DruckerSchoolBusiness

EssentialsforSalesforce
Glossary

AlignmentOrganizationsarecomplexsystemscomprisedofpeople,functions/departments,
processes,policies,andresources.Ingeneral,alignmentreferstothedegreetowhichtheseareall
workingtogethertoachievethevisionandmissionoftheorganization,andthusimproveorganizational
performance.Alignmentcanbeachievedthroughobjectives,metrics,departmentcharters,
performanceincentives,andoptimizingprocesses.Considerableacademicresearchexistsinthisarea,
includingresearchintoorganizationalalignmentasacompetitiveadvantage.

CoreCompetenciesThesearethethingsanorganizationmustexcelatinordertosuccessfully
achievethevision/mission.Corecompetenciesmayincludecertainoperationalprocessesthatimpact
theabilitytodelivervaluetothecustomer,organizationallearning,hiringanddevelopingtalent,and
more.Whiletherearemanythingsthatanorganizationmustdowellinordertobesuccessful,some
aremoreimportantthanothers.Eachorganizationcanandshouldcreativelyidentifythecore
competenciesitneedstobesuccessful.

EcosystemInabusinessandtechnologycontext,ecosystemsarecommunities/partnershipsof
entitiestypicallyenabledbyatechnologyplatform.Forexample,atechnologycompanythatproduces
apopularCRMsystemmaychoosetocreateanecosystembyusingtheirsystemasaplatformtothat
enablesotherorganizationstodevelopandofferperipheralsolutionsthatenhancetheoveralloffering
forcustomers,andthusincreasingtheoverallvaluesuchastheSalesforceAppExchange.Lookingfor
more?CheckoutTheSalesforceEcosystemExplainedat:
https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2015/09/salesforceecosystemexplained.html.

InnovationTheMerriamWebsterprovidesuswithasimpledefinition,i.e.,innovationistheactor
processofintroducingnewideas,devices,ormethods.Whilemanypeopleassociateinnovationwith
newproductsandservices,PeterDruckerpointedoutthatinnovationischangethatcreatesanew
dimensionofperformance.Meaning,innovationisnotlimitedtojustnewproductsandservices,but
alsotootheraspectsoftheorganizationssuchashowproductsandservicesaredesignedand
delivered,howtheorganizationconductsbusiness,andevenreimaginghowthemarketworks.

MarketIneconomicterms,amarketisastructureinwhichparticipantstransacttoexchangecertain
typesofgoods,services,and/orinformation.Forexample,themarketforhealthcareinsuranceisa
relativelycomplexsystemofregulators,insurers,healthcareproviders,consumers,organizationsthat
providehealthcaretotheiremployees,andavarietyofotherparticipants.Havingadeepunderstanding
ofthemarket,andchangesunfoldinginthatmarket,canhelpanorganizationtakeactiontosurviveand
thrive.

MarketForcesMarketscanbeaffectedbyavarietyofinternalandexternalinfluences,whichcan
significantlychangehowmarketparticipantstransact.Theseforcescanresultinsuddenanddramatic
shifts,ormaycreepinovertime.Bymonitoring,predicting,andevenshapingmarketforces,
organizationscanmoreeffectivelydevelopandexecuteplansforsuccess.Twoclassicframeworksoften
usedtohelptrackandassessmarketconditions/forcesare:(1)thePESTframework,withmarketforces
DruckerSchoolBusiness
EssentialsforSalesforce
Glossary

categoriesofPolitical/Legal,Economic/Environmental,Social,Technological;and(2)thePorter5Forces
model,withcategoriesofNewEntrants,Substitutes,CompetitiveRivalry,SupplierPower,BuyerPower.

MarketShareMarketsharecanbethoughtofasyourcompanyspieceofthepiei.e.,thepercent
ofmarketvolumecapturedbyyourcompany.Marketshareistypicallyreportedasapercentageof
sales,soreportingandcomparingmarketsharerequiresknowledgeoftotalmarketsalesandthesales
ofcompetitorsaswell.Companieskeepaneyeonmarketsharenumberstoseehowwelltheyredoing
withcustomersincomparisontothecompetition.

