24 pp.
Copyright 2000, by Ellen Flynn-Heapes
ISBN 0-9675696-1-3
Retail price:  $19.95

The Sparks Framework Assessment: Charting Your Preferences

 

Although some firms find themselves well aligned in both strategy and practice, many more experience crippling conflicts that sap the energy of the organization. They fall victim to the prevailing one-size-fits-all advice, such as grow or die, diversify to hedge your bets, be "problem-solvers" who chase anything, get cheaper, be more flexible, go global, TQM, and re-engineer!

Based on ten years of research into the most successful firms in the industry, the Sparks Framework Assessment is a succinct decision-making tool for helping company leaders craft a clear, integrated business model that generates value and builds high client esteem. The tool is organized into six cultural archetypes, loosely based around the six heroic archetypes of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, as discussed in Creating Wealth: Principles and Practices for Design Firms, by Ellen Flynn-Heapes. Each archetype is defined by distinctive best practices in twenty specific categories.

The Assessment helps company leaders understand past choices and thoughtfully consider options for the future, using the master archetypes as a baseline of comparison. Not only does it help highlight inconsistencies within your firm's current model, but it also paints a vivid picture of the gaps between current practice and the future vision. The Assessment, when used by all members of the leadership team, becomes the ideal staging ground for truly excellent strategic planning.

Most firms use the Assessment to gain wide input from principals, managers, key staff, and sometimes even clients to prepare for company strategy retreats. This participative effort pays off in enhanced consensus and ultimate implementation. Firms also use it to test the waters for a cultural and strategic match prior to mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliance partnerships, and lateral hiring of senior personnel. (Note that we've kept the price affordable so you easily distribute original workbooks to all participants.)

 

Contents:

The Assessment consists of carefully-designed questions that explore the framework of each firm's business model. Whether explicitly designed or implicitly held, each firm has a preferred position in these strategic areas.

 

Also included are worksheets to help you tally scores and plot graphs, either individually or as a group. The resulting charts, with graphic comparisons of current and future states, serve as an excellent staging ground for focused, strategic discussion.

Click here to visit our consulting service website, www.sparksstrategy.com