Organizational Dynamix for Business Sustainability: F3

What makes an organization sustainable?  This article focuses on three keys to maintaining relevance over time.  While there are certainly more than three keys to sustainability, F3 provides the business professional with an easy to remember and manageable starting point to work from.

Foresight

Foresight is not a new concept; rather, it is a tried and true business best practice.  Foresight comes from keeping a finger on the pulse of the organization's industry, tracking with customer needs and wants, and reading the domestic and foreign climate.  The ability to see the direction in which to take the company for success is not an innate ability, it is largely a matter of being cognizant of multiple climates (e.g., market, economic, political, and consumer), recognizing the opportunities worth taking and identifying the risks to manage on the horizon. As the captain of a ship charts the best course based on the climate and other factors; organizational leaders must continually monitor the climate in the sea of business. 

Fluidity

We're not talking about the recent organizational fluidity business model here.  That is a concept that is controversial in the business and organizational development literature, as addressed by Georg and Jorg.  What we are talking about is fluidity of the workforce.  A recurrent theme at the recent Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology conference was fluidity of the workforce, indicating that science-practitioners are beginning to recognize that organizational change is best managed in a proactive, rather than a reactive manner.  Fluidity of the workforce is concentrating on the skills, knowledge and abilities of an organizations' workforce and capitalizing on those organizational resources to maneuver the organization as needed to remain relevant and reactive to the changes in market, economic, political, and consumer demands.  

Flexibility

Being able to harness and capitalize on the fluidity of the workforce requires the organization to maintain a reasonable amount of flexibility of function.  This form of flexibility is not a business form, rather it is a principle of the organization's climate.  Leadership must foster a culture conducive to change to have flexibility of function.  In such a culture, employees feel safe taking reasonable risks that allow creativity and innovation in the organization.  Employees learn from their mistakes and improve, finding what works from what doesn't work.  In this type of an environment, business units can exercise flexibility of function to maneuver the organization into the optimum position as identified by foresight.

How Do You Approach Improving Your Business Dynamix?

When facing organizational problems it is not a good approach to seek solutions by applying the strategies that have worked for other organizations simply because the strategy seems to have worked.  The mass market "self-help" bookshelf is also not an ideal place to seek solutions.  The reason is that there is not an "off the shelf" one-size-fits-all solution to the issues that organizations face.  Like diet pills, hot trends and books with catch phrase titles promise a quick fix - and are generally as effective.

The same is true for many small business, and some career matters.  What is the best approach?  

• Assessment - to identify the current situation in detail
• Diagnosis - using evidence-based strategies to determine the possible solutions
• Design the plan - how to apply the appropriate strategies and interventions
• Commitment - all involved whether an organization, small business, or career, must commit to the plan
• Implementation - using change management practices, implement the solutions
• Verify results - assess the success and adjust if necessary
• Maintenance - ongoing maintenance and calibration 

Taking the steps identified above require a broad knowledge and a tool chest of skills used to tailor the solution to the specific problem while taking the all of the specific factors into consideration.  That is your best approach!

Small Business Start-up: Becoming a Legal Business Entity

If you are considering starting your own small business, you are no doubt aware that there are many considerations.  The focus of this article is specific to the decisions and steps involved in your small business becoming a legal business entity.  The primary considerations can be boiled down to four considerations, which come down to the laws and requirements within the state your business will form:

1. What business structure makes sense for your business type?
2. What forms of business structure are you able to form within your state?
3. What local and state laws govern your business structure and type?
4. What insurance and taxation requirements must you adhere to in your state?

The primary business structures include:  Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Corporation (also known as a C Corporation), S Corporation, Limited Liability Company, Limited Liability Partnership, Non-Profit Corporation, as well as a few other less common forms of business.  The guidelines for organizing and operating each form of business entity vary from state to state.  Generally, your Secretary of State office will provide the information you need to determine which structure is appropriate for your business and what you need to do to file in your state.  At this point, you have answered the first two questions listed above.  

Once you have determined how you will legally structure your small business, you must find out what local and state laws govern the way you operate your business.  Often this depends not only on the business structure, but also the type of business your are forming.  For example, you will need to do your research to determine if there are any laws governing your business based on the goods or services you will provide.  There may be state licensure requirements related to the services you provide or goods you sell.  There may also be specific local or state reporting requirements related to your business structure in order to maintain the business and avoid expiration.  It is important to check the regulations related to the types and amounts of insurance your business must carry as well as become familiar with taxation requirements including tax benefits and implications you may realize as a small business owner and what records you must keep.

Research?  Where do you start?  There are a range of options from doing the research on your own to getting help from others.  If you are interested in doing the research yourself, your local Secretary of State office or website and local Small Business Association (SBA) are excellent places to start.  Often both will provide information on business formation, taxation, applicable laws.  If you need a little help doing the research, local SBA offices can connect you with a peer or mentor who can help guide you to sources of information.  Finally, you can reach out to professionals with experience such as lawyers specializing in small business, tax advisers and business consultants.