MetricsOrganizationstypicallydefineasetofmeasurestogaugeperformance.Inpractice,most
companiesfinditnecessarytosetanumberofperformanceobjectivesandmetrics,thenuse
benchmarkingandjudgmenttoassessresults.AframeworksuchastheBalancedScorecardcanhelp
organizationsdevelopbalancedperformancemetrics.

NetPromoterScore(NPS)NPSisameasureofhowlikelyyourcustomersarewillingtoputtheir
socialcredibilityonthelinebyrecommendingyourorganizationtofriendsand/orcolleagues.NPSis
generallyconsideredtobeabetterpredictorofcustomerretentionandrepeatpurchasesthansimply
askingcustomersiftheyaresatisfied.NPSscoresareknowntovaryacrossindustries,sobecarefulhow
youbenchmarkyourperformance!

NPSscoresaredevelopedbyaskingcustomershowlikelytheyaretorecommendyourproductor
servicetofriendsand/orcolleaguestypicallyona10pointscale.YourNPSscoreisthepercentageof
"promoters",thoserespondentswhogiveyouascoreof9or10,minusyour"detractors",thosewho
scoreyou6orless.

PlanTheplanisadocumentthatdescribesthewheretheorganizationis,whereitintendstogo,and
howitintendstogetthere.Theplandefinesthepurposeoftheorganization(includingvision,mission,
andvaluesstatements),andincludesspecificsaboutthemarket,customers,solutions,operatingneeds,
DruckerSchoolBusiness
EssentialsforSalesforce
Glossary

financialrequirements,marketingplans,andmore.Developingtheplanhelpstheexecutiveteam
collaborateandalignonwhatitbelievestobeimportantforthehealthoftheorganization.Customers
andmarketschangeovertime,soaplanwilllikelyneedtochangeaswell.

PortfolioTheproduct/solutionportfolioofanorganizationistheoverallassortmentofitems(goods,
services,information)thatitsells.Organizationswithawidevarietyofsolutioncategoriesoftenchoose
toorganizearoundtheproduct/solutionsandcustomertypes.Anexampleofanorganizationtaking
thisapproachisGEwhichhasdivisionsfocusedonaviation,power,transportation,andmore.

PurposeThepurposeofthebusinessiswhythecompanyexiststhatis,thedifferenceitmakesin
theeyesofitscustomers.Businesspurposeisnotsimplytomakemoneyortosatisfycustomers
everybusinessmustdothesetosurvive.

Purposeislikeaguidingstaronthehorizonforeverpursuedbutneverreached.Yet
althoughpurposeitselfdoesnotchange,itdoesinspirechange.JimCollins

Yourorganizationsvision,mission,andvaluesstatementsshouldcommunicateaspectsofbusiness
purpose.

SegmentsGroupsidentifiedbyanalyzingthebroadermarket,anddividingupthemarketbasedon
similarcharacteristicssuchasdemographics,needs,interests,etc.Thegroupsidentifiedcanconsistof
differentclustersofconsumers,businesses,governmentagencies,etc.Example:Afastfoodchainmay
segmentconsumersoffastfoodbasedonanumberofcriteria,suchasage,foodpreferences,financial
status,etc.

TargetSegmentsThesegmentsanorganizationchoosestotargetascustomers.Organizations
developstrategiesbasedontheirunderstandingofwhatcustomersintheirtargetsegmentvalue.Itis
importanttoknowthedefiningfeaturesofyourtargetsegmentstoconnectwiththem,anddevelop
solutionstheylove.

SustainabilityIngeneral,sustainabilityreferstoanorganizationsabilitytoeffectivelymanagein
thepresent,predictfutureneeds,andmanagethechangebetweenthesetwotimeperiods.Inorderto
accomplishthis,effectivemanagementisrequiredtodevelopacultureoflearningandagility.
Sustainabilityalsoreferstheoperationofanorganizationinasociallyresponsiblemanner,suchas
managingthetriplebottomlinei.e.,seekingresultsalongsocial,environmental(orecological),and
financialdimensions.