To : XXXX Dear Sirs, Subject: Install Business Management Model and Strategy to Cope and Excel Background A model

is something we often use to make sense of our world - how we represent the reality we perceive and simplify a complex situation. We give meaning by recognizing patterns weve experiencing before, or perhaps by creating new ones. Models are created internally: they exist only in our heads. And in the same situation, different people may form different models, and will thus see things very differently. The brief discussion we held at your office proves the same and the mental model you created of your business seems to shape your own behavior. That is for good. Your success story must be a living witness and this accounts more to talent, intrinsic motivation, enthusiasm, entrepreneurial orientation and finance. The internal environment is such that people are fully involved. Customer seems to be the center of your efforts. With limited breadth of knowledge, with that correct behavior and young/talent team, we are 100% confident that your business will grow further, but the size, pace and compass of growth yet to be revealed. However, your organization is unlikely to evidence practice of the so called leadership strategy. Like many others of your size you practiced an implicit version, and yet not sure of being coherent with modern management principles. You may also need to make sure how changes in your competitive environment are calling for new kinds of organizational capabilities. And while the future lies ahead, models change and evolve with new experience, values, beliefs, new information and priorities. Thus building on the past you must aim to install standard management tool both to best fit into the future and leverage opportunities. Systems of Business need Management No organizational system can be just left to manage itself. They dont and they wont. If left to themselves, individual components in a system will become selfish and compete, so the situation will not only deteriorate but also exhibits fragmented, inconsistent and full of surprises. No more uncontrolled and same business everyday' type of organization. More of the beauty of standard management system is building unity of purpose and direction. Strategic Management Strategic management is creating a sense of purpose, looking ahead, planning, positioning, strategic fit, leverage and stretching. It is the creative part of management the result of innovative thinking. It is about the direction it is to take and the way it forms and prepares itself to face competition. It consists of elements of analysis, of resources and capabilities, choice of options and of implementation.

As it stands today, far more intelligence service of your enterprise is based on tenders, oral communication, and direct signals from the micro-social environment (friends, family members and key employees), whereas in larger firms teams of professional analysts and consultants prepare and influence interpretations by the senior management. Management approaches usually determine causal relationships between market characteristics, the response and performance of enterprises The main question would be: how good are you adaptive to the characteristics of markets? This is a relatively easy question in stable markets: Those who are better at analyzing their markets and adapting to given market characteristics will be better off. However, markets are not stable, not nowadays and not for you, it means that market analysis does not suffice, or perhaps it addresses the wrong question: You also need strategies to find, influence and even create favorable markets. And since you are engaged in multi facets of product portfolio, the dilemma of specialization and flexibility is also a point to consider. Specialization in market characteristics requires time for adaptation. Dynamic markets, that is, those which involve rapid changes in market characteristics, however, call for high speed in adaptation and high flexibility of resources. The dilemma of specialization and flexibility is thus accompanied by the dilemma between rapid change and slow adaptation speed. While your business is going big and complex, mental models and implicit leadership wont lend you the required flexibility and competitive advantage. You must learn to navigate in an unknown future, make choice in a range of possibilities and operate in a volatile and dynamic environment. Below are guiding questions for you esteem customer to respond. The questions are grouped in to ten major blocks each of them with a make and break to the kind of business you are in. Some measures maturity of mental model, decision behaviors, opportunities and driving forces of your business. As these are issues in any business entity, it must be given utmost attention. It would therefore be highly appreciated if you could spare your time to fill in the questionnaire and allot time slots for discussion on relevant issues at your convenience. Once received responses and go ahead from you esteem customer, we will discuss the ToR we drafted. It is meant to help bring the company vibrant and agile. Your governance framework and ISO certification are points of emphasize. It also encompasses business strategy and critical success factors for your product portfolios in the market you are in. I. II. How do you rate your business? Your business is profitable, how predictable/stable is it? Are customers returning or referring others to you? How fast are you grabbing new opportunities or is the future ahead? Do you think you influence your future or the future unfold in favor of your company Is business diversifying? Internal Maturity

 III.

What are the primary constructs underlying organizational performance What are the key measures of primary constructs underlying the organizational performance Your mental model, how coherent is with the standard management system like ISO 9001, BSC, MBO, Six sigma, etc? Does Plan-Do-Check-Act give you much sense? Management review, is the concept recognized? Do you have a system or just key people? Customers get what was agreed some, or even a lot of the time, but at times theres a great deal of frantic effort behind the scenes to make it happen. Customers get the right products or services provided that Staff-X or Staff-Y is there. If theyre away, things fall apart. Staff-Z leaves. His replacement keeps asking questions that no one knows the answers to, and theres nothing written down which says how things should be done. And no one knows where Staff-Z kept certain things that someone else depends upon to do his work. You know that different people are doing things in different ways. Why dont those new people know its done this way? Didnt anyone tell them? Things start to fall between the cracks. Things work OK sometimes, but not others. The same or similar problems or failures keep cropping up. And when you have any stress on the system (eg, a sudden increase in business, a big new contract, a turnover of key staff) it gets much worse. Business is expanding, youre growing very fast but some things are starting to fall apart. Or you fear or expect that they will. Youre the owners but youre working most if not all of the time. You just cant afford to take time away for a holiday, even though youd love to. Manager makes decision and announces it Manager presents ideas and invites questions Manager presents problem, receives suggestions, and makes decision Manager permits employees to function within limits Manager allows employees complete freedom of action defined by senior managers Business Intelligence

IV.

