This article does not cover in any detail how to monitor or measure progress but rather emphasises the need to monitor and evaluate performance against these four factors.  Let us discuss the need to monitor each of these factors.

Business Philosophy – A business philosophy reflects the beliefs and value system of the brand or owner. It is important to have a business philosophy that is clear and precise. More importantly, a business philosophy should be easily applicable across all sectors of the organization. Employees must be able to apply the principles of the business philosophy to their duties and activities.

Example: Acquire Centre’s (AC) business philosophy states: “At all times we must keep open the possibility that much more is possible”. It is important that AC is able to measure all of its actions and reactions to opportunities and challenges by this principle.

Routine evaluation of your business philosophy allows for better sharping of the ‘spear’. Most business philosophies are either too ambiguous or not realistic. When one considers the strong impact a business philosophy or the lack there off can have on an organization, it is vital that the philosophy be clearly stated and communicated across the organization. Once it has been clearly communicated across the organization, reviews of how the business philosophy is shaping cooperate behavior and its responses must be carried out frequently.

Latter we would see how results, activities and discipline provide and indication as to whether a business philosophy should be adjusted or retained.

Efforts must be made constantly by top management to ingrain in the hearts and mind of each team member the tenets of the business philosophy. When decision makers fully understand and embrace the business philosophy of the organizations efficiency levels rise and more satisfactory outcomes are achieved by the whole team.

Business Discipline – The word discipline evokes thoughts of limiting oneself from taking action or withholding access to certain pleasures. The same is true for an organization. An organization must be disciplined in its pursuit of its goals ensuring that it does not waver from its set of principles. Discipline levels must me constantly measured and monitored as the results of slackness in this area produces a workforce that is uncoordinated and in turn affects the bottom line.

Business owners are strongly encouraged to monitor regularly the level of discipline commitments to the company’s philosophy amongst decision makers within the organization.

The benefits of monitoring and evaluating discipline levels regularly include:

• I Identify training needs within the organization
• l Opportunities to introduce incentives for dedicated workers
• l Opportunity to re-enforce organization’s ethos
• l Provides insights into the prevailing habits and culture amongst decision makers

Much more can be achieved when the organizational culture is in line with the business philosophy. Many companies have worthy business philosophies but in many cases the prevailing organizational culture limits the effectiveness of the entire company in meeting its lofty goals. It is crucial that business owners must remain vigilant to ensure that discipline levels amongst decision makers at across the entire organization are at optimal levels.

Business Activities –  are any activities that your business is engaged in for the primary purpose of making a profit. Business activities include operations, marketing, production, problem-solving, and administration. It is important to review and monitor constantly each of these activities and assess how they contribute individually to the overall goals and objectives of the organization. Looking closer at each activity and determining effectively weather the purpose of such an activity remains valid may provide business owners insights about the necessity of such activities going forward.

Activities cost time and resources. It is important to determine that an activity is absolutely necessary to prevent the waste of precious organizational resources. Many organizations can save a fortune if they review constantly some of the routine tasks and activities their teams carry out. Observation shows that in an attempt to compete, many organizations have added to their activity list tasks that do not contribute to in any way to their company’s goals. In some sense, these activities can hinder or limit an organization from implementing effectively its own business philosophy.

Example: An organization whose business philosophy is geared towards product perfection, may be engaging heavily in activities are geared towards product diversification. All these extra activities may be an attempt to compete with its competitors in the market place.

An organization must understand its own business philosophy and be disciplined enough to stick to it for the long run. A business philosophy determines the direction in which an organization wishes to travel, its acclivities should propel it further down that road, and it discipline is its commitment to maintain forward momentum in that direction. Any activity that distracts or allows the company to vear off should be closely monitored.

Business Results: Jim Rohn said “Results are the name of the Game” Results tell an organization a lot more than just business performance. Results can tell an organization much more about its business philosophy, it’s discipline levels, and the relevance each business activity.

From results, a business owner should be able to ascertain gaps and areas for fine tuning in its philosophy. Often times, organizations do not suffer from poor discipline or from sufficient activities, but the company’s vision or ethos may not clearly defined or well communicated across the entire organization. These scenarios can lead to confusion within decision makers in response to challenges and worst still in response to opportunities. An organization’s business philosophy must provide guidance to decision makers oh how to react to opportunities and difficulties.

When a review of the business results are not satisfactory, the problem may not always be the consequence of wrong activity or bad discipline. Perhaps the business philosophy needs to sharpen its spear and provide more clarity and focus.

Results must be interpreted as a reflection of an organizations business philosophy, its discipline and necessity of acclivities engaged in.

Summary

So much goes into analyzing an organization’s business performance. There are countless matrices for measuring success within an organization out there. However, these four factors: business philosophy, business discipline levels, business activities, and business results provides for the business owner clearer insights about the direction and momentum with which the company is traveling. A business owner who regularly reviews these four aspects of their business is better equipped to make the necessary adjustments and investments to enable the organization operate with clear focus and achieve its sets goals while adhering to its core principles.