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Air Academy Associates believes that only through compelling thought leadership and the application of proven methodologies can today's companies gain the knowledge required to sustain leading positions in world technology, production, and service. Our goal is to help our clients achieve success at any point on their journey to competitive excellence. The A3CE Model is provided here to help our clients see their business at an enterprise level and decide where they may need to bolster their forces in order to preserve and evolve their business.
Overview: The Air Academy Associates Competitive Excellence Model (A3CE Model) is a strategic business model designed to guide organizations to a state of “competitive excellence.” The A3CE Model provides our clients with the plan, strategy, and tactics -- including the methods, tools, and techniques -- needed to maintain or improve current levels of business performance while evolving to an innovative business culture capable of achieving the next level of performance -- decreased development times, structured creativity, and growth. The foundation of the A3CE Model is our Knowledge Based Business Strategy, an approach which helps orchestrate the strategic direction the business will take as it focuses on customer and societal needs; organizational and employee enhancement; and process, product, and business model innovation.
Brief analysis of the A3CE Model: The two major domains targeted by the A3CE Model are Preservation and Evolution. Any activity that a business conducts should contribute to either the Preservation or Evolution domains (or goals) of the organization. Preservation describes those activities that maintain or protect the current market position of a business. It means maintaining market share, profitability, and brand recognition. It also means extending the net profitability period of a given product or service to achieve its maximum maturity capability. Preservation is driven by the voice of the customer and demands a clear understanding of that voice. Evolution is the set of activities focused on the development of new products or services. This means taking the company to new areas of endeavor and recreating itself by developing discontinuous technologies. Evolution requires breakthrough improvement and is driven by societal needs which are not in the customer's current vocabulary.
The execution of the A3CE strategy (represented in the graphical model above) is achieved through the capabilities that Air Academy transfers to our clients by way of materials, software, education, training, and coaching. At any point in time, there will be a necessary bias between the Preservation and Evolution states. The required bias between the Preservation and Evolution domains is determined by the Knowledge-Based Strategy, foundation of the A3CE model, in conjunction with the Voice of the Customer and Societal Needs.
Most improvement methodologies today emphasize the need for understanding the Voice of the Customer. Unfortunately, that voice is sometimes not easy to understand or interpret. While customers can adequately state preferences and what they like and don't like about a product or service, it is extremely difficult for customers to anticipate or predict what the societal needs are going to be over the next decade, and we cannot expect them to do so. That is why societal needs have to play a critical role in the Evolution state of any organization. Providers of products and services must continually assess the variables that are affecting and will affect society and link them to new technologies and capabilities. These needs then become the driver for evolution.
While Lean Six Sigma is a Preservation state methodology, DesIgNNOVATION™ (1) is an Evolution state methodology which combines Design for Six Sigma with Innovation tools such as TRIZ and Axiomatic Design. The Air Academy Innovation track, which supports both the Preservation and Evolution states of an organization, consists of both Tactical Innovation and Strategic Innovation. Strategic Innovation is integrated into the DesIgNNOVATION™ track, while Tactical Innovation supports and is integrated into the Lean Six Sigma track. Tactical Innovation may also be repeatedly applied within a Strategic Innovation application. That is why Innovation is shown on the model as a critical ingredient to both the Preservation and Evolution domains. (For an in-depth look at innovation topics, see CTQ Media's RealInnovation portal.)
At the outset of a competitive excellence initiative, one company may be more biased to the Preservation state, while another company may be balancing the two equally by rolling out Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) simultaneously. Historically, the trend seems to be that the Preservation state is more heavily weighted, perhaps because of increased global competition and inherently poor internal processes that sap a company’s resources.
The two pillars which bound the operational domains (Preservation and Evolution) are Synchronizing the Business, which aligns the methods to the strategy, and Enhanced Intellectual Capital, which improves the knowledge and capabilities of ALL employees. Air Academy Associates offers a variety of structures for the Synchronizing the Business course, the most comprehensive of which incorporates the Air Academy Associates Competitive Excellence Handbook, a web-based Client Management Tool which promotes alignment of the systems and structures in the business and which facilitates the client’s communications process. The Handbook also serves as a repository of knowledge and current state monitor for the rollout, regardless of the Preservation/Evolution balance or point on the timeline of the rollout.
Enhanced Intellectual Capital is the part of the model that concerns itself with improving the knowledge and capabilities of ALL employees. Unlike many Lean Six Sigma or Design for Six Sigma strategies that target only select groups of employees (like Belts) for training, the A3CE model encourages the improvement of knowledge and capability for ALL employees in order to bring the organization up to the highest level of intellectual capital.
Achieving and maintaining competitive excellence is a journey, not an end state. Our goal at Air Academy Associates is to serve in whatever capacity is needed as our clients travel the Competitive Excellence continuum. Contact an Air Academy Associates Business Development representative today to discuss how our A3CE Model can support your Preservation and Evolution goals.
(1) DesIgNNOVATION™ is a trademark of Air Academy Associates, LLC.
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