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Ferdinand A Kovacic | +43-664-169-1903 | ferdinand.kovacic@kovalentics.at
Academy

7-D Development Process

Learning Pathways

Thinking Development: Spaces and Rhythms. The 7-D Process. Discovery, diagnose, direction, design, develop alternative, develop capabilities, deliver, discern impact
Thinking Development: Spaces and Rhythms. The 7-D Process. Discovery, diagnose, direction, design, develop alternative, develop capabilities, deliver, discern impact
Thinking Development: Spaces and Rhythms. The 7-D Process. Consulting with a twist. 360 degree diagnosis. Adaptive dynamic design. Conceptzal cartography. Emerging markets. Organisational corporate academy. Open change architectures. Project support. Research & authoring
Thinking Development: Spaces and Rhythms. The 7-D Process. Discovery, diagnose, direction, design, develop alternative, develop capabilities, deliver, discern impactThinking Development: Spaces and Rhythms. The 7-D Process. Consulting with a twist. 360 degree diagnosis. Adaptive dynamic design. Conceptzal cartography. Emerging markets. Organisational corporate academy. Open change architectures. Project support. Research & authoring

SPECIAL: Business English-German | Englisch-Deutsch. All materials and training sessions are available in English and German. Serves a dual purpose if required: business finance AND business language training | Alle Materialien und Trainingseinheiten sind in deutscher und englischer Sprache verfügbar. Dient bei Bedarf einem doppelten Zweck: Finanztraining UND Sprachtraining | In cooperation with Young Translations Language Solutions (www.young-translations.com/en)

The Depot | General Business Skills

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    Business Management Frameworks

    Business management frameworks provide systematic and practical tools for better understanding the elements of the internal (company) and external (competition, markets) environments in which a company (or any organisation) operates. They are the diagnostic basis for structured and disciplined thinking about business and organisational issues. Complemented by the theme of Purpose, i.e. the direction in which a business chooses to contribute to human and planetary well-being (if, that is), they form the pillars of my Unified Business Management System UBMS―a deliberate whole-systems approach to business. Three of these frameworks―I have called them Orientation Frameworks for the obvious reason―are presented on this website.

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    Context & Complexity

    Understand the environment of a business (or business segment) in terms of its complexity. Distinguish between detail complexity (diversity) and dynamic complexity (volatility or dynamism). Use a framework with the four dimensions of simple, complicated, complex and chaotic to analyse the impact of a situation on, for example, strategy, leadership style, decision making, organisational structures or processes.

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    Thinking in Systems

    Discover the difference between linear thinking and systems thinking. Try to see the deeper structures at work (The Systems Thinker) Understand the importance of defining and drawing “system boundaries”. Review the topic of recurring feedback loops (reinforcing/balancing) and examine practical “systems archetypes” (Peter Senge) such as Fixes that Fail or Growth and Underinvestment. Apply Aswath Damodaran’s predictive Three-Ps continuum: (im)Possible, (im)Plausible and (im)Probable. And practise a sophisticated variant of John Boyds’ OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act).

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    Adaptive Competencies

    Navigate through a comprehensive Adaptive Life Cycle framework (Fatz, Dean, Katzmair). Gain a sense of the possibilities of Ecocycle Planning (Liberating Structures). Learn about resilience as a combination of robustness and adaptability. Study selected dynamic patterns: megatrends; product life cycle; corporate life cycle. And have a look at the concept of ambidexterity in business management: the need and ability to simultaneously optimise (exploit) and renew (explore).

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    English-German | Englisch-Deutsch

    (x) All materials and training sessions are available in two languages

    (x) English and German | Englisch und Deutsch

    (x) Serves a dual purpose if required: business finance AND business language training

    (x) Translation and other language services are available

    (x) Alle Materialien und Trainingseinheiten sind in zwei Sprachen verfügbar

    (x) Dient bei Bedarf einem doppelten Zweck: Finanztraining UND Sprachtraining

    (x) In cooperation with Young Translations Language Solutions (see www.young-translations.com/en/)

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    Strategizing »full 2 lean«

    Strategizing »full | lean | agile«. Approaches, methods, tools and road maps ranging from whole-scale to incremental. Right strategies for specific contexts.  With a focus on fast, small-scale, iterative and practical direction finding.

