Business drivers

Business drivers
See also
Strategic issues Strategic management Strategic management model Strategic cost management TOWS analysis Business risk management Strategic capabilities Change management Change management model

Business drivers are key aspects in achieving business determined goals, continuing success and ensuring its growth. Therefore, business drivers have crucial impact on company's performance, they are understood as:

• resources,
• processes,
• conditions,
• type of offered products and services,
• financials (cash flow, liquidity, profit etc.),
• assets (inventories, patents, equipment, facilities etc.),
• growth,
• people.

Managing business drivers

Business drivers might be divided into internal and external drivers:

• Internal business drivers are within company. Usually the business can highly influence them (for example strategies and goals).
• External business drivers are usually out of business control (for example regulations, economic conditions, weather conditions etc.). Despite company cannot influence them, the leadership might prepare how to handle them.

Company should focus on its business drivers, both internal and external. Managing them gives opportunity for growth and innovation while ignoring them might cause failures. The bigger company is, it becomes harder to identify its business drivers, however it is still manageable and might be described in the following steps:

1. Identification of business drivers should be first step, the basic division is to internal and external factors.
2. Responding to business drivers is preparing standards (procedures, policies etc.) or any actions plans that will guide company how to react to changes.
3. Controlling business drivers means managing internal factors as the company might shape drivers through vision, culture, plans, tactics, teams, processes, strategies, focus etc.
4. Growing through business drivers is happening when company is moving one step forward to respond to changes in business drivers. It is connected with all previous steps and might happening by: prioritization of business development, building the right team, building brand, conducting events etc.
5. Innovating through business drivers is not only growing but also inventing, for example many companies nowadays found it beneficial to invest in developed IT systems.

References

• Brocke J., Simons A., Herbst A., Derungs R., Novotny S. (2011) The business drivers behind ECM initiatives: a process perspective in "Business Process Management Journal" Vol. 17 No. 6, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Financial Planning Association (2014), Drivers of Business Growth, Financial Planning Association
• Melvin B. Greer Jr. (2013), 21St Century Leadership: Harnessing Innovation, Accelerating Business Success, iUniverse, USA
• Ruh W., Gold-Bernstein B. (2004), Enterprise Integration: The Essential Guide to Integration Solutions, Part of the Addison-Wesley Information Technology Series, Addison-Wesley Professional

Author: Katarzyna Żurek