Supply Chain Series Posts

Supply Chain

Supply chain is a field with global impacts as services and products span across international borders. There are no businesses that are without a direct supply chain impact. Everyone and everything requires materials, equipment, and labor that are used to transform raw materials and information into finished goods and services.  Supply chain involves logistics, distribution, procurement, contracts,  information technology, and a host of other disciplines that come together to form the supply chain. 

There are many variations of supply chains from 'dyadic' networks to complex multi-firm groupings in a mesh network. Other variations focus on the kind of supply chain such as manufacturing, service, construction, or mega-projects. There are even physical and virtual supply chains. 

Overall, supply chains involve flows and are viewed in terms of processes such as:

• Gathering and processing marketing data
• Distribution and payment of invoices
• Processing and shipping of materials
• Scheduling 
• Fulfillment of orders
• Mapping information systems to business processes

Stakeholders are not only inside the supply chain but others outside the supply chain can affect outcomes significantly such as governments, regulatory agencies, tax agencies, as well as the availability of infrastructures; logistical or informational.  The general public influences the supply chains as amongst them is knowledge, political concerns, competitors, joint ventures, and trade associations.

While I possess the PMP certification, the CSCP is more difficult to achieve requiring an 80% passing score as opposed to the 70% required for the PMP. The CSCP is also touted by the APICS association to yield more professional positions at higher pay rates.  The CSCP also has the same core competencies as the PMP, of the more expansive Operations Management undergraduate degree I possess.  I hope to pull some of my old college papers and post them as part of this series. At the time I was going through college my program computer integrated manufacturing, CIM, was emerging and many of the papers I wrote centered on artificial intelligence and horizontal integration of all the manufacturing elements including the supply chain.

I have begun to list the posts here. Please feel free to read through them:

Supplemental Posts:

A. Supply Chain: Adapting Process to Create Customer Value

B. Supply Chain Holiday Bedlam

C. Reshaping the Travel Industries Global Distribution System

D. Project Complexity Perplexes Procurements

E. Supply Chain: Managing Butterflies, Not Bullwhip

Core Posts:

01. Supply Chain Overview

02. Manufacturing Supply Chain Model

03. Service Oriented Supply Chain Model 

04. Key Management Processes

05. Evolution of Supply Chain Management

06. Creating Value through Supply Chain Management

07. Globalization Impact on Supply Chain Management

08. Supply Chain Strategy

09. Building Supply Chain Collaboration

10. Aligning Supply Chain and Corporate Strategies

11. Change, Futures, and Supply Chain Strategy

12. Risk Management in Supply Chain

13. Supply Chain Metrics

14. Financial Performance

15. Leadership and Managing People

16. Security

17. Compliance

18. Continuous Improvement

19. Visibility

20. Analysis

21. Benchmarking and Goals

22. Continuous Improvement Part 1 - Six Sigma

23. Continuous Improvement Part 2 - Lean and JIT

24. Continuous Improvement Part 3 - Theory of Constraints

25. Implementation and Change Management

This wraps up the series on Supply Chain Basics. I may return to add additional support from time-to-time and will add a post on the CSCP exam. Please feel free to comment on the post by either emailing me, james.bogden@gmail.com, or by commenting directly on the posts. Thanks!

Reference:

(2011). APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional Learning System. (2011 ed.). Version 2.2.

Supply Chain: Service Model

This is a series on Supply Chain Basics looking at the discipline from the Society of Operations Management perspective. Supply chain is also essential to project management as PMs are typically trained in world class contracting. The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, DAWIA, certification highlights the combination of project management and supply chain. In this post, we will explore Supply Chain Service Model adding some additional support as well.

Supply Chain:  Service Model

The traditional supply chain model was developed in support of manufacturing of finished goods.     The APICS dictionary defines the service industry in the most narrowest sense an organization that provides an intangible product. As we move from an industrialize economy more into a service economy, there is a need for a service industry supply chain model, Figure 1.

Figure 1:  Supply Chain Service Model

Service oriented supply chains require sophisticate management and can become complex too. For example, electrical power service providers purchase fuel sources (coal, oil, natural gas, radiological) via a wholesaler then convert the energy into electric power for transmission to the consumer.  The electrical power providers also purchase finished goods in terms of equipment and materials as well as the services to maintain the equipment.  A datacenter is similar as they provide computational power, long term data storage, and virtualization services. They must purchase equipment and supplies as finished goods from a materiel supplier as well as maintenance and production services from a host of service providers.  Healthcare is another service industry that has complex supply chain concerns.

