IMPLEMENTATION MODEL CONSTRUCTION
5.3 Maturity matr
During the construction of the guidelines and the implementation model, it became clear that the increase in maturity, though present, has not been properly brought to attention. Each of the subjects shows a shift from implementation on departmental level to implementation on
59 organizational level, all the while extending the focus from local product to the entire
organizational portfolio. But there is no concrete notion of the increase in maturity. For this reason a maturity matrix has been created. The matrix contains the subjects1 presented earlier, again divided into the three process categories, but this time capabilities have been identified for each of these subjects. Each of these capabilities encompass a measurement of maturity and can be used to determine the current situation with regard to each subject and as a reference guide towards the next improvement. The capabilities are based on the deliverables that have been identified in the PDDs of the implementation model. The matrix is presented in table 9.
The maturity matrix follows the same notation as used by Bekkers et al. (2010) and described by van de Weerd (2009). First off, the capabilities are represented using an alphabetical letter ranging from ‘A’ to ‘E’ where ‘A’ is the least mature and ‘E’ the most. The guidelines are also positioned on a maturity scale from 0 to 10. The capabilities do not have to start in the least mature situation (0), nor have to end in the most mature situation (10). In the case of project portfolio management for example, the matrix suggests that more mature situations could be identified by the placement of capability ‘E’ on ‘9’.
The construction of the matrix will be finalized by presenting all the capabilities, along with an explanation and a rationalization of their placement in the matrix. Recall that the
capabilities are based on the guidelines and the implementation model. therefore, to prevent repetition, the explanation has been kept short. Note that the decision to construct a maturity matrix has been made after the evaluation as presented in chapter 6. For this reason the revised PDDs are used for identifying the capabilities of the three core subjects (Appendix I). Initiation
A Performed initial assessment
Explanation An investigation of the current state of affairs including, amongst others, a business assessment, competitor assessment and portfolio overview.
Placement This self-assessment is rather straightforward, but gives valuable insights in
1
Within maturity matrixes these elements are often labeled ‘focus areas’, but for reasons of consistency the term ‘subjects’ has been kept intact.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Strategic processes Initiation A B C Strategy implementation A B C Gatekeeper introduction A B Supporting processes Process formalization A B Tool construction A Information technology A B C Core processes
Product portfolio management A B C D E
Product lifecycle management A B C D
Project portfolio management A B C D E
60 rationale what is required based on where the organization is right now.
B Created implementation trajectory
Explanation The results of the initial assessment are transformed into a concrete action plan to take the organization to the next level.
Placement rationale
Not a hard task to perform, but make sure enough granularity is provided in the plan to ensure it can be referred to when issues arise.
C Created portfolio plan
Explanation Create a document that makes clear what the future direction is regarding the portfolio management process and the products in the portfolio.
Placement rationale
The difficulty is in getting the desired detail and the required commitment to implement it successfully since conflicting goals could come to surface. Strategy implementation
A Established strategic direction
Explanation Ensure the most basic implementation of strategy that is lived up to, including short-term goals and objectives and a strategy for individual products and strategic areas.
Placement rationale
This capability is to ensure that even on departmental level some strategic direction is available. Trivial, but often not naturally established in
organizations.
B Created strategic roadmap
Explanation Create a document that is shows the evolution of an organizations’ products over time.
Placement rationale
Not a hard task to perform, but make sure enough granularity is provided in the plan to ensure it can be referred to when issues arise.
C Created portfolio strategy
Explanation Combining the strategic direction and the strategic roadmap into a document describing how the portfolio is to fulfill the corporate strategy.
Placement rationale
Apart from the individual product focus the entire portfolio and its future direction is now taken into account.
Gatekeeper introduction
A Defined information requirements
Explanation The information that is to be acquired from the external environment is formally defined.
Placement rationale
Formally defining this information requires a proper awareness of the external environment and the influences on the product portfolio.
B Created gatekeeper function description
Explanation The creation of a document making clear what functions should be performed by a gatekeeper.
Placement rationale
When the external information requirements are significant, the introduction of a separate function is the next step.
61 Process formalization
A Defined processes
Explanation Each process is defined in terms of goals, actions and deliverables and can be performed by any individual delivering the same result.
Placement rationale
Defining processes is a difficult task, let alone standardizing them. Formalized processes however, helps in defining the information requirements throughout an organization.
B Defined protocols
Explanation Uniformity of the processes is established not only within departments, but also across the organization.
Placement rationale
It is a difficult task to create uniformity in processes across departments, business units, or other instances. Especially when these go against the processes already in place.
Tool construction
A Established tool collection
Explanation There is a collection of tools available for multiple purposes that is operationalized and updated when required.