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    Business Model Canvas | Value Proposition Design

    Two evergreens worth looking at. Quick tools for fast analysis. Thinking through the key dimensions of a business or social enterprise [BMC]. Delivering value from a customer’s point of view [VPD].

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    Effectuation

    An entrepreneurial, resource-focused and super-practical framework to manage search, change and development processes in rather uncertain and complex situations when goals are not (yet) clearly known.

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    Functional Strategies

    Strategies and strategy development for business functions and their alignment with overall company strategies. Navigating the maze of functional and cross-functional themes.

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    Organization Design

    An introduction into Organisation Design. Practical frameworks and dimensions of OD.  Organisational Health, Organisational Fit and Good Design Principles.

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    Boundary Spanning

    The Art of Connecting. Effective collaboration across silos and how to possibly make it happen. Identify gaps and build bridges across organisational silos afflicted by vertical, horizontal, stakeholder, geographic or demographic boundaries.

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    Matrix Management

    »Making The Matrix Work«. Collaboration skills for complex organisational structures. With special focus on middle management challenges and capabilities.

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    Organizational Agility

    A practical look at concepts and tools to increase self-organisation while maintaining alignment and direction. Scrum, Design Thinking and a diversity of micro-methods.

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    Cultures + Identities

    About cultures and identities, and why they still matter. Descriptive models and cultural dimensions. How cultural assumptions influence strategies, organizations and ideas on leadership. Practical implications and learnings.

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    Leadership

    Leadership models, dimensions and frameworks. How culture influences our idea of “good leadership”. Identifying  leadership behaviors for and in your organization. A complex and controversial, yet always fun topic.

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    Enabling + Living Change

    A look at the entire spectrum from whole-scale to incremental change. Dimensions, designs, mindsets, roadmaps. Mindset change through system change. With a focus on agile approaches and project-based learning. Searching for a calm, practical, down-to-earth approach.

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    People

    From recruiting to retention. About talent identification and development, performance management, succession planning. And much more. An overview and comprehensive tool kit.

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    Team Effectiveness

    What constitutes an “effective” team? What are the main dimensions to take care of? About goals, roles, conflicts, decision taking, collaboration and feedback. Includes the challenges of managing remote and international teams.

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    Meeting Effectiveness

    Planning and running better Meetings. Collaboration without waste. From Meeting Manifest to Meeting Canvas and effective actions. With a special focus on the challenges of remote meetings.

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    Kanban

    Enabling personal and professional balance and productivity. An effective process and visualization framework to gain back and maintain control over competing priorities.

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    Strategy Execution & Delivery

    Making things happen requires linking strategy design with strategy execution. Dimensions and principles. Thinking through and developing a coherent and holistic implementation approach to increase likelihood of success.

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    PPP Practical Project Management

    The many practicalities of Project Management. The basics of PM. Dealing with unclear goals, unrealistic targets, multiple stakeholders, project crises and other obstacles.

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    General Business Skills

    How to systematically develop General Business skills step by step. Understanding the basics of value chains, production processes, corporate functions or general management dimensions. Finance for Non-Financials. A cross-functional and base-line introduction.

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    Project-based Learning

    Mixing Doing and Development. How to integrate project delivery with personal as well as organizational learning. A small investment with material long-term benefits.

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    The Embedded Economy

    Economy as an embedded concept. Ecological ceilings, social foundations and their indicators. The art of drawing systems boundaries. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Circular Economy concept. An introduction.

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    TESEI Total Economic, Societal and Ecological Impact

    Total Economic, Societal and Ecological Value. A simplified yet practical orientation framework. Ethics & Aesthetics for a safe, prosperous and sustainable future. 

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Copyright: Kovacic, Ferdinand A (2019) | CC BY NC SA 4.0 int | Workcode CD-01-LIZ0000007253-7 | Icons:  Noun Project

The Depot | Global Business Skills

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    Globalisation

    International business environments and “The New Normal”. The Triad of globalisation, digitalisation and politicisation. Economic, business and political shifts. Between Connectography and Globaloney. Key strategy topics in internationalisation. Shocks, megatrends and dealing with complexities.