How did you come to know of the VAS tender? Intelligence system within, search for tenders Heard from colleagues or pears, It is just a surprise Create the market (e.g. force a tender to float)

How do you know of country context?

 V. VI. VII.

Do or buy market research and environmental scanning

Business Diversification/expansion ETA through Directive Nr 2/2005 has allowed private participation in telecom downstream businesses, while the incumbent operator ethio telecom seem to be ready to work with privates than ever before. How ready are you to take the chances? How would you anticipate ICT diffusion in government, consumer market and the business in the coming five years, your anticipated position? Given the GTP plan, how are planning take your share from the pie Owing to limitation of high level certified professionals, you seem to miss high value tenders both in Ethiopian, African market and beyond. Any near future strategy to curb the situation? Do you anticipate any better business environment in Ethiopia in the near future Risk Aversion Under normal circumstance, how long does decisions take place for a given business proposal, once approve, how long does it take to take off? Whether intuitive or based on fact investment decision sometimes fail. How is your feeling for new project? Purchasing power of citizen is extremely law, I will accept the VAS market with much doubt I faintly trust my business plan, but I will accept the VAS market with much doubt The VAS market is the future and so long as the business plan proves so, I will strive to hold the proposal and make it a success I am decisive in the face of uncertainty. If you intend to implement a management tool

Some of the most salient reasons External reasons such as: o o o o o Greater client assurance your clients may pressure for it or insist you get it A customer imposes it as a condition of a tender or contract You cannot win business in a particular sector without it To enhance your reputation or business standing To distinguish yourself from your competition.

Internal reasons include: o To provide a sound foundation for growth and expansion

o To gain benefits such as improved processes, greater control & discipline, reduced operational costs with fewer errors or increased sales (internal) o To improve, by using a widely known and internationally accepted model for a quality management system o To stop the same old problems cropping up. VIII. IX. X. Culture that supports the Business The feasibility of new opportunities is assessed in terms of the organizations vision, mission, and strategy. People talk about the initiative shown by a manager who saw an opportunity, found the resources to test it, and demonstrated its market viability. The seeds of new ideas sometimes come from functional areas other than the ones theyre ultimately implemented in. People know the organizations vision, mission, core values, and strategy, and can apply them to unique or emergent situations. You frequently hear things like try it, faster, collaboration, vision, cutting edge, and initiative. Leadership In both ad hoc work groups and formal teams, authority shifts among members to match the demands of the situation. The boxes and lines on the organizational chart are thought of as permeable boundaries rather than walls. People readily seek and offer help to others inside and outside their primary work groups. Theres a sense of energy and excitement about working in the organization; if theres a problem, people feel they can solve it. Theres a shared sense that everyone has some role in the leadership of the organization. Manage the tension between success in daily tasks and success in the long term. Facilitate others actions by providing them a helpful balance of direction and autonomy. Recognize the need to adapt existing plans to changing conditions. Examine mistakes for their learning value (as opposed to apportioning blame). Understand your impact on others and how that affects the quality of collective work. Create enthusiasm and understanding about a vision of the future in the hearts and minds of others. Organizational Structure and Systems. Managers at all levels have conversations (they dont just hold briefings or pass out documents) about the organizations vision, mission, and strategy, and the implications of those ideas for each groups work. The organizations most creative people serve on task forces to identify new business opportunities.

 XI.

The organization scrutinizes its own processes to identify and remedy barriers to creativity, recognizing a variety of potential causes and solutions. Key metrics on the organizational scorecard include leading indicators like the development of future capabilities. Talent management and succession-planning processes are integrated with leadership development experiences and tied to business strategy. Organizational Aspirations: Does your organization have a compelling vision? Does it have a clear mission? Does it espouse values that people accept and embrace? Are your senior team and other leaders in your organization clear about your organizations key business drivers?