Similar to the other models, the service supply chain model also has cash, service, and information flows. Unique to the service industry, warranty and returns are handled differently. In the service industry perception is a greater actor in quality than any measures due to the intangibility of the service.

In the service industry, many influences burden the supply chain. For example, labor contracts, regulations, the profit models operating, and competition all weigh on the supply chain and perhaps more on the service industry than others due to the intangibility and perceptive nature of the service.

Reference:

(2011). APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional Learning System. (2011 ed.). Version 2.2.

Supply Chain: Manufacturing Model

This is a series on Supply Chain Basics looking at the discipline from the Society of Operations Management perspective. Supply chain is also essential to project management as PMs are typically trained in world class contracting. The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, DAWIA, certification highlights the combination of project management and supply chain. In this post, we will explore Supply Chain and Corporate Strategy adding some additional support as well.

Supply Chain: Manufacturing Model

Supply complexity is a challenge across project types. Mega-projects are generally engineered-to-order projects that involve large numbers of suppliers supporting construction of a highway, bridge, building a rocket, ship, or even developing a computer system such as Digital Fortress having millions of processors. Another type of supply chain complexity involves manufacturing a complex finished good such as a automobile which typically has over 30,000 parts and sub-assemblies resulting in 10's of 1000's of suppliers. 

In manufacturing, a supply chain common practice is to have multiple tiers of suppliers adding increased complexity and quality challenges, Figure 1. 

Figure 1: Manufacturing Supply Chain Model

In this model, suppliers typically have suppliers. The model can become more complex adding Tiers 3 and 4 or more to the model. In the Skunk Works project (Formally called Advanced Development Projects) run by Lockheed Martin, the classified projects had tiers of subcomponent assemblies built and shipped off to the next Tier where they where consolidated into the next higher level assembly which was sent off to another Tier for further consolidation into the next higher level assembly. Eventually, subassemblies that were not discernible as to the whole assembly arrived at a final assemble location where they were assembled then delivered. The end product in this case, were aircraft such as the U-2, SR-71, F-117, F-22, and F-35.  There were over 100,000 suppliers of goods and services that had no knowledge of the scale of the project or the highly classified nature of the project that they were participating within. 

A distributor in this model, does not create the end product but instead purchases or has some sort of agreement to resell the products.  Not shown are wholesalers which are a kind of distributor usually of commoditized goods. 

Overall,  the model can become quite complex falling into a Systems of Systems paradigm and eventually map out an entire economy or at least a major segment of the economy.  Hence, supply chains can become very important in managing costs and revenues as well as the legal and contractual relationships among all the actors.  There is one more model to consider and that is the Service Supply Chain in the next post.

Reference:

(2011). APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional Learning System. (2011 ed.). Version 2.2.

Supply Chain: Overview

Project Management in the purest form involves contracts and supply chain as resources and the business are tightly tied to contractual agreements. This is a series on supply chain basics looking at the discipline from the Society of Operations Management perspective.

Supply Chain: Overview

A supply supply chain is a global network used to deliver products and services from raw materials to end customers through an engineered flow of information, physical distribution, and cash.  The supply chain does not have to be global but many are global. The base supply chain model involves the flow of goods, information, and money between elemental actors from the supplier to the consumer. Logistical and information networks service the flows; Figure 1, which applies mostly to corporations rather than governmental or military supply chains. The US Navy's supply chain system is modeled after Caterpillar's supply system.

Figure 1:  Basic Supply Chain Model

The supply chain concept applies to both goods and services.  The 'upstream' flow travels from the Consumer towards the Supplier and the 'downstream' flow is from the Supplier towards the Consumer.  

Suppliers are a provider of goods and services or a seller with whom a buyer does business.  A vendor is an all inclusive generic term referring to all sellers in the marketplace.  The supplier provides goods such as sub-components and raw materials as well as services such as transportation, professional services, etc...

Producers receive goods and services from the supplier then creates finished goods and services for consumption by the Consumer. Service supply chains tend to be more abstract then the supply chain for goods.  

Consumers are those who receive the shipments of finished goods or purchase the services. 

Flows connect the supply chain entities together.

Primary Product Flows travel from the supplier to the consumer. Logistical networks move the goods through the producer.  In manufacturing, Just In Time (JIT) the goods are in constant motion with supply buffers that absorb variability.   

Primary Cash Flows travel from the consumer upstream to the supplier.

Information Flows both upstream and downstream as well as internally and externally.      

