Critical success factor

Last updated

Critical success factor (CSF) is a management term for an element necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission. To achieve their goals they need to be aware of each key success factor (KSF) and the variations between the keys and the different roles key result area (KRA). [1]

Contents

Main success keys. QA-project.jpg
Main success keys.

A CSF is a critical factor or activity that is required for ensuring the success of a company or an organization. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis and business analysis. For example, a CSF for a successful Information Technology project is user involvement. [2]

Critical success factors should not be confused with success criteria. The latter are outcomes of a project or achievements of an organization necessary to consider the project a success or the organization successful. Success criteria are defined with the objectives and may be quantified by key performance indicators (KPIs).

Concept history

The concept of "success factors" was developed by D. Ronald Daniel of McKinsey & Company, who published an article entitled "Management Information Crisis" in the Harvard Business Review in 1961. [3] The process was refined into critical success factors by John F. Rockart between 1979 [4] and 1981. [5] In 1995, James A. Johnson and Michael Friesen applied it to many sector settings, including healthcare. [6]

Relation to Key Success Area and Key Success Factors

The Critical Success Factor is basically the main system to achieve successes in a company, but to make that possible is necessary to put together the Key Success Factor that needs to be personalized depending on the department, each role has their own Key Success Area. These systems try to achieve success for the company based in standards and rules that need to be followed step by step to guarantee a better service for the clients or partners.

Key Result Area (KRAs)

Key result areas or KRAs refer to the rules for a specific role in a company. The terms highlight the scope of the job profile for the employee, enabling them to have a better view of their possible role in the company. Which KRA will defer from each other depending on the department.

The Key Result Area is a specific role which each department needs to follow to deliver the goods or services in perfect condition to the final customer or to another department which will have different KSFs. It affects overall performance of the organisation and initiative of all employees towards change management thoughts which lead to their personnel as well as technical knowledge.

Key Success Factors (KSFs)

In project management, multiple cross-cultural studies spread over decades have shown that the basic Key Success Factors can be summarized as follows: [7]

Dominant strategy
Plan
Clear definition of the project chart, goals, roles, and impactsClarity (transparency)
Access to financial resourcesEfficacy
Set norms of qualityEfficacy
Realistic calendar of tasks and activitiesEfficacy
Balanced budgetEfficacy
Processes
Formal work methodologyEfficiency
Solid infrastructuresEfficiency
People
Team workCollaboration
CompetenciesCompetencies (Trust)
CommitmentCommitment
Power
Experienced managersControl and transparency
Sense of fairnessFairness
Contingency strategy
Risk and vulnerability assessmentsEfficacy and efficiency

Steps to achieve the Key Success Factors

The company needs to be aware that it is essential to pull together the team that will be working with the CSFs, its necessary to have employees submit their ideas or give feedback. Never forget to have multiple frameworks to examine the key elements of your long-term goals. Before implementing your company-wide strategic plan with your critical success factors in mind, determine which factors are key in achieving your long-term organizational plan.

Skills

The leader needs to be trained and prepared to put the company in the line of success. Some of the skills that can be learned are financial management, marketing sales, and customer service, communication and negotiation, project management and planning, leadership, problem-solving and, lastly, but one of the most important skills, networking.

Communication

The company needs to put together all the staffs, all of the giving opinions about what could be better to achieve their goal. The company needs to pay attention in two parts of the communication process: the Initial Launch Communications, which will set the plan to be achieved and the Ongoing Communications, which will be the part where the KSF progress (Contact us is a way to know if the KSF is working well).

Planning

To use the CSFs everything needs to be planned, how employees will do it and why. Tools can be used to make planning work faster and easier. A strategy for each department can be planned separately.

Team Work

A good teamwork is the key to success, when all the staff collaborate more ideas and opinions can be discussed to find the best way to achieve success.

Process

A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment which in a specific sequence produce a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a particular customer or customers. Business processes occur at all organizational levels and may or may not be visible to the customers. A business process may often be visualized (modeled) as a flowchart of a sequence of activities with interleaving decision points or as a process matrix of a sequence of activities with relevance rules based on data in the process. The benefits of using business processes include improved customer satisfaction and improved agility for reacting to rapid market change.

Examples

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enterprise resource planning</span> Corporate task of optimizing the existing resources in a company

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage and interpret data from many business activities. ERP systems can be local-based or cloud-based. Cloud-based applications have grown in recent years due to the increased efficiencies arising from information being readily available from any location with Internet access.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supply chain management</span> Management of the flow of goods and services

In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) deals with a system of procurement, operations management, logistics and marketing channels, through which raw materials can be developed into finished products and delivered to their end customers. A more narrow definition of supply chain management is the "design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronising supply with demand and measuring performance globally". This can include the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, finished goods, and end to end order fulfilment from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Interconnected, interrelated or interlinked networks, channels and node businesses combine in the provision of products and services required by end customers in a supply chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business plan</span> Formal written document containing the goals of a business

A business plan is a formal written document containing the goals of a business, the methods for attaining those goals, and the time-frame for the achievement of the goals. It also describes the nature of the business, background information on the organization, the organization's financial projections, and the strategies it intends to implement to achieve the stated targets. In its entirety, this document serves as a road-map that provides direction to the business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supply chain</span> System involved in supplying a product or service to a consumer

A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers. Meanwhile, supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distribution channels within the supply chain in the most efficient manner.

A balanced scorecard is a strategy performance management tool – a well-structured report used to keep track of the execution of activities by staff and to monitor the consequences arising from these actions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Performance indicator</span> Measurement that evaluates the success of an organization

A performance indicator or key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement. KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity in which it engages. KPIs provide a focus for strategic and operational improvement, create an analytical basis for decision making and help focus attention on what matters most.

