Davidson Conference Center
The Club Room
Thursday 11 December 2008
8:30am - 4:30pm

Workshop Check In

Secure, online registration includes meals, refreshments, materials. Also included is a 90-day, full-privilege subscription to VNA Professional Edition. Registration ($399) in advance required. Photo ID required for building security. No on-site registration. Your transaction email response is your event registration receipt.
 

Time	Workshop Themes and Activities
08:00 - 09:00	Continental Breakfast & Registration
09:00 - 10:30	Foundations of Value Networks: Principles, Mechanisms, Evidence and Applications
10:30 - 11:00	Participant Introductions Morning Break
11:00 - 12:30	Applications  Value Network Case Studies: Strategy, Innovation and Project Management
12:30 - 1:30	Hosted Luncheon
1:30 - 3:00	Tools Value Network Analysis Hands-on Experience with Value Networks Visulization and Optimization [90-day VNA Professional EditionTrial Included with Registration]
3:00 - 3:30	Afternoon Refreshments
3:30 - 4:30	Practices Next Practices: Information, Integration, Inclusion, Interface and Incentives
4:30	Winter 2008 Workshop Adjournment

Abstract and Benefits

Value propels organizations. Networks are how organizations are defined. The Value Network Analysis Workshop themes are value networks and value network analysis (VNA).

Over the last decade networks and analysis have exploded onto the business scene. Widespread, fundamental advancements in productivity, innovation and collaboration are being achieved with value networks and VNA.

Value network analysis is now being applied broadly with stunning results. VNA Professional Edition is leading new, innovative practices in network analysis. The Value Network Analysis Workshop equips you with the following benefits and advantages.

• Develop leadership skills in value networks;

• Gain hands-on practical experience with VNA visualization;

• Understand social, organizational and value network analysis;

• Identify value networks, process engineering and system dynamics synergy;

• Understand how to plan and apply value network analysis for business improvement and growth;

• Develop relationships with value network leaders and practitioners;

• Connect with others in the global value networks and VNA community;

• Describe value network user organizations and their business outcomes from VNA;

• Transform yourself and your organization to the value networks perspective;

• Expand your visualization and analysis capability with VNA technology;

• Bring forward business methods for the networked, knowledge-intensive enterprise;

• Elaborate how value networks and VNA expands and improves current methods such as
  Lean, TQM, 6-Sigma, Hoshin, ISO-9000, OD/OL, System Dynamics, Baldridge, etc.

• Generate multi-faceted, cross-industries insights and dialogue in value networks.

This special, low-cost workshop includes a 90-day, fully functional licenses to VNA Professional Edition with your Workshop Registration.

Who should attend Enterprise Value Networks?

• Executives, directors, managers and leaders;

• Entrepreneurs, scholars, academics and students;

• Consultants, practitioners and subject matter experts;

• Business collaboration evangelists and community managers.

The value networks methodology is the best way to identify, visualize, analyze, evaluate, prioritize and manage and lead far more competitive and effective networks. How and why is this possible?

1. Focuses on business value networks in concert with supply chains, processes, transactions and social networks.

2. Considers roles, links, exchanges and overall networks in addition to transactions, organizations and processes.

3. Gives intangibles the same level of attention and focus of tangibles.

4. Easy to use network visualization and optimization technology.

This value networks cluster will show you how organizations use VNA Professional Edition for all three levels of network analysis –

1. Process to Network (Business Process Management, BPM);

2. People to Network (Social & Orgainzational Network Analysis, SNA/ONA);

3. Network to Value (Value Network Analysis, VNA).

Value networks span organizational boundaries. They are the organizational X-ray showing where work is done and value created. It is time to reorient many business and knowledge-based activities to the concept of value and value networks. You will gain the models, technology, analysis tools, methods and language needed to elaborate and optimize value networks. Value network analysis orchestrates key organizational reporting mechanisms.

Social computing, social networks and network analysis are also a foundation of these emerging value webs and networks. They help define the pathways and topologies for effective value networks, knowledge management, collaboration and productivity growth. These foundational techniques are also covered.

Innovation is important only as far as it creates value. Many innovation and productivity initiatives create little/no true value. Only through deliberate network mapping and visualization can value be uncovered, expanded and led. It is value that drives innovation. It's not product features, productivity, transactions or efficiencies. All innovation depends on value and value networks.

No one ever bought a product or recommended a company because the company was ‘productive.’ Customers expect and deserve broad value from their relationships. To win, keep and strengthen customers and business, value and value networks must be visualized and led.