Reverse Product Flows travel upstream towards the supplier as the reverse supply chain.  This occurs for several reasons such as warranty, repairs, recycling, buybacks, disposals, etc...  Logistical services transport the goods through the reverse supply chain. 

The importance of supply in business is growing as economies regionalize and globalization increases. For example, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is increasing the freedom of movement throughout the region as the NAFTA superhighway completes construction. Logistical pipelines are lengthening in most cases. Although, Ford Motor Company's Bahi, Brazil enterprise has convergent production lines feeding the main production line.  Supply partnerships operate these convergent lines and synchronize the supply chains in the flexible manufacturing environment. 

Reference:

(2011). APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional Learning System. (2011 ed.). Version 2.2.

Values Leadership?

Return To Humanitarian Series Post

Recent unusual comments and social positions were taken by numerous CEOs that got me to thinking about the limits to which CEOs should support or reject social, political, or personal causes within the business environment.  Many CEOs on both sides of the aisle seem to be overstepping the boundaries or at least what was thought to be a boundary.  How do we define those boundaries and what should be supported? 

Values Leadership?

In The World Is Flat the author, Thomas Friedman, outlines an overarching vision that people work for companies that embrace their social, political, and religious ideologies. Friedman went on to indicate that governments deal with CEO's directly and the people indirectly. The idea is that people, the majority, would gravitate towards companies that hold popular beliefs and companies that hold unpopular beliefs would fade away or change. The political leadership then transitions from its current form to one of CEO politicians and aristocrats who oversee them. In a strange sensibility, political, religious, and personal views would be economically rationed and the government would no longer have elected leaders represent the people. In chapter four, Friedman points to comparisons between the Industrial and Information revolutions leading to a belief that the flattening could have been predicted by Karl Marx.

There has been trending in the direction that companies assume human-like qualities. In 1886, the case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company the United States Supreme court ruled a corporation is the same as a living breathing organism. The ruling has become known as corporate personhood in which corporate law has been built applying laws intended for humans to the corporation. Complicating this position of corporate personhood is the emergence of the corporate governance that fundamentally changes and commingles personhood with governance. A corporation assumes under corporate governance, at some level, governing responsibilities. Among these governing duties, the corporation has a moral, ethical, and economic responsibility to its people. 

Corporate governance which includes sustainability efforts institutionalized the infusion of political initiatives into business giving CEOs a venue to express their personal, political, and religious beliefs. CEOs from both sides of the aisle have jumped on this supporting nearly every personal, political, or religious cause regardless of merit. Political leadership in the US has also pursued state-owned enterprises, SOEs, which are also economic venues for advancing political ideologies. This has framed a debate to what extent should personal, political, and religious views of CEOs be infused into industry and business or should the people be empowered equally to follow their own personal, political, and religious beliefs as the United States founding documents guarantee.

Two companies recently embattled over the views of their CEOs are Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A. Their positions are diametrically opposite as are their approaches. Starbucks' CEO insists upon his personal views telling dissenting shareholders to sell off shares - leave. Whereas, the CEO of Chick-Fil-A speaks to principles and values that his company holds. The difference is one threatens dissent and the other sets principle-based values for the company. I need to pause here and frame the discussion. The merits of any specific social debate are not part of this discussion. This is a discussion about leadership style and the extent to which a CEO's personal value system should become part of the business.

The paramount question that must be addressed is what criteria apply to determine if a social concern is applicable to a business. The traditional purpose of business is a value-added process in which there is a redistribution of wealth in return for productive work and risk-taking. In short, labor is compensated for productive work and business owners are compensated for taking a risk. The business puts money in the pockets of people. An ancillary debate is under what system does this perform best; capitalism, socialism, or some other system which is not part of this post but is discussed a little in the post, Transitioning World - New Economy. Social concern must somehow couple to, at a minimum, optimizing risk and/or improving the workforce of a business. Most companies are connecting social concerns to sustainability initiatives that assure long term profitability. For example,

• Sustainable workforces
• Sustainable resources
• Sustainable markets
• Sustainable environments

The book Collapse: How Society's Choose To Fail or Succeed discusses an operationalized view of sustainability in complex economies. The author, Jared Diamond, looks to the capacity and capability of the ecology and economies. Diamond argues that societies that succeed make choices related to sage sustainability based on the carrying capacity of the economies and ecology. For the purposes of this discussion, societies are treated as companies.  If work and resources are monetized then sustainability also applies to the wise use of available currency in the economy or business.  In choosing social issues to support, CEOs must ask at least three questions:

• How does this assure long term profitability? 
• How does this optimize operations and the business? 
• Does support of this issue exceed the carrying capacity of the organization? For example, does supporting a social cause increase health care costs, result in the loss of the workforce, or place an unnecessary tax on the business such as to exceed the ability to support.