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    Institutional and Organisational Environments

    Expecting and understanding institutional and organisational differences. Looking at Liberal versus Coordinated Market Economies. Or rentier systems and neo-patrimonialism. Models of organisations: stakeholders, power, decision making, property rights.

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    Political Risk and Mitigation

    A systematic look at sources, types and the nature of political risks at the local, regional and geo-political level. Proactive mitigation and negotiation strategies. Non-Market engagements, and honest corporate citizenship and shared value approaches.

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    English-German | Englisch-Deutsch

    (x) All materials and training sessions are available in two languages

    (x) English and German | Englisch und Deutsch

    (x) Serves a dual purpose if required: business finance AND business language training

    (x) Translation and other language services are available

    (x) Alle Materialien und Trainingseinheiten sind in zwei Sprachen verfügbar

    (x) Dient bei Bedarf einem doppelten Zweck: Finanztraining UND Sprachtraining

    (x) In cooperation with Young Translations Language Solutions (see www.young-translations.com/en/)

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    Country-level Analysis

    Analysis of a potential target country in which to operate. Market research and market entry preparations. Use of practical yet systematic analysis frameworks. Identification of valuable information and research sources. From research to networks to exploration | learning journeys. With a sober look at country-related risks.

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    Industry-level Analysis

    An in-depth look at the competitive landscape of local and peer competitors. Matching value offer and competitive sensitivities in different industries from a cultural, administrative, geographic or economic perspective. Incumbents versus international competitors: (dis)advantages of global competitors.

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    Firm-level Analysis

    How to compete and add value. Using a strength-based view on firm-specific resources,  capabilities and core competencies.  Applying Adaptation, Aggregation and Arbitrage strategies. Determining the organisation’s globalization readiness. Right-sizing company expectations.

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    Portfolio Matching

    Matching country and market with the firm’s/organization’s value offer to achieve scale and relevance. Performing a market attractiveness and prioritization analysis. Clustering geographies and value offer portfolios. Determining the overall risk portfolio.

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    Organisation Designs

    Organisation Designs for Emerging Markets. Moving beyond structures. Designing and managing internal as well as external connectivities. Thinking about functional area strategies and operations. The role of the (regional) Headquarter. Effective set-up and use of Shared Service Centers.  Organising for and around volatilities.

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    Route-to-Market

    Planning your local presence. Analysing local structures and dynamics. Developing EM Sales and Channel Management strategies. Taking a patient, long-term life cycle view.  Assessing affordable investments and macro-micro risks. Aligning RTM with the changes in market maturity.  Maintaining your brand, quality and reputational control.

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    Distributor Management | Focus EM

    Selecting and recruiting of distributors. Thoughtful designs of distributor’s functionalities and life-time co-operations. Building and maintaining operational effectiveness. Developing appropriate monitoring and control processes. Establishing mutual training and communication processes. Understanding and agreeing on pricing and margin management.

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    Supply Chain Management

    Understanding Emerging Market Supply Chain characteristics. Developing collaborative SCM orchestration. How to match innovation, business and supply chain strategies. Building long-term strategic supply chain resilience. Assuring operational effectiveness along internal and external supply chain nodes. Integrating and  training external partners.

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    Global Cultures

    The ability to manage across cultures. Defining social and cultural identities: ideas of man and nature. Describing cultural environments: descriptive models, cultural dimensions, global environments and clusters. The workplace as culture stomping ground: on strategy, leadership, decision finding and organizing. Practical implications for versatility and communication skills.

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    Leadership in a Global Context

    A look at leadership in the international context. Conventional notions of leadership and management. Leadership as a cultural and context-dependent phenomenon. Institutional and organizational environments and their potential impacts. The GLOBE Study. The art of boundary-spanning across leadership expectations.

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    HR Capabilities | Talent

    Thinking about people development as »talent at all levels«. Combine proactive, long-term strategic processes and designs (> »Corporate Academy«)  with practical, on the spot operational implementation. Assuring top management team diversity. Building vocational and managerial | leadership skills for front-line workers and supervisors. Grow skills and talent from within, at home, abroad and with key partners. Foster appropriate diversity and inclusion.

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    Managing Global Teams

    Understanding advantages and special challenges of working across distances, cultures and countries. Building and leading global and dispersed teams. Leadership versatility in a global context. How to manage communication and maintain trust. Remote project management. Technology as enabler and its limits.

