Interest in the application of project management methods in recent years has shown rapid growth, and in all sectors of the economy. In the course of the "growing up" of the Russian project management the forms of interest changed, and after them the configuration of consulting services. Project management in a crisis is very different from project management in "fat" years.

Even 10 years ago, project management issues were considered more like a fashion or even a kind of "fetish" of individual managers. The very inclusion of the words “project”, “project management” into the managerial lexicon was considered useful. But by the end of this period, the level of general theoretical knowledge became higher and the demand for project management services became more concrete. The tasks of project management began to be tied to the current processes of companies, organizational structures, and development strategies.

Many Russian companies Following the Western ones, they reoriented themselves and instead of large-scale implementation of difficult solutions, which usually drag on for years, they began to choose the solution of selected tasks. Some companies, following the Western trend, decided to completely transfer individual project management functions to the area of ​​responsibility of an external professional team. Outsourcing began to stand out as a separate business line of many consulting companies.

Another feature of the development of project management in Russia in recent years is the increasing attention to this area on the part of the authorities. state power. And not only at the regional, but also at the federal level. And this is understandable, because the implementation of large-scale projects of national importance (PNP, state and targeted programs) requires transparency of management, efficiency and validity of decisions made, and quality of planning. All this is very well manifested in the example of the largest state program of recent years - preparations for the 2014 Olympic Games, in the implementation of which we are directly involved.

But, despite the rapid development, the project management market approached the crisis in a motley manner. Growth problems emerged from globalized customer goals that were not driven by readiness and real needs, from “loose” solutions by a number of contractors that were hastily building control systems due to growing demand.

Difficult present

The global financial crisis has made its own adjustments and changed approaches to project management during the crisis. However, its influence cannot be assessed only as negative. Moreover, according to the observations of our consultants, the crisis has sown the seeds of new interest, new opportunities and new areas of application of project management approaches.

In the second half of 2008, many companies were at a loss and froze their investment budgets. Now the situation is seriously changing. Those companies that turned out to be more efficient than their competitors, whose management was ready not to sit idly by in the face of uncertainty, are now demonstrating their readiness for internal development. More far-sighted management is making efforts to develop the business, aimed at further improving its efficiency.

In addition, right now, when many have gained indispensable experience of surviving during the crisis, there is an increase in investment activity. Companies are looking for new areas for their business, diversifying investments, investing in projects that imply long-term return on investment.

If before the crisis the priority was shifted towards projects designed for endless consumer demand (for example, development projects), now investors are ready to consider the possibility of investing in long-term development projects. The prospects for the creation of new industries, the development of new technologies that will bring profit in the future are considered. This is facilitated by the state, which is increasingly using tools to support such projects.

Naturally, an investor, agreeing to long-term investments, wants to minimize their risks. This can only be achieved by improving the quality of project and program management. That is why - in connection with the growing requirements for the project management system, monitoring and reporting, companies are turning to professionals in this field for such services.

If earlier a lot was built on trust, now the choice of a professional team capable of providing an effective and transparent management system is coming to the fore. Built-in monitoring by the Investor or the Customer is an almost mandatory feature investment projects- people want to check and control.

In a crisis, the management of state programs does not go unnoticed. The federal authorities, being one of the largest investors in Russia, require the processing of project management “slogans” into working solutions.

The experience of implementing projects during the crisis year shows that development has not stopped. Commercial companies are implementing individual elements of project management systems that lay the foundation for future development. Implemented specialized solutions for program-target methods management in state authorities (in the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, in organizations implementing the state program of preparation for the 2014 Olympic Games and many others). The theoretical base of Russian project management is expanding - new national standards are being created in the GOST R system.

Forecasted prospects

According to our analytical research, despite all the current difficulties, project management in Russia is only strengthening its positions, becoming a powerful tool in the struggle for efficiency and competitiveness.

The lull in the market at the end of 2008 and the first half of 2009 is replaced by an increase in the number of “hot” calls and pre-sales. Some of them are characterized by small budgets - companies are in search of a direction for development, points of support in the new conditions. But this is an inevitable reality dictated by the recession.

New value criteria are being formed for project management services: quick and concrete utility, the ability to completely delegate responsibility for blocks of specific work to professionals, providing company management with timely, reliable and sufficient information for decision-making.

The second half of 2009 is characterized by the readiness of Customers to make decisions on the transition to the contractual stages of relationships in consulting, outsourcing and implementation information systems. The number of ongoing projects has already reached the pre-crisis level.

However, today's demand structure is different from the pre-crisis period. The types of projects being implemented, the services in demand, the requirements for the management system on the part of Customers and Investors have changed. The actual re-profiling of the market, in turn, determined the need for changes in consulting companies as well. Some of them could not adapt to the new requirements and weakened their positions, which led to a redistribution of the burden on stronger market participants.

This trend is felt by the GC "Project PRACTICE". Due to the growing interest in project management, we are considering the possibility of abandoning the previously used anti-crisis discount programs, which, of course, will not affect Customers with whom partnerships have already been established or contracts for the provision of services have been concluded. At the same time, it is not planned to introduce new systems of discounts for consulting and outsourcing services in the near future. The services of real professionals with vast experience in project implementation remain in demand and cannot be cheap.

In general, the forecast for the development of the project management market, according to our specialists, is positive, and it is this market that can turn out to be a lever for overcoming the crisis of the entire Russian economy.