Terms of Reference for Quality Management System Design, Development and Implementation Business Strategy development and Implementation

Engagement of freelancers
Background XXX is engaged in the business of enterprise networking, Software development, advanced Training & Certification and Technical support. We know we have an excellent mental model shaping our own business for betterment. Success story of the past must be a living witness of this model and accounts more to talent, motivation/enthusiasm and finance. The internal environment is such that people are fully involved. Customers are the center of all of our efforts including capital investment. The last two years was a great momentum for the company; won sizable multifaceted projects including but not limited to PBX, IVR, LAN/WAN, security, air conditioning, telemedicine, IPTV, contact center from businesses, government, NGO, etc. The company is fast growing both in size and profit, jumped from annual turnover of Birr X million in 2008 to Birr Y in 2011. On the contrary, we know some best known companies at one time did exit the market or getting shrinking, what is wrong with them? How are the giant rivals NCR and IBM doing now? Is it firms environment, resources, personality or management model? Nowadays, firms of our kind do not operate in easy, stable, and/or protected environments. Many of them seem to have no idea how vast the range of possible paths into the future could be. A certain type of enterprises equipped with certain resources may be forced to withdraw under uncertain and/or unfavorable conditions, whereas a different type of them with a different set of resources will succeed in the same environment. For example, we can find successful firms in declining industries (hostile environments) as well as failing enterprises in growth industries (favorable environments). Likewise, in the environment that we operate under, challenges and opportunities emerge at a phenomenon rate. Rapidly changing environments impact nearly every aspect of our core business. The market issues expansion or diversification, domestic or international, market share, regulations, and expectations of stakeholders (customers, employees, partners, etc) place an everincreasing pressure on how we are being fitted in to the environment. While the future lies ahead, models change and evolve with new experience, values, beliefs, new information and priorities. Knowing short comings and building on the past we are now planning to install standard management tool both to best fit into the future and cradle at champion of the game. Also to be able to think through structured details as well as interrelationships between spheres of influence along a path of development.

1. Introduction In order to achieve the hallmark of business success that can only be bestowed by satisfied clients, we started to change traditional way of doing business to remain viable, relevant and responsive to market realities We recognize that there are many approaches and labels depicting the philosophy and implementation of a management tool in both the private and public sector. As a pursuit of continual improvement and of good management practice, we are planning to introduce ISO 9001:2000 within three years of time. Changes on this scale however need careful planning, preparation and commitment. We know some organizations have put forth extensive reform efforts only to achieve marginal or even negligible, benefits. Others have succeeded only in destroying the moral and momentum built up over the life-time of the organization. We are therefore planning for engagement of external consultancy service in order to sort out thing more manageable, and to ensure that the resulting quality management system is capable of meeting our strategic objectives and that this is achieved in the most efficient and economical manner. We dont expect a quick fix nor a panacea, rather, a flexible, holistic management approach that guarantees efficiency, effectiveness and continues improvement. 2. Scope of service 2.1 ISO 9001:2000 Projects This is a proposal of engagement with a freelancer to assist the with the planning, development, training and implementation of the ISO 9001:2000. The service will include: Review current processes, resources, and documentation for compliance with the ISO standard Identify the processes needed for the quality management system (including management structure) and their application, the sequences and interaction of these processes Determine criteria and methods needed to ensure that both the operation and control of these processes are effective Create and document a Quality Manual, Procedures and work instructions pertinent to the company, and supports implementation of the QMS Conducting an initial appraisal, identify quality objectives and resource required identify the training needs, train and expose appropriate employees to high standing benchmark Assist to procure an auditor to perform a quality audit at completion of this project, submits an action plan to fill any remaining gaps and facilitates for final evaluation with a registrar. Conduct at least 15 informational meeting throughout the contracted period with Executives, middle management and blue collars. Provide soft and 10 hard copies of all completed documents

Lead the organization in the implementation of a process approach to its quality management system, that is suited to its own culture, characteristics, and specific business environment;

2.2 Developing Strategic Plan and Implementation Review the organization in terms of structure, values, culture, resources and internal capabilities to know where the enterprise stands today against the environment. Do strategic analysis for the enterprise the complexity arising out of ambiguous and nonroutine situations with organization-wide rather than operationally specific implications Identify business opportunities for the company within next five years Craft strategies for the business to seize those opportunities Cascade the strategic plan to operational level Set long term objectives and install KPI and measurement system to check progresses Create 360-degree feedback environment for the business to grow. Create a communication plan for making the business strategy better understood throughout the company. Help to implement the strategic plan 3. Resource Requirement Number and Qualifications of freelancers The team must incorporate MBA and BA/BSC with ample experience of IT, Telecom, Management and ISO 9001:2000 project 4. Cost estimation Based on temporary employment of project time (3 years) Salary to be negotiated Proposed methodology Demonstrating clear understanding of our requirements and environment Proposed general approach/framework, methodology and work plan for carrying out the assignment Schedule Presentation of the proposal Freelancer __________________________ Signature ___________________________ Date _______________________________

Company _________________________ Signature _________________________ Date _____________________________