SWEAT it out

Management by objectives is a concept propagated by Peter Drucker, one of the greatest management gurus of our times. He had predicted many a management event through his series of theories based on real time analysis. MBO as we all know is the need to manage businesses by balancing a variety of needs and goals, rather than subordinating an institution to a single value. In the course of MBO we all know about "SWOT" analysis. To those uninitiated  SWOT is understanding "Strengths", "Weaknesses", "Opportunities" and "Threats". Most of the plans are centered around these four areas and based on these, alignments and re-alignments are done accordingly. SWOT is something which is top-down, used mostly when building businesses and typically done keeping in mind the future and very little to do about the present. Although many would argue that at least 2 of the areas i.e., Strengths and Weaknesses are clear attributes which are present, I would still categorize them as tools which are analysed keeping the future prospects or perceived threats in mind. There are many organizations who do not look at what is happening to their efforts and whether at all a particular direction is worth taking. Effort as in "Sweat" is something which is critically important to understand what is actually happening in an organization and understanding this, in the right perspective would enable organizations to take corrective actions appropriate to the situation. This is to understand whether the resources whatever they may be viz; Human capital, Financial resources, Branding, Marketing, capacities, efficiencies and finally the "Vision" are all moving in the desired direction or not. One really has to make a "SWEAT" analysis to enable the basic exercise of running a profitable organization. By SWEAT, I mean "Strategies" "Work ethics" "Efficiency" "Alternatives" and "Tact".  SWEAT analysis should be done for each and every component of business management and the result would give immense sense of understanding about an Organization's condition in a broader sense than both SWOT or Portfolio analysis.


Strategies:- End the board room, white board, back of the envelope methods. Every member of the organization is part of the strategy. You never know where and who could be the source of information which could have far reaching effects in the organization. Strategic thought should be imbibed for both executing levels as well as the Management levels and as far as possible the process should be on-going. Unless and until every pillar of source/strength is allowed to understand and participate in the macro strategies of the Organization, what we bring about in the form of strategy does not flow to who they matter. This flow would allow one to analyse the impact a particular strategy is creating in a broader sense and change course as and when required or even better, build upon the strategy further.


Work ethics:- Constant feedback to those who matter w.r.t work ethics is of extreme importance. Once the vision is percolated through thick and thin of the organization, the vision cannot progress unless it is backed by values and ethics. Culture and ethics go hand in hand and an organization's brand image is significantly impacted by these two cogs of the wheel. Any deviation in organizational values/ethics needs to be plugged at the beginning and a no-nonsense approach to be inculcated to every aspect of the organization. Hence constant monitoring (not to be read as policing) by leaders at every stage would help in analyzing effects and a continuous improvement happens.


Efficiency:- While there are many methods to study efficiency, these analysis should help in such a manner that improvement is constant. Deviations can be quickly weeded out through these effective methods. Business Audits that are not necessarily restricted to compliance audits may be one method which could be of great use. Audits should be conducted in such a manner that they encompass the entire business environment in which the organization is part of and help in proactive participation of control departments. Their efforts can be measured quantitatively in terms of what improvement in efficiency of operations they have helped in bringing about as well as measured in terms of improvement to profitability rather than restricting the control functions only to monitor or for compliance purposes.


Alternatives:- Sweat analysis helps in identifying alternatives once there is a deviation in the main vision. There is literally no point in treading a path that is not worthwhile or profitable, hence constant analysis helps in identifying these pain points and suggest appropriate replacements quickly. There are many organizations which behave in an opportunistic manner but end up in un-related diversification many a time. Sweat analysis allows one to understand such deviations much before negative impact happens and helps in identifying alternatives at the right time. These are not restricted to macro organization level but also in micro-management by various components of the organization.


Tact:- We started at Strategy and now we end at Tact. Many would confuse these two words. Strategy is something that is long term and Tact is something that helps in manoeuvring as and when the steering wheel of the strategy is veering without control. What tactics and when to use is the result of Sweat analysis. The environment is extremely unstable and volatile and unless one is tactically sound it is pretty difficult to ensure that the strategy towards accomplishment is proper.


Hence Let's simply SWEAT it out as usual.