Mikhail Kozodaev, Managing Partner,
Consulting DirectorGK "Project PRACTICE"

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Mission of the organization is an important part of the strategy of each company, defining its goals and objectives. A well-organized mission is the key to success for the development and functioning of the organization. In anti-crisis management, this aspect requires great attention, since over time the mission of the organization may lose its relevance and correspondence to the real market conditions. In addition, in a crisis, when the question arises as to whether the enterprise will be able to overcome the negative situation within the framework of the previous mission, an important task is to develop a new or correct the old mission.

Mission- these are the target settings of the organization, which constitute the reason for the organization's activities and which must be met within a certain period.

In fact, it represents the meaning of the organization's activities aimed at final result. It is advisable to define the mission for large socio-economic units, where the strategy is the most important business guide. For small organizations that, as a rule, provide household and household services (grocery stores, workshops, ateliers, etc.), mission definition is not required, since for them the main goal of existence in the long term is to survive in competition and at favorable development of business expansion. Also, the definition of the mission becomes difficult in organizations with a highly regulated management system - state and municipal institutions.

A mission is formed with the aim of planning the activities of the organization, rational management and production process. There are many reasons why organizations need to form a mission. The most important:

1) determination of the goals of the organization's activities and ways to achieve them;

2) the need to identify the most priority tasks and ways to solve them;

3) planning the actions of the management and production systems of the organization in case of crisis situations;

4) formation of personnel policy;

5) development of a program for the use and distribution of resources;

6) creation of business culture in the organization;

7) shortcomings in the old mission.

Mission composition.

Although the mission of each organization contains its individual elements, it must meet some general requirements.

First, it must correspond to the real capabilities and resources of the firm. The activity of the company should be aimed at achieving real results, taking into account the available opportunities.

Secondly, the mission statement of the organization should be clear and specific. It should not include all the details and features of the activity, as well as use generalizing and abstract formulations. Otherwise, this can lead to serious contradictions at crucial moments. The mission should have a clear time frame and, if necessary, a seasonal "schedule".

Thirdly, include a system of incentives and rewards for personnel. The successful implementation of programs and the achievement of the final result will depend on the actions of employees. But do not turn the workflow into a meaningless technical execution of tasks - the enthusiasm and interest of employees are decisive in the implementation of the company's strategy. In addition, much depends on how the end result is defined - only as a profit or also as a help and relief to the lives of consumers. Oddly enough, but in conditions of constant material interest, organizations that define their mission not only from a material point of view are more successful.

Fourth, contain individual features that differ from others. When a company enters the market or returns after a long break, in particular a period of crisis, it is required to attract the attention of customers. The presence of innovations or qualitatively new proposals significantly raises the status of the organization and increases the chances of success.

Within the framework of anti-crisis management, the mission of the organization plays an important role not only because of the planning of actions in a crisis situation, but also because of the prevention of such situations. A well-formed mission in itself makes it possible to avoid many internal crises and to act more successfully in crisis situations related to external causes.

The mission of the organization determines many important components of its activities. In principle, we can say that this is the composition of the mission, but it is in a broader concept. The basis of the mission is the target settings, on the basis of which further stages are already determined.

1. Determination of the scope of the organization and the main directions. Here, the branch of the market that the organization enters or occupies stands out. The initial scale of activity and those parts of the sphere that the organization would like to occupy in the future are noted.

2. Determining the goals of the organization for the short and long term. to the goals in short term usually include organizational and legal obligations and the introduction of a new or updated company on the market. Long-term goals include changing the organizational structure; increase in the occupied market share; increase in the volume and structure of goods and services produced; switching to cheaper or newer materials; increase in product quality; reorganization of the organization and others.

3. Determination of methods and measures to achieve the goals. Each goal implies a set of attitudes, principles and methods for its implementation. The existence and activity of the organization, its sustainability and stability in the market depend on the way in which the result is achieved. It also sets time frames for achieving goals.

4. Formation of the structure and tactics of management policy. In particular, we are talking about the allocation of management functions and the degree of its control over the work process. It also sets the deadlines for reporting periods, delivery of documents, etc.

5. Appointment of responsible persons for carrying out changes and control. It defines the managerial staff (middle and high level), teams to carry out special assignments.

6. Determination of a set of goods and services put into production and sale, as well as the development and introduction of new products. This section describes the types of products offered for sale, the market demand for these products, the advantages and disadvantages, the expected profit from its sale and possible costs and losses.

7. Development of personnel policy. Responsibilities are distributed between departments, an incentive system is determined, programs for training, advanced training, and development of employees are developed. Personnel is considered from the point of view of the goals and objectives set, the ability to effectively perform their duties and act both in normal and in crisis situations.

8. Organization of the production process. Occurs after an assessment of the available resources, as well as the state of the technical and technological base. Organizations overcoming a crisis and revising their mission usually make changes to the existing system, replacing physically and morally obsolete equipment and providing their firm with new technologies. Providing the firm with a powerful technical base and information technologies is of great importance.

9. Assessment of the business and competitive environment. A very important stage of the mission, which, in fact, is the starting point for everyone else. The goals of the organization (the most common) can be formed earlier, but the definition of all other components - methods of achievement, management and personnel policy - occurs after the study of the external environment. An assessment of the business environment allows you to determine the feasibility of a firm entering a given market or taking into account changes that occur in it over time. This is of particular importance for organizations in the period of overcoming crisis situations, when they form a strategy to deal with the crisis or choose a way to overcome it (restructuring, reengineering, minor changes). It is very important for such organizations to give a correct assessment of the environment and competition, since in fact they are in a weakened state and an unprepared entry into the market can lead to poor results.

