9.1.1 Developing a ‘wish list’
To remain competitive an organisation must be able to track these changes and, where possible, anticipate future trends. The development of an Information or Knowledge plan begins with an examination of the organisation’s mission and vision. What is the organisation trying to achieve or create? What information will be useful in assisting the organisation achieve that mission? If we know what we are looking for we can then target this information directly.
The questions that need to be asked include:
Competitors
Who are our major competitors?
What are their long term plans?
How healthy is their business?
Are they a threat?
What part of their activities should we be monitoring?
Customers
Who are our customers? i.e. demographics
What are their spending patterns?
Where do they live?
What do they read?
Suppliers
How healthy are their businesses?
Who else do they supply?
How good is the relationship with them?
Do they have any threats to their business which will impact on us?
Technology developments
Are there any new technologies being worked on at present which will impact on our business?
Are we monitoring these events?
Environmental information
How are changes in the environment affecting our business? E.g. requirements for energy suppliers to source a percentage of energy from renewable sources.
Market information
Are we in a growing or contracting market?
How are we perceived in the market?
Economic trends
Is the economy in a boom time or downswing and how will this affect our forward plans?
Social information
Are there demographic changes and how will they affect us.
Government and regulatory information
Are there any pending regulatory changes and how will they affect our business?
Some of this information will have a direct, and potentially dramatic, effect on the ability of the organisation to fulfil its Mission whilst other information will become more relevant in the long term.
Activity 2
This exercise can be completed alone, but has been designed to be completed in a work or study group.
Split into groups of 3 or 4.
Write a ‘wish list’ of 3 questions that you would most like answered regarding the organisation and your role in it.
Come back together as a group and compare notes.
Are they the same? Why not? What implications does this have for sharing information and gaining commitment through an individual’s commitment?
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