Many social issues do not advance profitability or optimize operations for the business. Both Chick-Fil-A and Starbucks have failed to demonstrate how their support for opposing sides of the same social issue benefits the business. In fact, the Starbucks CEOs encouraged negative outcomes to the business limiting the prospective pool of investors (and customers) if people opposed his personal view that has yet to demonstrate business value.  Is that a wise business practice? Furthermore, there is little evidence that a CEO's personal, political, and religious views in support of a cause of the moment attract sustainable labor in the long run. Most labor is interested in two things; a reasonable paycheck and secure employment driven by natural causes as opposed to the perception of artificially held security. 

In the United States, the appearance is that religious institutions no longer drive one's personal moral code but instead a system of CEOs and aristocrats economically ration values to the workforces. Oddly, the workforces are forbidden to speak about personal, political, and religious views in the workplace. Yet, CEOs are not only discussing these topics in the workplace but imposing personal, political, and religious views into business as a requirement for participation.  For example, a  mortgage management software vendor requires all employees to sign a document stating a belief in Global Climate Change and green initiatives in order to be employed. How are the CEO's views connected to the business and grander than any of those working for the CEO? Somehow, stacking the deck with politically sympathetic employees is good business?

I wonder from where do these CEOs get these values and how do we evaluate its honest merit when it is economically rationed via a paycheck? Is that the measure of virtue, a paycheck? The truth comes down to the virtue of the value, principle, ethic, or moral code. There are methods to assess the virtue but those methods are independent of the business. A high degree of confidence in an unsupported or poorly supported personal, political, or religious belief does not meet the test of virtue.

In the end, CEOs must use some sort of rule of thumb in selecting social causes to support. Whatever the cause, it should fit snuggly into a set of well known and understood criteria that has widespread support of not only the workforce but the customer base as well. In doing so, meaningful, productive, and reasonable outcomes have enjoyed that advance the business ensuring long term survivability.

References:

Diamond, J. (2005). Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed. Penguin Books: New York.

Friedman, T. (2005). The world is flat. (1st e.d.). Farrar, Straus, and Giroux: New York.

Return To Humanitarian Series Post

Bottom Up Leadership

Comment: Most people think of leadership as being something top down and doing what they are told. The fact is that everyone is called to be leaders. Unfortunately, few have proper leadership training or realize that a greater amoun t of leadership is bottom up.  Bottom up leadership is not about kicking your boss in the butt to motivate him or her. Leadership, in general, is about motivating others to effect a change. Bottom up leadership is the ability to effect that needed change from a humble place.

Leading Bottom Up

In some situations there is faulty, absentee, or weak leadership top down. This occurs for a variety of reasons. The individual is simply inexperienced, has an emotion aversion towards leadership, has an incorrect focus, or has causes that are not just. Other situations are such that you have a good idea, you know how to solve a persistent problem, or you want to change something for the better. If you are under one or more of these situations then what to you do?

You step up and lead!

The American Forefathers abhorred aristocracy as much as tyranny. Bottom up leadership is the classic model of leadership that the American Forefathers used when framing the United States under the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the U.S. Bill of Rights. They designed a framework in which the common human being could rise up to perform great feats then return to the humble origin from where they came. Another example of bottom up leadership is the Biblical form of leadership. Even modern culture has shifted more towards bottom up leadership known as democratization. There has been a movement to democratize many activities such as design, conversations in the public sphere, governments, and  even marketing. Methods include small groups in the church or community planning in Progressive party, design of the Internet using Request for Comment’s (RFCs), and many more approaches. The idea in all of these is to take a vision, build support, and achieve an end state.

The Leadership Model

Leadership begins when you correctly identify a problem, formulate a vision, set the goals to get you to the end state, and motivate people to join the cause. Bottom up leadership requires that the leader builds constituencies’ not only beneath them but to a greater extent on their level and above their level. Each group requires different approaches and may even have different goals common to the same end state. The successful leader is capable of pulling it all together.

More importantly, constituencies must believe in the cause, solution, or end state. The successful leader has an end state and goals that are deemed worthy by the constituencies’ who are stakeholders and principles in the cause. The cause must not be self-gratifying, self-indulgent, or apply to a limited group of people among those affected. The cause may be different to groups within the constituency but the end state will remain the same.