10. Development of a marketing research program. This includes researching the market and the products available on it, the size of supply and demand. The market is also assessed for opportunities. Each opportunity is considered in terms of the existing goals and resources of the organization. In addition, the type of brand is determined - an analogue of existing ones or the creation of a qualitatively new product. Organization is also related to marketing. advertising campaign, which in modern conditions is a powerful means of winning customers and creating the image of the company.

The definition of the mission also depends on the ability to capture the emerging needs of the market and bring them out in time. New Product while determining the best mission. For example, many experts call the creation of MP3 players – portable music carriers – a real breakthrough. The developers were able to successfully anticipate the need for such a product and offer it to consumers.

Thus, the mission of the organization should be aimed at a long-term period, at least 10-15 years. The mission should be focused on sustainable, purposeful development, but at the same time be flexible. Changes in the market environment occur almost every day, so it is simply irrational to review the mission every 2-3 years. However, if an enterprise has entered a crisis due to a poorly thought out strategy or its inconsistency with market needs, then the mission must be revised to ensure the continued existence of the company. Over time, it may also become clear that when defining the mission, important aspects of the external or internal environment were not taken into account due to insufficient analysis and evaluation of various factors. This is also a reason to reconsider the mission.

Within the framework of anti-crisis management, there are many importance plays the transformation of the mission into specific goals and objectives at every level of the company. In other words, each department and employee should have certain tasks with time limits for their implementation.

Certain problems are caused by too many-level hierarchy of tasks of the organization. For example, a home appliance company would define its mission as "simplifying the lives of customers and improving their quality of life." But in order to maintain competitive advantages, the company will have to develop new models and technologies that are more functional and powerful, the use of which will increase the comfort of customers. However, for the development of new products, it is necessary to conduct research and testing, which are quite expensive. Therefore, a new goal of the company arises in increasing revenues for further investment in the development of new products. Profit, respectively, can be obtained by increasing sales or reducing costs and expenses. If a company chooses the first option, then it needs to determine how to do it: expand the company, develop new markets, etc. This creates new goals and objectives.

Accordingly, general goals are distinguished, developed for the entire organization as a whole, and specific goals, developed for each department and division on the basis of a dedicated strategy.

General goals reflect the very direction of the company, its concept. As a rule, these are long-term goals that underlie the mission statement. There is a certain classification of these goals depending on their functional orientation:

Achievement by the company of the maximum level of profitability with the available amount of resources. The following indicators are distinguished, which reflect the development trend, and the decrease of which indicates the possibility of crisis situations: the volume of profits and sales, the growth rate of profits and sales, product quality indicators, etc.

Achievement of stable functioning and existence of the organization. This includes policy in internal areas: technical, investment, personnel, marketing.

Goals related to the development of the company: expansion of market share through the use of methods of diversification, restructuring of the organizational structure, strengthening the information and technical base, creating innovative management styles and organizing production.

Specific goals are developed on the basis of general goals, the difference lies in a more in-depth and narrow approach.

An important goal is to determine the degree of profitability and implementation of the plan for each department. The development of a system for such an assessment will allow not only obtaining detailed data, but also observing the dynamics, in case of deviation of which in negative side steps are taken to identify symptoms and causes. Such a system will make it possible to analyze the work of each department and division, moreover, in the event of a crisis, the search for causes will be noticeably facilitated, since the existing dynamics in the form of reporting documents will make it possible to judge specific factors in the emergence of a crisis.

Mission development technique.

Usually the mission is compiled by a special strategic planning group with the obligatory presence of the head of the company. If we are talking about several owners, it is best if they are present in full force. The mission of an organization cannot be determined by oneself, otherwise it is doomed to failure. There is currently a large number of consulting firms that provide their employees to help define the mission. However, you should not entrust the entire task to the consultant. In Western companies, the practice of involving personnel in discussion and decision-making is now widely used. It is believed that a person directly involved in the labor process can give a more accurate and objective assessment, as well as express the necessary needs.

As a rule, a strategic planning group is formed, which includes consultants, heads of the organization, senior and middle managers. This group forms the initial positions and goals. It is also advisable to conduct a staff survey in writing or electronic form asking for suggestions and comments. This will take into account the gaps in the production and management systems. After that, the general collection and processing of information takes place, which, together with the decisions of the group, is formed into the final formulation.

Every employee and worker needs to have a clear vision of the mission of their organization. To do this, various events are held to notify personnel, issue souvenirs from the company with the text of the mission on them, etc.

The mission must be properly formulated for easy understanding and formal presentation. This is necessary because in terms of content it is quite large, as it contains a description of the activities of the enterprise in the long term. From the point of view of anti-crisis management, the mission is best oriented to the market. This position is more advantageous, because goods and technological systems quickly become obsolete (this is especially true in modern economic conditions), but the functional needs of the market, as a rule, only begin to be interpreted differently, while retaining their essence. For example, in the automotive world, power, speed and reliability will always be a priority, despite the fact that companies compete with each other, presenting both new developments in the field of technical developments and additional features.