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    Corporate | Organizational Academy

    You got that far? Fantastic. What do you think of it? Interested? For business propositions  | inputs | exchange of ideas |  cooperations | pro bono please get in contact with me.

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    Frugal | Innovation

    A practical look at innovation leverage points: creating or redesiging products + services for local needs; adjusting the business model to local environments; cost containment; and the thoughtful integration of new technologies. With a special focus on »frugal innovation« to serve the poor and emerging middle class people in Emerging and Developing Countries.

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    Factfulness | Life on Four Income Levels

    Studying and learning from Hans Rosling’s great book »Factfulness«, the Gapminder project [www.gapminder.org] and the concept of Life on Four Income Levels. Instincts at work and how to correct our mental landscapes on global facts: gap | negativity | straight line | fear | size | generalization | destiny | single perspective | blame | urgency. Get the book and study their website.

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Copyright: Kovacic, Ferdinand A (2019) | CC BY NC SA 4.0 int | Workcode CD-01-LIZ0000007253-7 | Icons:  Noun Project

The Depot | Business Finance

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    Business Finance Framework

    (x) Enjoy a graphical representation of a company’s finances and how they change over time.

    (x) Choose between digital and physical/analogue versions and different levels of complexity

    (x) Experiment with a high-level view of how a business really works

    (x) Experience fundamental business finance concepts in a very ‘tangible’ form

    (x) Develop ‘composite’ business and financial literacy

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    Practical Business Finance

    (x) Explore the fundamentals of business finance

    (x) Cut through the myths and ‘jargon jungle’ of business finance

    (x) Decipher financial reports and assess the financial health and viability of a business

    (x) Uncover the three core financial statements – Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement – and learn how they help to run a business

    (x) Delve into their key elements, from (sales) revenues to net income

    (x) Learn about those central key finance/accounting concepts that really matter in business practice

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    Linking Business Finance & Business/Operational Model

    (x) Understand your company’s business and operating model

    (x) Uncover its business narrative(s): review history, understand markets and environment, competition

    (x) Analyse its annual reports,financial statements and, if available, forecasts

    (x) Obtain and study i external reports about industry and company

    (x) Make business model and financial figures ‘match’ and ‘tell’ a coherent business story

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    Portfolio Classification

    (x) Create meaningful product portfolio groupings

    (x) Identify key parameters for their future business relevance

    (x) Evaluate the portfolio against these selected criteria and rank them

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    Portfolio Assessment

    (x) Establish relevant financial criteria and benchmarks

    (x) Assess and rank the portfolio under review

    (x) Determine appropriate tactical and strategic actions for the future

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    The Pricing Waterfall

    (x) Study a visual representation and analysis of pricing factors, from ‘base price’ to ‘pocket price’ and ‘pocket margin’

    (x) Break-down the components that affect the final price, including ‘on-invoice discounts’, ‘off-invoice adjustments’, ‘cost-to-serve’ and other costs

    (x) Understand, categorise and assess price ‘leakages’ in your business; identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions to optimise profitability

    (x) Use a tailor-made, concise framework creatively combining the traditional pricing waterfall concept with a modern strategic pricing design model

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    Mechanics of Pricing

    (x) Understand and practice the ‘mechanics of pricing’

    (x) Assess the impact of price changes on profitability as a function of contribution margins/cost of goods sold

    (x) Simulate concrete planned or possible pricing changes for your business

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    English-German | Englisch-Deutsch

    (x) All materials and training sessions are available in two languages

    (x) English and German | Englisch und Deutsch

    (x) Serves a dual purpose if required: business finance AND business language training

    (x) Translation and other language services are available

    (x) Alle Materialien und Trainingseinheiten sind in zwei Sprachen verfügbar

    (x) Dient bei Bedarf einem doppelten Zweck: Finanztraining UND Sprachtraining

    (x) In cooperation with Young Translations Language Solutions (see www.young-translations.com/en/)

Copyright: Kovacic, Ferdinand A (2024) | CC BY NC SA 4.0 int | Icons:  Noun Project

»Let it not be said that I have said nothing new: the arrangement of the material is new.«  Blaise Pascal