Parsing bottom up leadership into formal, informal, positional, green, thought, and other forms of leadership does not change the practical skills or the process. The leader may adjust the tactics and approaches used but the leadership process remains stable.

Top Leadership

Wise leaders at the top are not top-down leaders. They are top-out and tend to delegate authority to the bottom up leaders. For top leadership, the general thought shifts from looking inward at the organization for control to looking outward guiding where the organization is going. This is a paradigm shift for many people who feel a tight control is important. Leadership is a loose control over the constituency and more akin to the idea of charging ahead, throwing your arm up, and shouting follow me! Those who see the value in your efforts will follow.

In conclusion, bottom up leadership is really true leadership. Bottom up leaders are not attempting control. They, too, like top leadership are looking at where they are going and not where they were. If everyone were leaders looking to the future then organizations would soar.  People would be pulling together not  good ideas but instead good vision as well as good works. Onward and upward.

Leadership: Plan for Updates

Comment: This is the eigthth post of the Leadership Process series. I began this series because I saw a lack of rigor and discipline to leadership. The purpose of these posts is to look at a process model used by leaders. 

Plan for Updates

Many leaders tend to shoot from the hip. They assess, in their minds, what needs to get done and just do it. They are in charge and direct people to perform the necessary steps. That is the way things got done in the days of the movie star John Wayne.  Today, complexity frustratrates the process with nonlinear relationships and uncertainty or risk. Leaders need to be more diligent and deliberate in their actions and decisions. Thus, the need to plan updates to the vision and strategy.

The updates are generally known and were an outcome of assessing results. They typically would originate from the EBO process. specifically, measures of effectiveness and triggers would indicate the adjustments necessary to correct the efforts tracking.  The intent is to make the necessary adjustments to refocus the effort and achieve the planned results. Once the updates are prepared and infused in to the strategy they re-enter the cycle for another go around. 

If necessary, the constituency is informed and adjusted as necessary. Then the organizational design is reconsidered to ensure it meets the new demands. Finally, the PM recieves the adjustments and mobilizes the resources in order to compensate for the updates and move closer to the strategic goals and objectives. Finally, the updates are assessed to determine if progress was made or additional updates are required.

In the end planning for updates requires small adjustments to the strategy and vision that trickle down through the EBO process seeking to affect the measures in favor of the desired outcomes or effects.

M-Theory Brief

Comment:  This science brief was intended to prepare readers for another series by establishing a rational perspective of cosmological concerns about other dimensions. I am coupling this to the leadership series with the intent to demonstrate how a leader's rational thought and the ability to communicate complex ideas is important. I choose M-Theory because of its widespread recognition but has literally no practical understanding by the general public which has lead to some irrational cosmological beliefs. By the end of this, I hope that readers have a functional understanding of the theory and concepts.

M-Theory

M-Theory has been  popularized in many movies such as Timeline, The Matrix, and many others. Hollywood took a creative license when investigating the many possibilities of the theory. Nonetheless, M-Theory is relatively new being introduced during 1997 by Physicist Edward Whitten who sought a unifying theory for the everything. The theory stunned the science community because of its well supported and demonstratable applicability. The meaning of M-Theory designation is just a serialized name for the theory to distinguish from other theories like G-Theory or Q-Theory. Scientists do not know what to call it yet.

Whitten in developing M-Theory, took the well establised equations of space-time, the theory of relativity, quantum loop theory of gravity, superstring theory, and others  into a mathematical relationship that demonstrated a ten dimensional universe with a mathematical error as a 11^th dimension. The error is generally thought of as insignificant and indicates the model may not be complete yet.  The underlying support for strings is that everything is in a natural resonance or vibrational state, known as harmonics, which is characterized by an oscillating string linking the quantum realm to the physical realm.

Conventions In Physics

Let us first consider some conventions used in physics. Many people hear about particles and strings but have little grasp as to what these things really are about. They are abstractions that represent a local grouping of collective behavior physicists are observing.

Particles generally appear in the Planckian realm at an order of magnitude of about 10^-30 meters. In lay terms, particles are generally thought of as soupy fields of local goop (not plasma fields as they occur at a higher order of magnitude) that demonstrate a common behavior. Physicists assign the concept of a particle to the field in order to conduct 'combinatory play' or foley with the behaviors. Consider love and hate. They are intangible and not empirically observable but we know they exist and have some general traits. If a love particle and a hate particle are assigned traits such that they resemble something like pool balls, then we can assign the qualities of love and hate to the respective particles. In this way, we can begin to explore their interactions.