A lot depends on how the mission of the organization was formulated, it should not be too narrow and at the same time too detailed. Often companies present their mission in the form of stands and signs, expressed emotionally and vividly in a few words. When creating company advertising, brochures and banners on the Internet, which are the source of initial information about the company, the mission of the company is also expressed with the help of headings, tickers, etc. The wording itself should contain only the main provisions for each component. In order to do this correctly, it is necessary to give a description of each part during development, from which the main, supporting phrase is subsequently selected. Some companies even resort to the services of psychologists when formulating the main provisions of the mission, in order to more effectively influence consumers.

A complex issue that gives rise to disputes and discussions is the determination of the priority of the interests of managers and consumers. Undoubtedly, the company is created to satisfy the interests of the owner, but in the long run, the needs of customers come to the fore. Much depends on the stage of development of the organization. But in any case, ignoring the interests of the consumer environment is a sure failure. A balance must be found between the two sides. Often at the initial stages of the organization's activities, many managers go to the detriment of their needs for the further development and functioning of the company, which, by the way, gives good results.

In general, the definition of the organization's mission is a rather complicated process, because, in addition to studying the internal and external environment, a program is needed to create the mission itself, its " appearance". This usually takes place in several stages.

1. Determine the group that will be tasked with developing the mission. To do this, it is necessary to assess the potential of each participant, his professionalism and awareness of the company's affairs. In addition, it would be useful to invite employees who already have experience in such work.

2. Determining the mission schedule. When solving this issue, one should not show excessive haste, however, if the enterprise is in a crisis, then the time factor will play a significant role.

3. Definition of mission orientation: to the market, to partners, to foreign investors. As a rule, the mission is not created strictly focused on one particular category, it is developed as a multilateral system. But if there is a certain goal that is most important for the next medium term, for example, attracting foreign colleagues, then it is worth considering this fact and developing a mission in terms of attractiveness for foreign partners.

4. Definition of the style of the mission, its expression and representative form. This is necessary for a successful advertising campaign in the first place. Large firms, as a rule, use all available forms of mission presentation - in electronic, printed form, through videos, etc.

5. Development of a program to inform personnel about the main provisions of the mission. This is important for the staff to understand the needs and requirements of the company.

The value of the mission in anti-crisis management.

The mission of the organization is truly of great importance for crisis management. Firstly, with its help, an enterprise management structure and an activity planning system are developed. As already mentioned, this reduces the risk of internal crises. Secondly, due to the fact that during the formation of the mission there is an assessment of internal and external factors, you can judge the general state of the company and, if there are problems, develop measures to solve them. In addition, the mission of the organization is, as it were, an ordered list of all elements of the organization and their tasks in realizing the goals of the activity.

As you can see, a lot depends on the mission in the activities and existence of the company, therefore, if a crisis situation arises, the first thing to do is turn to the mission. In principle, many researchers believe that even with individual changes, one can speak of a redefinition of the mission. However, this is quite controversial issue, since the mission is the target setting, on the basis of which the structure of other parts is formed. We can speak with precision about redefining the mission if, for some reason, it no longer corresponds to the real conditions of the market environment and needs to be radically revised taking into account new factors.

Each company is located in a certain environment, where other socio-economic units operate along with it. The activities of the organization will be carried out only when there are more or less favorable conditions for this in the environment. Both the internal and external environment are important for developing an anti-crisis management strategy, because often the causes of crises lie precisely in the external environment.

Until the 60s and 70s. In the 20th century, the main attention was paid to the internal environment, and only from that time did attention begin to be paid to the external environment. Initially, a systematic approach was used, in which the organization was considered as an open system in interaction with the external environment. Over time, the complication of connections and structures, this approach became wider - a situational approach arose in which the definition of the policy and strategy of the organization was considered depending on the conditions of a particular situation, in which a certain part is occupied by elements of the external environment.

In addition to the fact that external conditions affect the internal environment of the organization, they also determine its potential. The fact is that the resources and materials that are necessary for the production of goods and services, the organization receives from the external environment, that is, there is a system of constant exchange, which is the source of the company's existence. However, any company has limits on the use of resources. This is due to the presence of competition in the market. Lack of resources can lead to a crisis and other negative consequences. Moreover, such a danger exists constantly, since many factors influence the organization's relations with the external environment. For this, an assessment of the business environment is carried out in order to determine the optimal ratio of exchange elements and establish such links with the environment that would allow it to ensure the effective implementation of its activities and maintain such a state in the long term.

However, data on the external environment alone is not enough to develop a firm's strategy and ensure an effective level of management. If there are problems in the internal environment, the enterprise will not be able to maintain stable production. Therefore, it is important to comprehensively consider the factors of the external and internal environment.

The study of the external environment is carried out primarily to determine those threats and dangers that can harm the internal environment of the organization. Of course, it is impossible to predict all the scenarios for the development of the situation, but this will help to develop at least rough plan action in a crisis.

The main difference between the modern and the old view of the external environment is that before the conditions surrounding the organization were considered uncontrollable, they could only be taken for granted in the development of the market. However, this point of view has now changed. Now the organization must not only observe changes in the conditions of the external environment, but also adapt to them, changing its internal structure in accordance with the appearance of threats from the outside; it is, as it were, a reaction to the external environment. This approach is widely used in the formation of the anti-crisis strategy of many Russian and foreign firms.

The concept of "business environment".

Business environment- this is a set of factors and conditions that affect the activities of the organization and its functional state and which are regulated by decision-making by the management of a liquidation or adaptation nature.

As it is already clear, the business environment consists of two parts: internal and external. In addition, the external environment is divided into microenvironment - this is the immediate work area, and macroenvironment - this is the environment of the business environment.

