Keith E Rice - Which LifeCycle role is most important?

At your stage on the

...which role is most important to you?

Tick (√) whichever of the 4 options you feel is closest to representing Your Company. You must tick only one for each section.

Please add up your P, A, E and I scores and record them in the Total boxes.

The key below provides an indication of what your answers might signify....

P=Production

A=Administration

E=Entrepreneurship

I=Integration

Whichever letter you tick for a department/key area might indicate that role is dominant in that area.

Adding together the total number of ticks for P(roduction), A(dministration), E(ntrepreneurship) and I(ntegration) might indicate which role is most dominant (the highest score) in your company. By looking at your score on roles with your score on LifeCycle position and then comparing it to the LifeCycle graphic here, it might show you whether your organisation is typical.

However, please note: this questionnaire is provided as a stimulus to get you thinking and should not be taken as a serious attempt to determine the strength of the 4 roles in your organisation. A much more in-depth and detailed analysis would be necessary to determine that accurately.

Market Research/Research & Development

P) Wastes a lot of money and we need to keep our focus on what is actually generating income

A) Needs to stay within a tightly-controlled budget - or it can impact negatively on our financial performance

E) It is absolutely critical to bring new and exciting products to market on a regular basis

I) Has an important place in the overall scheme of things

P) Getting the order - the bigger the value/profit the better!

A) Getting the Customer's specification right

E) Getting the Customer excited about our new products

I) Building a long-term relationship- even if we don't get this or some other orders

P) Getting the design done so we can start making it

A) Ensuring the design process is tightly controlled and verifying that outputs meet the input criteria - for efficiency and profit

E) Making our designs the best and the most exciting they can be

I) Verifying that our design enables the product to do what the Customer wants to use it for

Production Scheduling

P) We need to get the job out of the door as quickly as possible - then we can get on with other jobs - and we need to be flexible

A) We need to get the job out of the door as quickly as possible - then we can get on with other jobs - and we need to be flexible

E) We need to bring more and better work into the Company

I) Production scheduling is an important part of building the management controls a Company needs to implement at certain stages of growth

Production & Quality

P) We need to get the job out of the door as quickly as possible - then we can invoice the Customer and get on with other jobs

A) We must inspect the work at each specified stage and ensure everything is correct before we can release it to the next stage

E) All our work must be of the highest quality so we can delight Customers

I) We must balance production needs with quality controls to provide Customers with what they want when they want it

Financial Management

P) We must have the resources to do the job - otherwise we can't do what's asked of us

A) There must be tightly-controlled budgets and everyone must work within them

E) If we need more money to develop the Company, then we must find a way of getting it

I) Sound financial management is critical to the successful running of a business