Having read the title, you’re probably thinking of the dual aspect concept in accounting. That’s nice……..but its wrong!

For those who don’t know, the dual aspect concept merely ensures that all accounting entries have both a credit and a debit component. This, in turn, ensures that books of accounts always balance, if every entry was made correctly.

Apart from the above, I know practically nothing else about accounting. But I digress.

The duality of this concept is what interests me. This is not just because learning new things is cool but because it gets me thinking…..

Why is the general concept of duality so common, especially in nature? Just think about it. We have two eyes, two ears, two feet, two nostrils……it goes on… binary digits, left and right, even the concept of a word’s opposite( e’g Up Vs Down) is dual in nature. Why is this so, why all the duality? Is someone (or something) trying to tell us something?

Personnally, I think that we should actively strive to achieve perfect balance in our lives by seeking out duality. For example, the easiest way to do this may be seeking out a life partner. Its only natural.

We were not created to live by ourselves. To be happy, you need someone else in your life. Nature seems to exhibit duality more often than not, and so this must be her way of showing us the way forward, right?

But then again it might just be a perfectly pre-concieved plot to veil our eyes and minds from the truth; the true way forward. But what truth? Isn’t it rather difficult to think of the world without its dual aspect? Try it.

Truth is, none of us knows any way forward. All we can do is follow hints from abstract things( like nature, instinct etc) and hope that they point towards somewhere.

DISCLAIMER: My thoughts, values and beleifs are my own. It is my constitutional right to have them. However, the thoughts, values and beleifs depicted here have nothing against and do not intend to discriminate against lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, or even ‘straight’ people.

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:

Many theories try to explain how people learn. This theory was advanced by Kolb, Rubin and McIntyre and I think it is pretty accurate.

They suggest that learning is a continuous cyclic process with four stages as follows:

A. Experience.

B. Observation and reflection. You look back at the experience intospectively, reviewing general issues raised and their significance.

C. Abstract Conceptualisation. Having observed and reflected on the experience, you develop a body of ideas, theories or priciples which can be applied to other similar situations.

D.Active Experimentation. Involves applying the developed principles through creativity, decision making and problem solving.