Internal business environment- this is the economic structure of the organization, including management, production and other mechanisms. It includes all departments and divisions - financial, economic, marketing, personnel. This also includes all processes occurring within the company - production, research and others that require the use of the resources and capabilities of the organization.

External business environment - these are factors and conditions that arise in the environment regardless of the company's activities, developing according to their own laws, but which have a direct or indirect impact on the company's activities.

The analysis of each environment is usually carried out to determine the state of the elements with which the organization is in direct contact. Each environment has its own components. However, in order to develop the most effective strategy it is also necessary to take into account those factors with which the company is not connected on a daily basis, since they have a wider scale and determine the functioning of all other units - these are political factors, factors social development society, natural and climatic factors, etc.

Accordingly, in a two-valued business environment, there is also a two-valued management. On the one hand, there is internal management on the other hand, the management of the organization as a market entity.

The internal environment consists of a certain number of elements that are situational in nature. They are mainly the result of development and decision-making by management. However, as in the external environment, these elements cannot always be fully controlled. Therefore, management should take care of creating an optimal system for the functioning of departments and divisions, communications between them to achieve goals.

There are many different departments and divisions in the enterprise, but their work is based on the following main components: goals, objectives, structure, personnel, capital and technology.

Goals- this is the meaning of the organization's activities, the desired states or results. The goal of almost any commercial enterprise is to make a profit. Profit is an indicator of the success of the functioning of the organization and production efficiency. Objectives are usually determined by management, as well as the method of negotiating with top and middle managers. After the goals are defined, methods for achieving them are developed, followed by informing the entire staff of the organization.

Tasks- certain type of work to be done deadlines through a specific set of methods. The peculiarity of the tasks is that they are constantly becoming more complex as the organization develops and take on a more multifaceted character. Tasks are set in accordance with the goals of the organization.

Structure(in this case, we mean the organizational structure) is the level of relationships between different departments and management, the nature of the relationship between different departments and the distribution of tasks and responsibilities between them. The structure of the organization is formed in such a way as to ensure the most efficient level of production with the optimal use of available resources. As a rule, the structure of an enterprise is created for a long time and is difficult; it is not a flexible enough system for constant adaptation to the conditions of the external environment. Therefore, structural crises in the enterprise are so dangerous.

Staff- a human resource, thanks to which the work process is carried out and the existence of the organization is ensured. Has a very complex system devices, so having a HR policy is essential, especially in large-scale organizations.

Capital- from the point of view of the organization, this is all available cash and material resources, as well as resources, with the help of which the production process is carried out. Without capital, it is impossible to carry out the activities of the company and plan any long-term prospects.

Technology- these are ways of producing and manufacturing products using certain resources and capabilities. Technologies have recently played an ever-increasing role, the possession of an organization by one technology or another determines its competitiveness in the market. Technology can be bought and sold. Many companies specialize in the development of new technologies related to their activities.

The main elements of the internal environment of the company:

1) the administrative apparatus;

2) financial department;

3) accounting department;

4) production department;

5) information department;

6) marketing department;

7) personnel department;

8) transport department;

9) development department;

10) anti-crisis department.

Of course, this is not a complete list of all the services that make up the internal business environment. Some organizations may create special departments and divisions that are necessary specifically for this business.

From the point of view of anti-crisis management, the assessment of the internal environment of the organization should take place continuously in order to timely identify the symptoms of a crisis. Besides, management decisions cannot be accepted without detailed information about the state of the organization, which means that the effective implementation of the company's activities is impossible.

At each level of the internal environment, a system of indicators is developed, on the basis of which conclusions are drawn about the state of the organization. These indicators characterize, as a rule, the effectiveness of the functioning of departments and divisions, and also on their basis, the dynamics and trends in the development of the organization are built, which allow determining the overall result.

Most scientists and researchers are of the opinion that the root causes of problem situations in the organization lie in the external environment. This is actually true, the activities and development of any company depend on many external processes - political, social, competitive. It is because of the presence of these factors that management has to develop an organization strategy, its structure.

The main problem that arises when assessing the external environment is the number of its factors that cause various processes in the organization. As a rule, the management of the company seeks to reduce the list of these factors to those on which the existence and profitability of the enterprise directly depends.

The classification of factors has many types, but in management there is a more or less generalized classification of factors of direct and indirect impact:

1) general political;

2) general economic;

3) regulation of business by the state;

4) social;

5) the state of the market;

6) economic factors of the organization.

The first four groups of factors are usually classified as indirect impact factors, and the last two - as direct impact factors.

The external environment is a very complex mechanism. Its assessment is also complicated by the fact that it is characterized by the following qualities:

1) mobility;

2) uncertainty;

3) complexity;

4) the presence of a close relationship between factors.

Mobility is the rate at which changes occur and occur in the external environment. The environment is not permanent, it is in dynamic processes. And in recent years, these changes are happening more and more often. But this state is not homogeneous; there are organizations with a more mobile environment, or vice versa. Decision-making under such conditions becomes quite a complex process, so a lot of information is required to create the whole picture as a whole.

Uncertainty- this quality is associated with the information that the organization has about the external environment. Due to other qualities, obtaining complete and reliable information is not an easy process, thereby creating uncertainty in the available data, which also complicates decision-making.

Complexity the external environment is associated with large quantity factors that are also in constant change. This is an undesirable phenomenon in determining the causes of various negative situations in the organization.