Likewise, harmonics and waveforms resemble an oscillating string and can take on many other shapes. Please recall when as a child you took a long rope or string and shook the end such that a wave or bump travelled down the rope, this is the  concept of strings as used in physics. Strings describe the behavior of lightwaves, particle waves, and a variety of wave shapes.  The string is mathematical formulation of the harmonic state of the waveform. Thus, innumerable strings are possible. Edward Whitten used the most probable strings in formulating M-Theory which are a closed loop string as opposed to an open ended string.   

Harmonics and M-Theory Formulation

In M-Theory, strings are infinitely thin and run through the substance of space-time forming the 'fabric' of space time. The natural resonance of all things is a natural harmonic that requires a time basing association of the waveforms or strings representing the resonance. Looking at M-theory, the first four dimensions are space-time and the remaining six dimensions are natural but cannot be explored by humans directly. Let's look at some of these equations briefly to understand what is going on.

The equations for space-time are expressed as functions of time and annotated as X(t) for example. A is acceleration, V is velocity, and X₀ is the intitial displacement in space. The equations of space-time are:

X(t) = 1/2 At² + Vt + X₀
Y(t) = 1/2 At² + Vt + Y₀
Z(t) = 1/2 At² + Vt + Z₀

The dimensions are X, Y, Z and t or Time. In a simliar fashion the Theory of Relativity is developed into a function of time.  E = MC² is the Theory of Relativity that must be transformed into a function of time as the common point of reference. The equation for velocity is distance over time or distance as a function of time, D(t). Thus, the speed of light;   C = V(t)  where V(t) can be in any one of the first derivative (velocity) of the three spatial directions X(t), Y(t), or Z(t) or a combination of directions known as a vector as well as their formulas on the other side of the equal sign.  The equation becomes:

E(t) = M [ V(t) ]²

On a side note, many scientists hold the speed of light constant in order to make their theories work properly. However, there is evidence that the speed of light may vary. Theories indicate that the universe has been / is expanding. This has the effect of dilating time and subsequently affecting the speed of light. For example, relax a rubber band and put two marks one inch apart, name the span between the marks 1 second, then place the rubber band under tension. The marks spread apart making the distance between them greater but the definition between the marks remains one second. The dilation is related to the delta in the distance between the marks before and after tension. The universe is also said to be under tension of expansion forces counter by equal and opposite particle forces that want to draw the universe back to a singularity. 

The fifth dimension becomes energy, E(t), which includes three of the four natural forces and is now tied to space and time. Gravity is a sixth dimension as string's tension describes quantum gravity. While seemingly complicated this is the approach Whitten took. All these equations were based on time and used to formulate unified equation of reality. Common to linear algebra methods, a matrix of simultaneous equations was formed to solve the equations for various conditions and instances.  Hence, the movie The Matrix draws its dichotomy of reality (the red pill) or the matrix versus illusion (the blue pill) or the results produced by the matrix from this analogy.

Looking Deeper



Figure 1

Whitten went farther than we did here as he used 11 dimensional strings that tied the quantum to the physical in Superstring Theory. Please refer to Figure 1: Wave form Basics, in the following discussion. Note that vibrating strings can occur in 2 or more dimensions.  Velocity of a vibrating string is frequency. Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity. Additionally, vibrating strings' amplitude is associated to the energy in the system. Tension or stiffness in the string is associated with gravity. Time is associated with the period and wavelength of a string. For example, a second of time is one wavelength of Argon gas.  The remaining dimensions are related to the harmonics of vibrating strings and may be attributed to other natural dimensions as well. Time basing the equations is necessary in harmonics. The mathematical error consists of the eleventh dimension which is technically insignificant.  Whitten Discusses.

The significance of M-Theory is that it illustrated to scientists that the parts or pieces of the universe were well understood and science had been too close to the puzzle preventing them from seeing the picture being assembled. Many scientist equated the discovery to stepping back and looking at the whole elephant from a distance rather than up close and only seeing the individual components.

Subset Theories

When the ten dimensions of M-theory are conformally mapped into three dimensions to see what they look like the process reveals an infinite number of spheres called Worlds and large infinitely thin sheets known as membranes or Branes for short.  This model has become known as the Brane-World model of the universe. Scientist then hypothesize that the worlds (spheres) collide with each other or are slapped by the membranes flapping like a flag in the wind. These collsions between Worlds results in new universes that are merged together or bounce around like pool balls on a billard table. Meanwhile, a World slapped by a membrane, The Many Slap Theory, results in a reordering of the World or Universe. Such a slap from a membrane would be considered a Big Bang from within the universe.

