Intersol Strategic Alignment Model

CREATING AND SUSTAINING HIGH PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATIONS

The Strategic Alignment Model™

Intersol’s work centres on helping organizations “align” their Purpose, Processes, and People with the needs and expectations of their Customers, Clients or Stakeholders, as illustrated in the Strategic Alignment Model™, below.

THE CUSTOMER

Organizations exist to provide products and services to individuals and organizations outside of themselves -- their Clients or Customers. Therefore, we will be successful only when our products and services satisfy (are aligned with) the needs and expectations of our customers. It is for this reason that customers must be central to all we do within the organization.

PURPOSE

To satisfy the needs and expectations of our customers, we must be clear—at all organizational levels—about the nature of our business, and about WHO and HOW we serve. These must be reflected in our vision, direction, strategies and plans;

PROCESS

Our processes represent the methods we use to produce, directly or indirectly, the products and services our customers demand and expect of us. We must ensure that our Processes are, (a) fully focussed on, and consistent with our customers' requirements, (b) capable of meeting those requirements, and (c) that they continuously improve to meet customer's rising expectations.

PEOPLE

Our Purpose provides the focus and direction for our effort. Our Processes provide the methods by which to address our Purpose. However, it is only through People that anything really happens. People are the masters of the Processes, and People create and give meaning to the Purpose.

We must therefore strive to:

• create a vision of success we can all willingly support;
• provide opportunities for everyone to contribute to, and influence our success, and
• ensure we all have the knowledge and skills we need to make those contributions, now and in the future.

TOWARD STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

PURPOSE

STRATEGY

• What is our mandate? Our mission? What is our reason for being?
• What is our preferred future? What is our vision of success?
• How do we want to conduct ourselves in the pursuit of our vision? How do we want to behave, toward our customers/clients and toward each other?
• What are the key areas in which we must be successful in order to achieve our vision?

OPERATIONS

• What specific objectives must we accomplish?
• What are the specific goals, including accountabilities and controls, which will allow us to achieve our objectives?

PROJECTS

• What specific new initiatives are necessary, either to accomplish goals or to manage critical issues
• How will we initiate, define, plan, implement and close projects?

PEOPLE

LEADERSHIP

• How will we develop a "shared" vision to which all organizational members can commit?
• What kind of leadership do we need? How will it be provided?

INVOLVEMENT

• How will organizational members contribute to the success of the enterprise?
• How will we share responsibility, influence and rewards?
• How will we promote and facilitate individual and team productivity?
• What tools and support do teams require for success?

LEARNING

• How will we ensure all employees have the knowledge and skills necessary for individual and organizational mastery?
• How will we align individual and team learning plans with the organizational strategy and vision?

PROCESS 

FOCUS

• How will we align our work processes with our vision, our strategy, our objectives and goals?
• How will we focus our operations and activities on our customers/ clients requirements and expectations?

METHODS

• What intervention processes will we use to analyze issues, solve problems, make decisions and plan actions on a day-to-day basis?
• How will we develop wide-spread capability in the selection and facilitation of key intervention processes?

IMPROVEMENT

• What systems, tools and processes do we need to ensure continuous improvement of our products and services?
• Who will we involve in our improvement efforts, and how will we involve them?