The latter quality can be defined as the level of change, the occurrence of which in one factor leads to a change in another. This, by the way, is very similar to the internal environment, where a change in one factor can lead to a change in another.

When assessing the external environment, one has to use multi-alternative calculations. This is due to the fact that the activities of companies are influenced by changes not only in a particular market, but also in the global economy as a whole. Accordingly, firms are forced to look for various methods and ways of adapting to changes in the external environment. Multi-alternativeness arises due to a large number of factors. However, it is this method - a multi-alternative calculation of the effectiveness of the organization - that allows you to take into account specific situations and adapt to them.

Assessment of the external environment is of great interest not only for decision-makers, but also for the managerial staff. Therefore, it is necessary to create a solid system for monitoring, processing and analyzing information about the state of the external environment. Timeliness of information is of great importance in conditions of environment mobility, especially in case of major changes. Assessment of the external environment, in fact, is the organization of observation and processing of data on environmental factors in order to control and determine the opportunities and dangers that arise for the company in the market.

As already mentioned, two parts can be distinguished in the external environment: the microenvironment and the macroenvironment.

Assessment of the microenvironment.

This includes those entities that are in the immediate environment of the organization and have a direct impact on its activities. In turn, these subjects are influenced by all the processes taking place in the organization, i.e. the company can actively participate in external processes and help prevent threats to its activities and existence. The following main subjects of the organization's external microenvironment can be distinguished:

1) state bodies;

2) suppliers;

3) consumers;

4) competitors;

5) labor resources.

State bodies.

Any organization is under the influence of government authorities - it must comply with the requirements of the authorities state regulation and pay taxes. The latter is determined depending on the legal status of the organization, its type (commercial or non-commercial) and form (partnership, sole proprietorship, corporation, etc.). In case of non-compliance with the rules established by the Government of the Russian Federation, the management of the organization is held liable or fines are imposed on it. In case of particularly serious violations, the question of terminating the activities of the organization may even be considered.

The state has a direct and indirect impact on organizations. Direct - in the form of legislative acts and documents, indirect - through the tax system and the state budget.

Of course, the main issue is related to tax collections, since their increase can significantly reduce the activity of a business and its investment capacity. Reducing the level of taxes, on the contrary, leads to a revival of business.

Suppliers.

Any organization is a system that operates by introducing some resources into it, after the use of which it gives back the produced goods or services. The main types of inputs are raw materials, materials, capital, equipment, labor resources. They enter the organization through suppliers. Suppliers can be domestic or foreign. Viewed from this point of view, the way in which foreign resources are used can be more dangerous, there is often a question of quality. Besides, detailed information and valuation of foreign supplier firms will provide assurance and reassurance.

For an organization, resources are the source material; without them, it cannot exist and produce goods and services. Therefore, suppliers can make firms very dependent on themselves, especially when they are highly competitive. Therefore, when choosing suppliers, it is necessary to collect as much information as possible to ensure the optimal level of interaction of the organization with them and, in addition, that the costs associated with resources do not cause a financial crisis.

The competitiveness of a supplier is its strength, so you need to know the main factors of this strength:

1) the quality of the supplied resources;

2) the degree of demand for the supplied resources in the market;

3) the level of competence of supplier firms;

4) the level of specialization of the buyer in the selection and purchase of resources;

5) market concentration.

Obviously, it is very important for an organization to create strong relationships with its suppliers, which will ensure the supply of quality resources. In addition, it is desirable to establish such relationships with suppliers that in the event of a crisis (and, accordingly, a delay in payments for the supply of resources), they would not switch to another company, but would supply this organization on credit. This is a very topical issue today, since during a crisis, an enterprise is in dire need of various resources, and most suppliers quickly switch to other customers.

Therefore, when evaluating suppliers of resources and materials, it is necessary to pay attention to following points.

1. The cost of the supplied resources.

2. The quality of the supplied resources.

3. Guarantees provided by the supplier regarding the condition and quality of resources.

4. Schedule for the implementation of the terms of the contract.

5. Accuracy and obligation to fulfill all the terms of the contract for the supply of resources.

Consumers.

The goal of any organization in the field of making a profit is to create and win a customer. The firm's dependence on consumers is undeniable. The very existence of the organization is explained by the creation of a buyers' market and profit. The consumer market influences the strategy of the firm, its structure and target areas. In modern conditions, it is no longer a simple focus on the consumer market that is becoming important, but a focus on customers or a group of customers who not only create demand for products, but also determine the company's image.

Therefore, the assessment of consumers in the first place implies the definition of the profile of customers and their purchasing power. The interests of buyers are very important, which allow you to determine the need for a particular product, the ability of the organization to meet these needs, the level of volume and sales, etc.

When evaluating consumers, the following characteristics should be taken into account.

Demographic characteristics - gender, age, field of activity. For example, if a company specializes in the production of goods for teenagers, it needs to pay special attention to this category of the population, it is even possible to organize information polls. It is more difficult if the goods are intended for the entire population as a whole, here it is already necessary to take into account and systematize the interests of different groups of the population.

Geographic description of the organization's area of ​​activity - the relevance of certain goods and services will depend on the location of the company. Goods (and especially those related to external conditions) must meet the situation and be needed by consumers. For example, starting a business selling various swimming accessories (circles, mattresses, inflatable pools) in the northern regions of the country does not make sense due to climatic conditions.