Value networks are omnipresent. They are instrumental in achieving breakthrough outcomes for all human activities, not just business. Many non-profits, governments, agencies, NGOs, militaries, hospitals and academic institutions are adopting value network archetypes to advance their missions and create spectacular outcomes.

Testimonials: http://www.vnclusters.com/Testimonials.htm 

Your Value Network Analysis Workshop conversations and open collaborations will focus the knowledge leadership priorities of value networks and analysis. Mastery of these key methods is essential to excellence and leadership in the 21st Century.

All are welcome. The goal of Value Network Analysis Workshop is effective dialogic inquiry and close-in, open conversations with global thought leaders and top practitioners. Unlike expensive, crowded mega-conferences, the modality is authentic, open conversation.

Sisyphus Ahead

Dedicated, well-meaning consultants are still offering “Change Management.” Last month, one consultant gave a particularly energetic talk on the topic. It was identical to one I heard at Ford Motor in 1988 while participating in a senior management offsite. Many people concluded years ago that change management does not work. The proof is the failure of US automobile manufacturers. Ironically, even after a generation, change management hasn’t changed!

The old idea of change is flawed. It sees organizations as finite, ordered structures. Rational interventions therefore are expected to dismantle current behavior and values. The organization is then reassembled to manifest and institutionalize the new, preordained state. New outcomes are expected. But, they never come about. Rather, change management just creates a lot of grief. It rarely addresses underlying structural issues. Remember, if you ever hear the confectionary platitude, ‘change is the only constant,’  you are probably in a severely change-challenged organization like GM.

The GM Solution: Life Boats, Not Life Support
Shoshana Zuboff

Here is how friend of ValueNetworks.com Shoshana Zuboff describes failed change in Business Week this week in, ‘The GM Solution: Life Boats, Not Life Support.’  

And in 2007, with over a million unsold cars in inventory, Mark LaNeve, GM’s head of North American Sales and Marketing, protested the need for change. “It’s not like we have some crisis,” he told the Wall Street Journal in its Feb. 9, 2007 edition.

None of this is exactly "rational" behavior, but it tracks with what institutional economists have observed: The more a practice is institutionalized (history, legitimacy, interdependence, codification), the more it is taken for granted, the greater the energy that goes into maintaining it, and the more relentless the resistance to change. In 2006, GM's CEO Rick Wagoner responded to the call for "new blood" in GM's leadership with this screed in Newsweek: "These are sophisticated problems with historical tails that run back 80, 90 years. The chance of someone coming in and understanding our business…is absolutely microscopic."

This is another really good example of why, if you ever hear the change management mantra, ‘senior management sponsorship,’ be very suspicious. Remember, change does not originate from the top or the middle. These structures were specifically invented to eliminate change and provide stability and continuity. Recognize change management experts lament the failure of change management, when, in fact, it is they that perpetuate inertia and lead organizational intransigence.

Today, successful businesses and flourishing organizations are in a headlong flight to value networks and network intangibles. Toyota, Nissan and Honda get it and helped invent it vis-à-vis TPS & Lean. Managers in the US view these companies through an engineering lense that only sees the problem solving aspects of quality and Lean. What people have missed in large part is how deeply these companies value human intelligence and their "invisible" complex networks of connection and mutual support. See:

http://valuenetworks.com/public/item/209498

The focus on value and network intangibles allows the new “Big 3” of Toyota, Nissan and Honda  to account for 54.1% of the US car market. Fact is, the US car market is booming for these companies. The non-union configuration of Toyota, Nissan and Honda  allows them to master fluid network intangibles. They produce products that are  enormously popular and profitable... in the good ol' U S of A. Toyota’s annual profit is more that GMs market capitalization!

Here is further reinforcement of network intangibles from the same article.

The car is becoming an expression of identity, values, and personal control in ways that move far beyond traditional segmentation and branding. For example, fuel efficiency will be only one consideration for a socially responsible vehicle (SRV). What percent of the parts are recyclable? What is the vehicle's total carbon footprint? Are there child labor inputs? Toxic paints, glues, or plastics? How transparent is the supply chain? Is the seller accountable for recycling? What methods are used? Are fair labor practices employed?

The new demands for an individualized driving experience at an affordable price require a fundamentally new business model—a discontinuous shift from economies of scale and push marketing to distributed networks of enterprises that cluster around individuals. The single most important factor for competitive advantage will be a brand's ability to forge durable intimate relationships with customers based on trust, dialogue, and transparency. Similar skills will be needed at the enterprise level, as carmakers collaborate with other entities to support diverse customer needs.

Contrary to the old change management philosophy, value networks and VNA are highly instrumental in defining this new business logic. They specifically identify and put in-place “…distributed networks of enterprises that cluster around individuals..”

