Foundations of the Assumed Business Operations and Strategy Body of Knowledge (BOSBOK)

Gary R. Oliver is a senior lecturer in accounting at the University of Sydney Business School.

• List of figuresList of tablesPrefaceIntroduction1: The five dimensions of the assumed business operations and strategy body of knowledge 1.1 Dimension One: Position the business in one of the five stages of the business life cycle1.2 Dimension Two: Continuous and discontinuous adaptive behaviour to changing circumstances 1.3 Dimension Three: Leverage available resources to improve performance 1.4 Dimension Four: Recurrent themes in employee and manager behaviour 1.5 Dimension Five: Vocabulary of assumed business knowledgeDimension 1: Positioning the business in its life cycle2: Startup: Establishing the full- or part-time business as a going concern 2.1 Express and pursue the initial strategy2.3 Determine the marketing, advertising, promotion and brand position2.4 Establish and foster external relationships2.5 Adopt a taxation planning viewpoint Chapter summary3: Growth: Issues that arise from seeking improved profitability 3.1 Formulate a viable growth strategy3.2 Balance debt and equity (Flexible internal and external financing3.3 Coordinate diversified business units 3.4 Acquire and allocate scarce resources among the business units3.5 Align manager’s and employee’s interests to the owner’s interests Chapter summary 4: Maturity: Eroded or stable revenue, profitability, or market share 4.1 Strategic refocusing on core markets, products and services 4.2 Restrain internal expenditure including procurement 4.3 Delay or defer new investment and renegotiate existing investment arrangements 4.4 Make beneficial changes to ownership 4.5 Recognise threats to employment & employee security Chapter summary5: Decline: Issues that arise from turnaround or cessation of business activities5.1 Recognise the proximate signs of distress and possibility of a turnaround 5.2 Explore and finalise the sale of the business 5.3 Wind up the business voluntarily or under direction 5.5 Disposal of assets, items and intellectual property, the retention of business records and preservation of historical artefacts Chapter summary Dimension 2: Continuous & discontinuous adaptive6: Adjust the organisation structure and business functions as the rationale for the existence of the business changes 6.1 Optimise the legal configuration 6.2 Allocate and name the business functions 6.3 Arrange the organisational structure of the business 6.4 Allocate roles (positions), responsibilities and ensure accountabilities 6.5 Determine the best arrangements for employee cooperation and supervisionChapter summary 7: Use sensemaking to understand phenomena and reassess priorities 7.1 Scan the internal and external environment to understand their impact on the business7.2 Revise financial projections based on circumstances 7.3 Assess competitor actions and changing customer demands 7.4 Protect supply arrangements 7.5 Control costs and cost structures Chapter summary 8: Use policies, controls and reviews to bring flexibility to operations 8.1 Develop corporate policies, standard operating procedures and ensure adherence 8.2 Enable reliable controls that correspond to business goals and risks 8.3 Monitor employee performance and development 8.4 Minimise administration and overhead 8.5 Periodically review the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of systems and processes Chapter summary9: Personal power, authority, corruption and conflict 9.1 Personal power and authority 9.2 Corruption and concealment 9.3 Payment for influence or favouritism 9.4 Conflict as ordinary human behaviour in organisations 9.5 Subversive actions Chapter summary Dimension 3: Leverage available resources to improve performance 10: Benefit from the intangible resources of employee ability and expertise 10.1 Provide leadership 10.2 Encourage broadly based fiscal responsibility with a cash focus 10.3 Undertake a thorough risk/benefit assessment of strategy and operations 10.4 Foster creativity and innovation 10.5 Recognise emerging situations and intractable problems Chapter summary 11: Recognise information as a resource 11.1 Measure resources using financial and non-financial information 11.2 Report on financial and non-financial performance using a hierarchy 11.3 Interlink business processes and systems using their dual function 11.4 Use information to comply with regulations and standards 11.5 High reliance on communication within the business and between the business and its stakeholders Chapter summary12: Improve the tangible benefits from resources 12.1 Improve the quality of products and services12.2 Encourage organisational learning and knowledge development 12.3 Identify beneficial forms of skill training and credentialisation12.4 Carefully consider outsourcing products and services 12.5 Obtain commercial advice from legal services and conduct litigation cautiouslyChapter summary Dimension 4: Recurring themes in employee behaviour 13: Use ethical principles and standards to alter behaviour and encourage others to behave ethically 13.1 Recognise employees bring different ethical moralities to work 13.2 Recognise an ethical dilemma 13.3 Resolve any legal aspects of an ethical dilemma 13.4 Seek assistance to ensure a timely ethical decision 13.5 Consider making information public Chapter summary14: Improve the conceptualisation, reasoning, business judgement and decision making of employees and managers 14.1 Recognise the basis for making effective business decisions and judgements 14.2 Consider the cluster of outcomes from making decisions and judgements14.3 Search for and evaluate relevant information to the decision or judgement 14.4 Devise criteria to evaluate the information and weight the options 14.5 Consider persuasion from behavioural bias, errors and pitfalls in forming judgements and making decisions Chapter summary 15: Evaluate productivity and profitability with financial and related non-financial information 15.1 Maintain a watchful financial perspective15.2 Evaluate cost centre productivity 15.3 Evaluate profit centre productivity and profitability 15.4 Evaluate investment centre long-term profitability 15.5 Select for routine reporting the critical success factors Chapter summary16: Pursue a quest for value in business operations and strategy 16.1 Establish what value means to the business in its industry 16.2 Identify the value within each activity in the business functions 16.3 Determine the competitive advantage value from the existing value chain 16.4 Configure each of the alternative value chains and devise the new value strategy for competitive advantage16.5 Implement the new value strategy for competitive advantage 17: Automate transactions and improve decision support using business system, business process, workflow and data analyses 17.1 Standardise and integrate business operations to achieve goals 17.2 Determine the formality and effort of the analysis 17.3 Take a unified view of the business systems, business processes, workflows and data 17.4 Make wise capital investments in infrastructure, systems and technology 17.5 Constitute a project to plan and implement change Chapter summary Dimension 5: Vocabulary of the bosbok 18: Vocabulary across all dimensions 18.1 Vocabulary of the business life cycle 18.2 Vocabulary of adaptive behaviour to continuous and discontinuous changing circumstances 18.3 Vocabulary of leveraging resources to improve performance 18.4 Vocabulary of recurring themes in employee and manager behaviour Chapter summary Conclusion: Using the bosbok 19: Factors in sharing assumed business knowledge 19.1 Provider sharing assumed business knowledge 19.2 Recipient of shared assumed business knowledge 19.3 Knowledge sharing instigation 19.4 Communication channel between provider and recipient 19.5 Assumed common, esoteric and social business knowledgeChapter summaryGlossary of the BOSBOK Brief on methodology References Acknowledgements Index of brands, businesses, companies, and organisations Index of topics