There are many implications for M-Theory and it has some profound impacts on the human perception of reality and the human place in the cosmos.

I hope you enjoyed the read and gained some valuable insight into the theory. My goal was to communicate as best possible a complex concept. Please fell free to email me and let me know your thoughts. james.bogden@gmail.com. Thanks!

Leadership: Assessing Results

Comment: This is the seventh post of the Leadership Process series. I began this series because I saw a lack of rigor and discipline to leadership. The purpose of these posts is to look at a process model used by leaders. 

Assessing Results is to Monitoring and Controlling

Perhaps one of the most rigorous efforts in the leadership process is assessing results. This effort can involve volumes of data, numerical computations, qualitative reviews, and opinions. The mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis can be frustrating for some professionals as many people want cold hard facts to substantiate a view but most efforts do not lend well to meaningful analysis. Classic project management is concerned with Earned Value Management, EVM, a quantative measure that attempts to relate money spent to earned progress. This is a financial measure that should work well in the Mobilizing Resources phase of the process but is not supported well outside that phase.

The truth of the matter is that Assessing Results is mostly an art than a science. However, there are two methods that provide a strong solution for assessing results;  Effects Based Operations / Outcomes (EBO) and Measureable Orgnizational Value (MOV). I have illustrated in this blog posting, ITIL Affects MOV, one use of EBO and MOV. In that posting, I created a linkage between strategy and task using a variety of measures that are easily formulated and tracked in order to make decisions about money and efforts.

EBO: Effects Based Outcomes

Most often there are multiple objectives and effects sought by the leadership. The use of an Effects Based Operations, EBO, can provide a strong framework for measurement combining both qualitative and quantitative measures. EBO originated out of the need in military operations to identify and achieve meaningful outcomes. In short, EBO details the reason or purpose the military takes action and includes when to cease actions. The United States military defines EBO as a coordinated set of actions directed at shaping the human behavior of the battlespace during peace, crisis, and war (Smith, 2002, p. xiv). This may translate to the private sector as a coordinated set of deliberate efforts designed to achieve specfic outcomes in the marketplace. For example, an organization may have an intent of capturing market share, achieving control of market supply points, or reducing costs through economies of scale. There are associated set of actions with these outcomes. If framed correctly then the effort becomes focused and assessing results is simplified because we understand what to assess from the get go.

The general framework for EBO begins with some sort of intent then the establishment of a strategy and strategic objectives. Each objective should have two or three effects that can be measured or has Measures of Effectiveness, MOE. The use of triggers and indicators are associated with the MOE to spawn decisions. Overall, the framework is intended to provide options, agility, coordination, and information mobilization. Options tailor to a situation with observations increases the impact. Agility stems from the focus on networked assets and the ability to adapt to emergent conditions. Coordination enables complex actions and relationships to pull together understanding the intent and objectives. Information mobilization determines how well EBO brings to bear expertise and knowledge impacting flexibility and decisionmaking.

MOV

Ask any professional or MBA graduate student what is a way to measure a project or business opportunity? Nearly all will respond Return On Investment, ROI. However, ROI falls gravely short on measuring most business objectives. ROI is myoptic in that it is only focused on one dimension of performance, financial. Corporate Governance, good will, and social objectives of an operation are not capture well with ROI. Measureable Organizational Value, MOV, is usually a single measurement associated with a strategy or objective indicating the progress towards or the achievement of that strategy or objective.  MOV does not measure the perfomance of work by the organization's staff or how well they did their jobs. MOV does measure how what was accomplished serves the organizations goals and objectives.

MOV is always assigned to strategy and strategic objectives. When coupled to EBO,  measures, effects, and objectives should not only align with MOV but support it directly. In doing so, the combination of MOV and EBO become a tool for inplementing strategy-to-task.

Assessing Results

With MOV as the overall measure and EBO as the framework, leaders can assess the progress of the mobilized resources in the project and towards the overall effort. Of course, this system as with others must be determined early in the leadership process during Goaling Setting in order to know what to expect and if progress is being made towards the expectations. The idea is to narrow the gap between expectations and realizations. The use of performance triggers and indicators will provide decision points for redirecting resources either to the project or to other efforts.  Knowing the upper and lower limits of performance will indicate actions necessary to correct the project tracking. The use of MOV will indicate progress towards the strategy.