Socio-psychological characteristics - tastes, style, consumer preferences associated with the latest trends and directions. It is believed that foreign firms are ahead of Russian ones in the production and release of new goods. However, the non-production of these goods does not mean that consumers will not know about their existence and will not have a need for them. Therefore, it is important to follow the development of the market and technologies not only in the domestic, but also in foreign markets. This is also important for maintaining competitive advantages and the company's image.

Consumer demand is influenced by a huge number of factors, so consumer assessment should be carried out as a comprehensive work that considers this issue from different angles. It is necessary to take into account the general socio-economic situation in the country, since it is this that affects the consumer environment to a greater extent.

When evaluating consumers, a number of factors must also be taken into account.

1. The degree of dependence of the consumer on the seller.

2. Availability of substitute goods on the market.

3. The degree of consumer awareness.

4. The volume of purchases of goods by the consumer.

5. The sensitivity of the consumer to the price of the goods.

It is also advisable to identify the reasons for consumer interest in the products of this organization: the quality of goods, price, relevance, technical reliability, safety, the level of innovation in the product, the result of well-planned advertising, etc. It is quite clear that if, for example, product quality is average level, and the interest of consumers arose at the initial stage due to a successful promotion, then it is not necessary to count on high sales volumes of this product in the medium and long term.

Competitors.

An assessment of the external environment of an organization cannot be imagined without an analysis of the competitive environment. Many experts even separate the assessment of competitors into a separate study. In conditions modern market the issue of competition should be given particular attention.

Competitors are persons, groups of persons, enterprises, firms, companies located within the same sphere and industry, having similar resources and technologies for their use and striving to win a large market share and consumer preferences.

Competition is inevitable in modern economy, and now there is a tendency to complicate and tighten competitive relations between organizations. Accordingly, in order to satisfy and attract consumers, companies have to offer various additional benefits and conditions for consumers, which, in turn, allows consumers to choose the best option for themselves. However, it should be noted that recently there has been a tendency to prefer "high prices". It lies in the fact that companies set high prices for their products, justifying this with the quality of the goods, which, in principle, is not always true. Consumers fall for this trick, and companies in a wide variety of industries use this method. Here the competition is already for the "highest" price.

Not only small and medium-sized firms, but also large companies can suffer from competition. It is important to consider the fact that consumers are not the only object of the competitive ups and downs of organizations. The main objects of competition are, as already mentioned, consumers, resources (including labor), materials, capital, territory, technical and technological innovations.

When developing an anti-crisis strategy, a detailed consideration of all possible competitors is necessary. The danger of today's market is that many organizations resort to unauthorized and even illegal actions to "disarm" and eliminate competitors.

As a result of competition in the enterprise, a crisis situation of the following kind may arise.

Crisis due to lack of resources for the production of goods and services. At present, the resource market is huge, but every enterprise is striving to get better materials for more favorable prices. As a result, organizations fight for the right to own certain resources, offering suppliers various conditions. There may also be a situation in which competitive firms deliberately poach suppliers to weaken the position of the organization.

Loss of company image. This situation arises as a result of a conspiracy or deliberate actions to damage the brand and image of the company. This leads to a reduction in consumer demand and problems with business partners. Companies often use the method of introducing their employees into a competitive organization to obtain information about the plans and projects of the business. In such a case, they can "steal" the technology or project.

The crisis associated with the lack of demand for products and, accordingly, the financial losses of the enterprise. This crisis does not necessarily arise as a result of competition, it can be caused by the entry into the market of a new enterprise with more powerful technologies, the innovative discoveries of other enterprises and the subsequent attraction of consumers, etc.

Of course, there are other crises caused by competition. It all depends on the state and conditions of the market. It is important to remember that competitors exist at any stage of the development of an organization, it is simply irrational and sometimes even dangerous to ignore, because now, as a rule, competitive firms are not “disarmed”, but are trying to bring them to complete bankruptcy.

It is also necessary to know that even strong organizations that are stable and resilient have their weaknesses. Therefore, when evaluating competitors, it is necessary to identify not only strengths, but also weaknesses in order to successfully fight for the market. It is also a mistake of many organizations that they underestimate new enterprises that have just started their activity. Some organizations, when analyzing the external environment, do not even include such young enterprises in the list, which, of course, is a mistake. Such young enterprises can be very competitive due to their technical innovations and innovative technologies. And since at first they are not so closely watched, they adapt to market conditions for a certain period and take their position.

Labor resources.

Labor resources are the part of the able-bodied population of the country that has professional, physical and ethical qualities for the implementation of the labor process.

Evaluation of labor resources has recently become of great importance due to the constant renewal and replenishment of the personnel of organizations. If earlier the personnel of the enterprise were noted as static, now they are characterized by mobility. The presence of professional, highly qualified and competent employees is a kind of key to the success of the organization and in many cases its "visiting card". Evaluation of the labor market is aimed primarily at identifying the potential level and its capabilities in supplying the necessary personnel. Often, large companies themselves create training programs and institutions to train specialists in the right areas.

Assessment of the macro environment.

These are various factors that have an indirect impact on the organization. This effect is not as noticeable as in the microenvironment. However, macroenvironmental factors are broader and can even affect the microenvironment. The indirect impact environment has a rather complex structure, so the forecasting method is widely used here.

The main factors of the macro environment include the following:

1) political factors;

2) economic;

3) social;

4) technological.

political factors.

The assessment of the political situation is primarily made from the point of view of stability. It is clear that in the conditions of instability of the political situation in the country, one must act with extreme caution, because the organization, as already mentioned, cannot change the external environment, it can only adapt to it.