It is important now to activate in the value evolution of business and the stunning economics of intangibles. Delay will only prolong and perpetuate dire situations like GM. We need to get on the path to our shared network future.   

Please find the link to Shoshana's article below. Please read and comment, here and at Business Week.

This book by VNA Professional Edition user Ross Dawson is highly recommended. It is a completely updated edition of the bestselling book on client relationships for the professional services and financial services industries.

“This fresh new edition of Developing Knowledge-Based Client Relationships is simply amazing! Not only has Ross Dawson’s revolutionary view of the future been realized, but the practices and methods he laid out so beautifully in the first edition have been expanded, fine tuned, chiseled and polished into a truly masterful guide and tool set. From simple but powerful strategic frameworks to comprehensive principles of knowledge-value creation this book converts the “big ideas” of the knowledge economy into practical assessments, heuristics and processes for making intelligent choices about professional service offerings and strategic relationships. Insightful, practical and beautifully straightforward - this should be essential reading for anyone offering professional or creative services.”

– Verna Allee

The Flyer for the Original 1968 Event

On December 9, 1968, at 3:45PM PST, Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart and the Augmentation Research Center (ARC) staged a 90-minute public multimedia demonstration at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco. It was the worldwide debut of personal and interactive computing. For the first time in history, the public saw a computer mouse, which controlled a networked computer system to demonstrate hypertext linking, real-time text editing, multiple windows with flexible view control, cathode display tubes, shared-screen teleconferencing, email and hypertext.

“…frontier whizzed before their eyes. It was the mother of all demos."

"The Mother of All Demos" changed everything. The 1968 demo presaged many of the technologies we use today, from personal computing and knowledge management to the World Wide Web and social media. ‘The Mother’ embodied Doug Engelbart's vision of solving humanity's most important problems by using computers to improve communication and collaboration.

Tickets Available Online

On December 9, 2008 at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium, SRI International will present a commemorative 40th Anniversary celebration of this historic event. Hear original participants recount what led up to the 1968 demo, the drama of the demonstration itself, and its impact — which no one could have imagined at the time. Learn about Doug Engelbart's vision to use computing to augment society’s collective intellect and ability to solve the complex issues of our time.

Much of Doug's vision and passion is embodied in value networks and vice versa. He has engaged in many conversations with people in the value networks community over the last several years. Doug is an ethusiastic supporter and feels value networks hold enormous promise for realizing his vision of augmentation, collective intellect and solving difficult, complex problems.

Both Value Network Analysis (VNA) and Business Process Management (BPM) have a similar goal – supporting consistent outcomes. BRM achieves consistent outcomes by tightly engineering and controlling tasks, processes and procedures. In BPM the mantra drummed into workers is, “follow the process.” Variation is typically viewed as “a problem.”

However, when processes are non routine or more complicated people begin to work around the process or spontaneously reconfigure their work.  In a complex environment people constantly vary their actions and ways of working. It is not only a given - it is desirable! So overengineering work processes or attempting to drive out variation can actually reduce flexibility and even stifle innovation. Yet even in complex work environments we still need to achieve consistent outcomes.

With VNA variation is not a “problem,” – it is viewed as a given, as being completely natural whenever work moves beyond the strictly routine. Variation is the lifeblood of innovation, agility and responsiveness. The value network view helps people work smoothly between the predictable (engineered) world of process and BPM and the variable environments that represent the way most people experience their work. VNA focuses on working with probabilities instead of attempting complete predictability.  This is much more appropriate for supporting planning in a non-linear complex adaptive system – such as an organizaiton. It fills the analytic gap between the processes and the org chart.

Where BPM focuses on events and the process, VNA puts people front and center in describing the work activity. People are defined not by their job titles or work unit, but by the roles they play in the activity itself. “Links” between roles (nodes) are transactions, (represented by a one-directional arrow) that occur between two roles. However, instead of describing these as events in a process, they are defined by their deliverables or outputs.

Some deliverables are tangible - those formal, contractual, mandated or “expected” deliverables we provide to generate revenue or funding. (This type of deliverable shows up also in most  process flow charts or value stream analysis.) Equally important in VNA, however are “intangible” transactions, defined as those informal, interactions that help build relationships or make the work run smoother. These might be specific kinds of expertise, information, business connections, favors, courtesies and even intangibles such as “recognition.”

With VNA consistent outcomes are achieved by defining and supporting a responsive activity network that can handle whatever is thrown at it. Processes still can be tightly managed for good role execution and along critical flows, but the organic, dynamic interdependencies are best managed by focusing on Roles and deliverables. Value network tools provide a way of managing for consistent outcomes in truly complex activities.