E-procurement is a collective term used to refer to a range of technologies which can be used to automate the internal and external processes associated with procurement, strategic sourcing and purchasing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business process re-engineering</span> Business management strategy

Business process re-engineering (BPR) is a business management strategy originally pioneered in the early 1990s, focusing on the analysis and design of workflows and business processes within an organization. BPR aims to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors.

In management, business value is an informal term that includes all forms of value that determine the health and well-being of the firm in the long run. Business value expands concept of value of the firm beyond economic value to include other forms of value such as employee value, customer value, supplier value, channel partner value, alliance partner value, managerial value, and societal value. Many of these forms of value are not directly measured in monetary terms. According to the Project Management Institute, business value is the "net quantifiable benefit derived from a business endeavor that may be tangible, intangible, or both."

Demand management is a planning methodology used to forecast, plan for and manage the demand for products and services. This can be at macro-levels as in economics and at micro-levels within individual organizations. For example, at macro-levels, a government may influence interest rates to regulate financial demand. At the micro-level, a cellular service provider may provide free night and weekend use to reduce demand during peak hours.

Supplier relationship management (SRM) is the systematic, enterprise-wide assessment of suppliers' strengths, performance and capabilities with respect to overall business strategy, determination of what activities to engage in with different suppliers, and planning and execution of all interactions with suppliers, in a coordinated fashion across the relationship life cycle, to maximize the value realized through those interactions. The focus of supplier relationship management is the development of two-way, mutually beneficial relationships with strategic supply partners to deliver greater levels of innovation and competitive advantage than could be achieved by operating independently or through a traditional, transactional purchasing arrangement. Underpinning disciplines which support effective SRM include supplier information management, compliance, risk management and performance management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demand-chain management</span> Management of relationships between suppliers &customers to deliver best value to customer

Demand-chain management (DCM) is the management of relationships between suppliers and customers to deliver the best value to the customer at the least cost to the demand chain as a whole. Demand-chain management is similar to supply-chain management but with special regard to the customers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Performance measurement</span> Process of collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding performance

Performance measurement is the process of collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding the performance of an individual, group, organization, system or component.

IT portfolio management is the application of systematic management to the investments, projects and activities of enterprise Information Technology (IT) departments. Examples of IT portfolios would be planned initiatives, projects, and ongoing IT services. The promise of IT portfolio management is the quantification of previously informal IT efforts, enabling measurement and objective evaluation of investment scenarios.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to business management:

The Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model is a process reference model originally developed and endorsed by the Supply Chain Council, now a part of ASCM, as the cross-industry, standard diagnostic tool for supply chain management. The SCOR model describes the business activities associated with satisfying a customer's demand, which include plan, source, make, deliver, return, and enable. Use of the model includes analyzing the current state of a company's processes and goals, quantifying operational performance, and comparing company performance to benchmark data. SCOR has developed a set of metrics for supply chain performance, and ASCM members have formed industry groups to collect best practices information that companies can use to elevate their supply chain models.

Strategy implementation is the activities within a workplace or organisation designed to manage the activities associated with the delivery of a strategic plan.

Supply-chain sustainability is the management of environmental, social and economic impacts and the encouragement of good governance practices, throughout the lifecycles of goods and services. There is a growing need for integrating sustainable choices into supply-chain management. An increasing concern for sustainability is transforming how companies approach business. Whether motivated by their customers, corporate values or business opportunity, traditional priorities such as quality, efficiency and cost regularly compete for attention with concerns such as working conditions and environmental impact. A sustainable supply chain seizes value chain opportunities and offers significant competitive advantages for early adopters and process innovators.

Digital transformation (DT) is the process of adoption and implementation of digital technology by an organization in order to create new or modify existing products, services and operations by the means of translating business processes into a digital format.

Management accounting in supply chains is part of the supply chain management concept. This necessitates planning, monitoring, management and information about logistics and manufacturing processes throughout the value chain. The goal of management accounting in supply chains is to optimise these processes. This strategy focuses on supporting management.

References

  1. "Critical success factors (CSF)". www.businessdictionary.com. BusinessDictionary. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  2. Rockart, John F., "Chief executives define their own data needs", Harvard Business Review 1979 (2), pages 81-93.
  3. Daniel, D. Ronald, "Management Information Crisis", Harvard Business Review, Sept.–Oct., 1961
  4. Rockart, John F., Chief Executives Define Their Own Data Needs, Harvard Business Review, March 1979, accessed 24 November 2022
  5. Rockart, John F. "A Primer on Critical Success Factors" published in The Rise of Managerial Computing: The Best of the Center for Information Systems Research, edited with Christine V. Bullen. (Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin), 1981, OR, McGraw-Hill School Education Group (1986)
  6. Johnson, James A. and Michael Friesen (1995). The Success Paradigm: Creating Organizational Effectiveness Through Quality and Strategy. New York: Quorum Books. ISBN   978-0-89930-836-4.
  7. Mesly, Olivier (2017). Project feasibility – Tools for uncovering points of vulnerability, New York, NY:Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 546 pages, ISBN 9 781498 757911.
  8. Crown Commercial Service, Procurement Policy Note – Procuring Growth Balanced Scorecard: Action Note PPN 09/16, published on 14 October 2016, accessed on 18 June 2024
  9. Crown Commercial Service, Procuring Growth: Balanced Scorecard, published on 14 October 2016, accessed on 18 June 2024
  10. Chan, A. P. C. et al., Critical Success Factors for PPS in Infrastructure Developments: Chinese Perspectives, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, volume 136, issue 5, May 2010, pp. 484-492, doi : 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000152, accessed on 18 June 2024