Overview of Enterprise
Administration
Entrepreneurial
Activities
Integration
Operations
Understanding
Management
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Look at the model below.
For the last twenty years or so I have used AEIOU over M as the framework in talking to people about enterprise and business development. It is a simple frame (books have been written on the functions and purpose)to work from to ensure that the key elements A and E, O and U are in balance through the I and M activities
These are the six core factors of any enterprise or business which need to be evaluated in the establishment and well managed in the on going operation of a business.:
- Administration - financial, legal, taxation, regulatory and maintenance functions which tend to hold an organisation or business back
- Entrepreneurial activities, really Marketing and Sales activities which tend to pull it forward - marketing, target audience, positioning, product, pricing, place, promotion
- Integration - strategic planning and implementation around the main idea (the vision and mission), key stakeholders, core concepts and activities
- PrOduction - staffing, equipment, buildings, suppliers, layout, capacity and capabilities, output/outcomes. Deals with what is to be produced and how.
- Understanding of the broad environment of the big wide world in which the business operates world - context and change in the enterprise environment around social, technological, economic, ecological and political trends which effect your industry, competitors, suppliers and its impacts on the opportunities and threats on the enterprise.
- Management - the loose/tight properties required in leadership and management to achieve the goals and strategies set and hold it all together
Broadly speaking, in strategic planning the three key areas that business looks at using a SWOT type analysis are:
- Environment ie the broad context of opportunities and threats in the social, technological, economic, environment (as in green) and political areas,
- Capability as in the internal strengths and weakness and capacity to process work, and
- Strategy as in where are we now, where do we want to be at some point in time and how are we going to get there.
Tom Peters in his book "In Search of Excellence" identified a number of things in common in excellent companies. The main ones were/are:
- A customer focus
- A focus on quality in production
- An adaptive capacity - including the loose-tight processes in management and the ability to adapt to a changing environment
The trouble with the many large corporates that he studied and reported on, they didn't keep their eyes on the adaptive capacity which is not just about the creation of new products and processes but the effective management of people and the environment.
This model of enterprise that I have found very useful in my thinking, training and mentoring is called AEIOU over M. This was first shown to me by Colin Benjamin of The Horizons Network in 1984, and further developed by Darryl Bubner of WaveGlobal Ltd.
Overview |
Administration |
Entrepreneurial Activities |
Integration |
Operations |
Understanding |
Management
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