Excerpt from:  Value Network Analysis
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August 13, 2009

Channel Management for Optimizing Value Network Flows

Indicators and Metrics for Monitoring and Predicting Performance

One of the most powerful benefits of value network modeling is the ability to monitor, predict and influence performance. Metrics are made simple with the Comprehensive Reports function in the ValueNetwork.com application. In addition to Animations and Detailed Visuals, indicator reports are generated for the Standard Value Network (Role view) and the Collaborative Value Network (Participant view). The text and charts below are drawn from a Standard Value Network (Role-based) Report, using the example of scheduling procedures in a health care organization. For other blogs in this series see the links at the end or simply search "Indicators and Metrics."

Channel Management

The Channel profiles provide a way to consider the effectiveness of different delivery mechanisms for specificDeliverables. For example, some companies rely heavily on face-to-face meetings, where video conferencing might be a more effective way to work. Other companies rely on technology and systems for delivering information or automating provisioning.

In the application it is possible to select the Channel for the transaction from the appropriate drop-down list. The channel is the medium or mechanism used to transport the deliverable.

The default choices for Channels are:

•      Phone conferencing
•      Web conferencing
•      Face to face meetings
•      Virtual team workspace
•      Instant messaging
•      Shared applications
•      Shared drivers/directories
•      Physical Transport
•      Wiki
•      Blog
•      Other

The three charts below are generated in the Reports and show the distribution of different channels viewed by All Transactions, Intangible Transactions only, and finally Tangible Transactions. These charts can be used to develop technology and communication strategies to better support transactions in the value network.

Percentage Channel Usage All Transactions

Percentage Channel Usage Intangible Transactions

It is also helpful to look at channel usage by role. In a value network technologies are enablers to support the transport of deliverables or to enable role execution. Every technology selection should have a positive impact on either the speed or quality of a transaction or role execution - ideally both. The first step in such an evaluation is to understand channel support from both the transaction perspective (as above) and role execution as in these charts.

Role contribution per Channel

Percentage of Channels used per Role

 Other topics in this series:

Topic Tags:  channel management, communication strategies, delivery mechanisms, Network flows, roles, transactions