Responding to process shifts and change in Financial Services

 

Amidst the current tide of disruption and shifts in financial services there is room for growth in the change experienced by institutions, disruptors and customers.

It is best viewed through an agile stakeholder lense incorporating the needs of banking brands, consumer security and the aspirations of the disruption market.

Where all these three stakeholders convene is in process maturity and development, and the alignment of disicpline. Hence the recent growth in business analysis. All of them have an interest in evolving the relationships between institutions, people who work for them and the customers who support them.

While banks need to align policy with process to respond to the changes in the behavioural economic landscape, agile disruptors need to engender the fabric of trust and integrity.

Ultimately it is an evolving relationship between people, their security and group identification, all of which is in flux within the 4th industrial revolution.

 

 

 

Optimal Stakeholder engagement should have an appreciation of a Job Description

In the realm of negotiations with stakeholders, certain, if not most stakeholders will have a very definite role description.

If an external party to any organisation has an appreciation of the parameters of the roles that exist within that organisation then they have more power to execute influence within the stakeholder engagement.

In organisations, individuals exist in relation to roles. This of course includes formal and informal variances. If you are at least clear on the structural parameters of an individuals performance criteria as described in his/her job description, you are more empowered to execute influence in a negotiation.

Efficiency and quality are keys in SA growth market segment outlook

After becoming aware of the constrictions in the economy, business is being forced to acutely define what growth areas look like in the SA economy.

A recurring theme across the board of analysts is the skills sector gap. But it is often the quality and efficiency of service that defines the appreciation of those skills in the market place, and by customers and clients.

Therefore, its is apparent that any company wishing to harness and capitalize on the motion of growth in the region, cannot avoid building an internal capability that addresses, at least in some way, quality and efficiency of service in an authentic internationally consistent manner.

 

Momentum in Decision

A subtle dynamic that returns again and again in business is the area of critical momentum.

I am introducing this in this context, and it will be the subject of compilation of subtle dynamics in business making book, that I am currently engaged with.

In relation to business decisions, individuals will ensure their professional momentum is kept integrated with their given professional orientation at a given point in time. Thus, if you are seeking approval, it is often good to remember how the person you are requiring approval from is orientated within their professional life.

A simple example is to understand what the individuals relationship to their KPAs are, and then manage your time accordingly.

In organisational design, you need to work with the aspect of individuals relationship with group security.

 

 

 

Dynamics in Organisational Performance

Insights on Effective Organisational Dynamics

Reciprocity in transaction and engagement with highly stratified organisations

Engineering trust in most environments is a given fulcrum for action. However, interacting with highly stratified organisations also requires an understanding of the flow of decision making dynamics.

Normally, in most stratified organisations, an individual will be an agent and part of a structure. Understanding the chain of command is vital for any effective action by an external participant.

Engineering trust may be achieved in a few ways, but it is essential to bridge the tension created by the insider outsider dynamic. Positive precedents, and Momentum are excellent mechanisms to employ in this instance.

A good way to circumvent the outsider/insider tension is to engineer appropriate contact with the appropriate person for the appropriate process. When it comes to highly stratified organisations, its always a good idea to connect authentically with a managing director, then subsequent section managers and so on down the hierarchy.

Value propositions

Seeing an individual as part of a larger value proposition is essential. Understanding the larger value proposition of an organisation should be a precursor to any consequential engagements with individuals at that organisation.

Work Flow process

If one gets insight into how a process should operate within an organisation, one may have more peace of mind in dealing with individuals involved in that workflow process. Also, having both an external third party benchmark, in addition to the value propositions offered by the company in question should empower the ‘outsider’ to become more of an insider, thus engendering trust, and better transactionalism.

 

 

Saul Rosenberg

Energy and Power at the crossroads in South Africa

Scenario Perspective

South Africa has been plunged into an energy crisis, which, according to Anton Eberhard of the National Planning Commission is the worst in 40 years. Outages have been commonplace despite peak power demand falling below 2007 levels and actual electricity use far below forecasts.

State-owned power utility Eskom is in very real danger of a ratings downgrade, with the energy system on a knife-edge.
Experts say, serious and urgent action is needed, particularly on the gas master plan, adding that the economics of the new Mozambique gas pipeline needed to be explored, as well as deep offshore drilling.
According to the NPC, the contribution of renewable energy was very important, particularly as solar prices had fallen 68% within the last three years, with a 42% drop in the price of wind energy.
Economists at Eskom say the prospect of nuclear power currently appeared far more debatable, particularly if demand for electricity in the long run was lower owing to slower economic growth
There is also concern that government’s renewable energy programme has not been properly institutionalized.

Eskom says it will continue to draw on its expensive diesel-fuelled open cycle gas turbines in the Western Cape, as the economic cost of load shedding is “ten times” that of the cost of producing power at the facilities.

Asset Optimization planning

Energy, both electrical and thermal, constitutes one of the largest operating expenses in any industry. Energy management thus represents a strategic area for cost reduction within companies, and Maria van Hoeven, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, has highlighted that the “key to adapting to higher energy prices…will be efficiency”. Energy-intensive companies are beginning to confront the rising need to alter their energy management strategies.

Many companies have begun increasing investment in energy efficiency programmes and are focusing on long-term energy requirement planning. However, there is a growing deficit in the pool of specialist skills required to properly address these issues.

Cost Optimization

The implementation of new technologies such as smart grids could reduce costs and enhance the efficiency of distribution systems. Information and communications technology appears to be playing an ever-increasing role in smart service development. Similarly to electricity, the price of water needs to be cost reflective. Utilities and service providers need to price services such that revenues can cover operation and maintenance – and profit can be re-invested in expansion and rehabilitation of infrastructure.

Outlook

Africa is in a unique position: as the required power generation capacity additions come online, the continent is poised to take advantage of the numerous and bountiful new gas finds and recent progress and cost reductions in renewable energy technologies, to leap frog the development path already taken by industrialised countries and move directly to a renewable-gas hybrid system. This will ensure a rapid, cost competitive, clean and sustainable development pathway for the power sector, able to support economic growth and foster social development