Placement rationale
Tools are relatively easily created, but operationalizing them with the proper information is often the difficult part.
Information technology
A Current systems assessed
Explanation The current information systems are evaluated on their ability to provide in information for the daily tasks and the desired ability is defined.
Placement rationale
On lower levels of the organization it is relatively easy to find an IT solution that is able to provide in the information requirements.
B Processes are automatized
Explanation When information requirements are met, the next step is to identify parts that can be automatized like trend analysis and report generation. More parts are automatized as systems are more aligned and processes are more standardized. Placement
rationale
Clearly defining the results of these processes and the information that is required for getting these results is a difficult task to perform.
C Systems are integrated
Explanation The information of individual systems is constantly (automatically) integrated with each other to create an extensive knowledge database with all information available within the organization.
Placement rationale
Integration requires a clear definition of the information, how it is to be interpreted and how it can be meaningfully combined and is considered one of the most difficult tasks with regard to information technology.
62 A Defined product manager tasks
Explanation The tasks of a product manager are formally defined. Placement
rationale
A fairly standard capability for each organization, but essential considering the influence a product manager can have on the success of a product.
B Constructed departmental portfolio roadmap
Explanation A document is created describing the improvements of the product portfolio over a certain period of time for a certain department within an organization. Placement
rationale
Since the focus is still departmental the capability is considered to be relatively easy to perform.
C Established multifunctional core teams
Explanation A multifunctional core team is made responsible for the management and thereby the success of a product.
Placement rationale
The combination of knowledge that is realized in such a team offers different perspectives for managing a product. Its implementation is considered fairly simple as it is common practice in some organizations.
D External assessment is performed
Explanation For the individual products in the portfolio a number of externally oriented aspects are assessed to improve the organizations’ ability to tailor products to the markets’ needs.
Placement rationale
Acquiring this information is a difficult task to perform, gatekeepers could be helpful in this regard, but also making the right decisions based on this information requires significant attention.
E Established portfolio review board
Explanation A board is established that is actively managing the entire product and project portfolio of an organization.
Placement rationale
The most mature capability with regard to this subject as it requires a good understanding of the organizational portfolio and the right information to support decisions. Its decisions affect the entire organization.
Product lifecycle management
A Defined corporate PLM vision
Explanation The role of PLM is defined throughout the organization describing the role of PLM.
Placement rationale
As with all corporate statement, they are on a high level and relatively easy to establish.
B Defined departmental PLM vision
Explanation A statement is created, derived from the corporate PLM vision, that defines how PLM will contribute to the departmental processes.
Placement rationale
This vision is on lower level and makes clear how individual processes are affected by the PLM principle. A bit more attention is required compared to the corporate vision, considering its direct practical influence.
63 C Established central product information storage
Explanation A central system is created where information on the entire lifecycle of each product is stored.
Placement rationale
This is relatively simple to set up, but finding the right information and linking it to the tight lifecycle of a product could prove a difficult task.
D Integrated supply chain
Explanation Information on the supply chain of each product is added to the central product information storage.
Placement rationale
Establishing this integration requires extensive collaboration with supply chain partners and information on external factors. This is considered to be the most mature situation with regard to PLM.
Project portfolio management
A Central project administration established
Explanation A central system is created where project information is structurally stored and resource constraints are taken up.
Placement rationale
The introduction of such a system is rather straightforward and, considering the basic information that is to be stored, can be picked up fairly easy.
B Business cases created
Explanation Projects are structurally transformed into business cases by adding a strategic ranking and risk assessment.
Placement rationale
Transformation requires information on the risks and strategic objectives associated with a project. Also a ranking method should be in place. All in all an easy to realize capability.
C Separate portfolios defined
Explanation Separate portfolios are defined based in defined criteria and each project/business case is allocated to a different portfolio.
Placement rationale
Defining the criteria for allocating a project is straightforward, a difficulty could be the actual definition of portfolio.
D PM processes defined
Explanation The processes regarding PM are defined for the purpose of standardization, optimization and constant decision making.
Placement rationale
Defining a process is a difficult task, but when going towards a situation of continuous decisions making is still required.
E Corporate PM tasks defined
Explanation The tasks concerning PM on corporate level by the portfolio review board are defined
Placement rationale
Managing projects across an organization, realizing collaborations and still ensure projects are realized within time and budget is difficult and the most mature situation that has been identified in this research.
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6 EXPERT EVALUATION
In this chapter the constructed model will be evaluated as described in the research method. First a short word on the scope of the evaluation and the questions that were used, followed by an introduction of the experts that participated. Then the results will be presented and the resulting alterations to the model. This section will be concluded by a reflection on the evaluation itself.