As triggers fire and decision points are reached, actions will be taken to adjust the effort and refocus the direction on the strategic objectives and outcomes. These decisions will then roll up into the next phase of Plan for Updates. If the effort has met the MOV and EBO measure's then the vision has achieved the endstate and the effort should be closed out. This is the goal, to closeout the project upon achievement of the strategic objectives and vision. 

References:

Smith, E. (2002). Effects based operations: applying network centric warfare in peace, crisis, and war. DoD Command and Control Research Program. ISBN 1-893723-08-9. 

Leadership: Mobilizing Resources

Comment: This is the sixth post of the Leadership Process series. I began this series because I saw a lack of rigor and discipline to leadership. The purpose of these posts is to look at a process model used by leaders. 

The term "mobilizing resources" originated from governmental language when seeking reforms or conducting international aide operations. Nonetheless, mobilizing resources is classic project management. This phase of the leadership process model is where project managers, PMs, make their mark. PMs may be involved in the previous steps to a lesser extent if involved at all. Mobilizing resources is the fundamental activitiy of being a PM.

Mobilizing Resources Background

The problem of effecting a vision, design, or a general effort has been a challenge historically. Visions, designs, and efforts of various sorts when implemented become projects. The discipline for effecting projects originates from operations management and to some extent engineering specifically industrial engineering.  Within these disciplines project management has emerged with the methodologies for mobilizing resources; manpower, money, machinery, and methods. Projects come in many types and styles having associated tooling, tactics, techniques, and practices.

Projects fall into two general categories; continuous and discrete. Continuous projects come in two forms; continuous improvement or Agile. Conitnuous improvements often utilize a Spiral Waterall model. These projects may have discrete points along the way but the project is ongoing and does not fully complete. Instead, there are versions that demark major waypoints. Discrete projects are typically linear having a start and end date upon which the project fully terminates. A special case of projects stems from complexity which can be nonlinear but always has a high degree of uncertainty and dynamic relationships between participants. Often complex projects occur as progressive elaboration events.

Project Managers must assess and know the character of the project type before beginning to organize the project details. For many project managers, the practice of program management is not a foreign concept. Programs lay down the framework for the projects to operate within giving structure, form, and policies for conducting the project(s).

Many organizations offer methodologies for managing projects. The Project Management Institute, PMI, is one such organization which issues its Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK.

Mobilizing Resources

Once leadership has created the vision, built a constituency, and established the capabilities and capacities necessary to move the project forward, the PM begins by initiating the project.  There are many activities and two of the key activities is developing the Work Breakdown Structure, WBS, and the Organizational Breakdown Structure, OBS. The WBS work packages maps to the OBS or who will execute the work packages. Typically, the PM will look for shortfalls in capacity and capabilities. If leadership was on spot desiging the organization then there should be no shortfalls. Nonentheless, the PM occassionally must seek special skills or augement capacity from time-to-time. For example, crashing a project requires additional resources. Resourcing capability for specific work packages is not uncommon. The capabilities resourced are often journeymen or tradecraft skills such as plumbers, electricians, and IT support of various sorts. Professional services (Engineering, Legal, Accounting, etc...) are often contracted as well.

However, resources are not uniquely labor. Money, methods, and machinery are also resources that demand the PM's attention. Money often gets the most attention and tracked in many cases through Earb Value Management, EVM. Methods and machinery are also part of the equation as capabilities and capacity to perfortm work. Methods are most often skills, techniques, and practices. For example, a method could be a means of interstitially coating something. There are numerous methods from electro-plating to Ionic bonding to electro-static paint to perform such outcomes.  Machinery or tooling is another resource. If a process calls for a specific method then the proper tooling or machinery needs to be on hand to perform the work. Sometimes in a project, job shops or shop floors are leased to bring capabilities into the project.

Mobilizing resources often means overcoming political, organizational, and human obstacles. This is often called personality management which is an art more than a science. The science is simple in which humans generally fall into behavioral groups that have collective personalities. The art is knowing how to apply the science and gain productive outcomes from fickle people.

Conclusion

Mobilizing resources is project management. PMs are concerned with manpower, money, machinery, and methods in additional to the project objectives; scope, cost, quality, and schedules. Mobilizing resources is where the leaders vision and strategy are put to task. A key performance indicator is to ask the question, "Did what was worked serve the organization and strategy?"  The concept of measurable organizational value, MOV, serves to answer this question. MOV will be part of the posts on "Assessing Results" and "Plan for Updates".