Any place where i can get concise info on business systems?

[otispunkmeyer]

im doing engineering but we have a business module and im struggling to get my head round it. it all seems so needlessly drawn out with waffle that i cant actually understand what im reading.

is there anywhere that provides concise info on these things? i really dont understand business, it just comes across as something that is pretty simple but made difficult by over zealous, convoluted explanations and almost ambiguous descriptions...

i need to talk about how i would change a companies structure/culture/distribution to meet a set of business objectives (which btw seem to contradict one another) and im not having much luck on the structure front.

the company is in two parts. i have decided this based on the info given

1) half is making standard products, efficiently and at low cost, with gradual innovation.
i reckon it'll be making to stock, but then customisable to order. then shipped.

2) this half is completely Engineer to Order, with high innovation, nuts to the cost. all work is initiated by gaining a contract, then the product is designed by teams of engineers, it is then custom built in parts, shipped and assembled on site.

the company sells all over the world, through agencies.

the two divisions will have a sort of internal trading of information and ideas.

what type of structures do i need to kinda make that happen?

im thinking a matrix structure will be best for the ETO part of the business, but not sure about the standard products side of it.

anyone got any input on this? any help will be much appreciated.

 

[Davegod]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
it all seems so needlessly drawn out with waffle [...] it just comes across as something that is pretty simple but made difficult by over zealous, convoluted explanations and almost ambiguous descriptions...

sounds like you're doing just great.

half of it IS bullsh!t and the other half is are sensible ideas wrapped up in crap to make it sound more high-powered and academic. To be fair though, we've all been 15 steps down the corporate ladder before, think about how long the message has to go before it reaches you, and before you give a damn anyway.


to be honest the big hole in your "two half" model is that it'd probably be better as two separate wholes, it's two opposite approaches.

A good book which is written more like a novel is "The Goal", I dont think it's directly related to the problem here -- it's more operations management -- but it's a good intro to the whole approach.

define market needs, determine what you can do,