ValueNetworks.com^tm announces the Value Network Analysis Workshop: Optimizing Business Performance.

A Value Network Analysis Workshop will be held at the University of Southern California Davidson Conference Center in Los Angeles, California on 11 December, 2008. This workshop develops leadership, fluency and visualization expertise for value networks. It offers a hands-on introduction to social, organizational and value network analysis (VNA) application technology.

http://www.vncluster.com/LAX09.htm

Value network analysis is a superior method for understanding, visualizing, optimizing and leading complex organizations and businesses. It applies to both internal and operational value networks as well as industry value networks and business webs. Value networks fundamentally expand and redefine the scope, value and importance of networks to business, economies and civil society.

Value network tools are redefining operations, tactics and strategies in the smartest organizations. They provide a powerful roadmap to the network-centric future. This workshop will demonstrate how to use Value Network Analysis (VNA) to  drive improvements in resource utilization, productivity, innovation and sharply improved performance overall. Large global companies and agile startups alike benefit from VNA. Value networks are also achieving breakthroughs in diverse institutional settings such as the European Commission, Geneva-based NGOs, and global health organizations.

The Value Network Analysis Workshop is sponsored by participants. It is open, low-cost, practical and conversational. It is for executives, directors, experts, researchers, scholars, consultants and practitioners having immediate needs for improved performance, greater effectiveness, faster innovation, customer delight and mastery of network-centric business models. All are welcome.

Workshop tuition includes a full-privilege, 90-day subscription to VNA Professional Edition. The software provides the foundation for immediate application of value network methods to everyday business issues. The venue is the stunning Davidson Conference Center on the campus of the University of Southern California.

The event tuition includes the 90-day subscription to VNA Professional Edition, meals, refreshments, books, parking, and materials. Registration is $399.00. Secure online registration in advance required. All are welcome. 

Contact:

Sarah V. Jones, Event Director
ValueNetworks.com^tm
1072 Folsom Street, #386
San Francisco CA 94103
 (978) 468-0267 
http://valuenetworks.com/ 
sarah.jones@valuenetworks.com

Value Network Analysis Workshop
Optimizing Business Performance

Thursday 11 December 2008
8:30am - 4:30pm

University of Southern California
Davidson Conference Center
The Club Room

3415 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, California 90007 USA

This comprehensive VNA workshop includes a full, 90-day subscription to VNA Professional Edition.

Event Site: http://www.vncluster.com/LAX09.htm

Just “Check-In” (register) with this link: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=676440

LinkedIn is the de facto business-oriented social network site (SNS). There is a popular Value Networks LinkedIn Group. Your LinkedIn Group will augment and expand your relationships and networks with the world’s leading business SNS. The Value Networks LinkedIn Group is an important asset to the ever-expanding value networks constellation and ecosystems of practitioners, scholars, experts, users and stakeholders. Click the link below to join today.

As predicted, the social reorientation of the enterprise is well underway. This is an all-important evolution, particularly for value networks. Value networks and VNA achieve quickly and easily fundamental enteprise reconfigurations. They put value at the center of all enterprise logic.

Here is how Oracle is taking baby steps towards the value network-centric enterprise. The focus on the social structure of networks is fine at this stage. It is the natural, necessary and constructive baby steps towards a complete value networks transformation and flourishing enterprise value ecosystems.

“…value comes from something not yet seen in enterprise software—the notion of a “social graph.” Social networks are defined not so much by their feature sets but by their ability to provide a connective fabric that ties people together. Once connections are made, they can be visualized and information derived from the connections.  

So with all this potential, why hasn’t there been a plethora of enterprise software offerings for social software? Although Web technologies have advanced to the point where building applications on top of a networked infrastructure is easier, building an online social graph that mirrors employees’ real-world interactions is still very hard.”

The Social Enterprise
Oracle White Paper
August 2008

“…still very hard?” Not anymore. See VNA Professional Edition.

When it comes to value networks the most frequently asked question is, "Where do I start?"  Here are some of our most popular resources for people who are new to value networks:

• Definition of Value Network Analysis in Wikipedia
• Value Networks Basics Intro - PDF of an introductory slide deck
• "A Value Networks Approach" - classic introduction and "how-to" paper
• "Testing the Limits" - story of Boeing's Flight Test Operations & Validation experience with VNA
• Wal-Mart Value Networks - How Wal-Mart uses a value network perspective for sustainable value networks
• ITIL and Value Network Analysis - article
• Will the Real Project Please Stand Up?: using value network analysis for project management
• Open Resource for Value Networks - Big Library of How-To Guides, Articles and more...