Brief Notes on Executive Business Administration EMBA

Dr.  S.  Maurer,  
MBA Professor

A typical project management starts with somëone having an idea,  which then gains acceptance from a wider group: probably informally through discussion with colleagues and then through a more formal process involving senior management,  the management committee or board.  This leads to a fund-raising process,  which usually causes significant delay,  and then if the funding bid is successful the project management can start,  staff can be appointed and work can begin.  This work has to be planned and managed,  problems dealt with,  until the project management concludes,  hopefully successfully,  and is wound up.

customer relationship management [crm] technologies allow you to understand your customers across all channels and not only react to problems but proactively uncover hidden solutions to your most pressing customer challenges.

Recruit good people – it makes an enormous difference.  You do not want information technology [it] people who only 'throw information technology [it] over the wall' or are system builders who let business find the value of information technology it.

crm applications started as easy contact-management software that salespeople ran on their PCs.  Then vendors began to develop products that automated a larger number of processes while tying together all of the sales data across the organization into one comprehensive source.

it is concerning that “poor project management” is often given as the “excuse” for project failure.  Similarly,  Poor Resource and Cost management are a direct result of mismanagement of our organization’s assets,  often resulting in poor project performance,  cost and schedule overruns,  and even catastrophic project failures.

Creating a customer-focused enterprise starts with the definition of a [crm] strategy,  which must then be filled out with new work processes,  organizational changes,  and even a revamped corporate culture.  While these changes are definitely not easy,  consider the alternative: your competitors beating you to the punch,  and to your customers.

CIOs are concerned about the next generation [what are we up to? X?Y?Z?] that's coming into the enterprise.  The members of this younger generation don't seem to exhibit enterprise loyalty.

The chief information officer [cio] with their understanding of business intelligence software and other analytic layers,  they're going to be the ones with the real business intelligence.  Cozy up to them.

customer relationship management [crm] is a business strategy to select and manage customers to optimize long-term value.  [crm] requires a customer-centric business philosophy and culture to support effective marketing,  sales,  and service processes.

project management knowledge and practices are best described in terms of their component processes.  These processes can be placed into five process groups [initiating,  planning,  executing,  controlling and closing] and nine knowledge areas [project integration management,  project scope management,  project time management,  project cost management,  project quality management,  project human resource management,  project communications management,  project risk management and project procurement management].

What's driving CIOs and CFOs to collaborate more? We divide the catalysts into two categories: ones that affect many corporate functions,  and those that specifically affect finance and information technology it.

As businesses collaborate more,  the volume of data increases—as do variations in data characteristics.  cio's role is to facilitate the collection and exchange of data across the enterprise and with outside entities.

The door between the chief information officer [cio] and CFO offices is opening wider,  and the executives are building a path to regular interaction that allows the information technology [it] function to excel in meeting the business' needs,  not simply to comply with regulatory mandates or budgetary strictures.

Where does technology fit? it ís a tool,  nothing more.  it ís the means,  not the end.  Properly focused and implemented,  [crm] software applications support more effective marketing,  sales,  and customer care processes,  enabling a customer experience that builds loyalty and long-term profitability.

it seems like only yesterday that the information technology [it] community was arguing the case for the board-level information technology [it] director.  Since then,  the chief information officer [cio] has come a long way and he probably now feels that he is carrying the weight of the enterprise on his shoulders.