In addition, it is necessary to monitor the legislative acts and tax changes in the country, i.e., an assessment of the political situation is still needed to predict possible changes in the country, as well as in state policy in relation to society and the economy. The study of the political factor should include the study of new and developing programs for the development of the economy, the attitude of the government to various industries, the degree of dependence of a particular sector of the economy on government. When studying the political component of the macro environment, it is advisable to study the structure of the government - to determine the most powerful parties, their policies regarding the economy and business, and the stability of the current situation.

In any state in a certain period there is a hidden or open struggle for power. This, in turn, requires additional funds and sources of financing. Governments often use the method of embezzlement of funds from organizations, which can be a threat to the existence of the organization. That is why the assessment of the political situation is so important.

Economic forces.

An assessment of the economic situation allows you to identify ways to create and distribute resources, and resources for an organization are the source of its life. The state of the economy in a given period affects the price of resources and their availability, so the organization must predict possible changes in the internal environment following changes in the external environment to create effective system guides. For example, if inflation is expected, then management may decide to increase the company's resource reserves in order to avoid higher costs in the future. If a downturn in the economy is expected, then measures such as increasing sales and expanding production should be postponed to another period.

Evaluating the state of the domestic economy in modern conditions is clearly not enough; it is necessary to monitor the development of the entire world market as a whole.

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that different changes in the economy can have different results for individual organizations, i.e. a change can have a positive result in one organization and a negative one in another. Therefore, you should not rely entirely on the experience of colleagues in different situations especially since the nature of each organization is inherently unique.

There are whole systems economic indicators, which reflect the general state of the economy: the value of the gross national product, gross domestic product, inflation rate, interest rate level, solvency level, unemployment rate, etc. The study of these indicators is important primarily not because of their direct purpose, but because of opportunities provided by information to the organization.

Also, when evaluating economic factors it is important to identify hidden threats to the organization. Moreover, there is often a twofold situation here: on the one hand, there is a threat to the company, and on the other, an opportunity. For example, low price on resources can reduce costs, but at the same time, this may indicate a low quality of materials.

social factors.

Social factors are the state of society, its capabilities and abilities, as well as the foundations and orientations that affect the activities of organizations.

The assessment of the social component is associated with determining the degree of influence of various social processes and phenomena on the organization, as well as the qualitative characteristics of the population. Despite its apparent simplicity, this factor affects almost all other factors of the microenvironment, as well as the macroenvironment and the internal environment. Another feature is the relatively low rate of change in the social environment, which makes it easier to predict. However, if changes occur, they seriously affect not only an individual organization, but the entire economy as a whole. It is on the social component that the formation of consumer preferences depends, which, in turn, leads to the emergence of demand for products and the emergence of profits.

Basic social factors.

1. The level of income of the population.

2. The level of wages.

3. Value in society various groups(layers of the poor, middle and rich).

4. Social protection and guarantees.

It also includes various demographic characteristics that are important for determining the type of product.

If there is social tension in the country, then it is worth postponing the increase in prices. Otherwise, it may lead to more serious problems.

Technological factors.

Technology is a set of ways and methods by which a certain type of product is produced using certain resources and materials.

Evaluation and analysis of technologies are necessary for the timely capture of new opportunities for the production of products, as well as for the modernization of enterprise equipment. All this affects the efficiency of the production process and the quality of the product itself. Technology is closely related to the development of scientific and technological progress. The rapid development of technology, on the one hand, is a positive development, as it opens up new opportunities for the organization. But, on the other hand, there are also threats. The use of new technologies requires the modernization of enterprise equipment, which in short time extremely difficult to implement. Because of this, the firm may lose competitiveness and its market share.

are of great importance now information Technology. In principle, almost every organization has such systems, only at different levels. They allow you to speed up the workflow and data processing. The development of information systems, in turn, is also moving at a rapid pace, so that many organizations cannot afford constant changes due to lack of funds.

So, in order to develop an effective strategy and further management system, organizations need a thorough assessment of the internal and external environment. Why is it impossible to use an assessment of only the external or internal environment? In the external environment, dynamic processes are constantly taking place that create new opportunities or new threats for the organization. To develop a successful strategy and management system for an organization, it is necessary to predict possible changes in the external environment. However, knowledge of these changes alone is not enough. In order to take timely action and actively deal with the dangers of the external environment, as well as to seize new opportunities, it is necessary to have information about the potential of the organization with which to carry out all these actions.

In other words, the assessment of the business environment is aimed at identifying threats and opportunities that may appear in the external environment, and the resources and capabilities of the organization itself for its effective interaction with the external environment. To this end, the following methods for analyzing the business environment have been developed.

SWOT analysis.

SWOT analysis is the identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, as well as the opportunities and threats of the external environment. SWOT is an acronym for:

strengthens - virtues. Strengths and advantages of the organization;

weaknesses - shortcomings. Weaknesses of the organization;

opportunities - opportunities. These are the conditions and factors of the external environment that can benefit the activities of the organization;

threats - threats. These are conditions and environmental factors that can harm the organization's activities.

The main method of SWOT analysis is filling in the matrix.

Strengths- these are the advantages of the organization, its potential and capabilities. They may consist in the presence of unique technologies, large reserves of resources, modern equipment, experience in doing business and actions in various situations, highly qualified specialists, cost advantages, stable management, etc.

Weak sides- this is the absence of any important parts (resources, departments, specialists) necessary for the effective functioning and implementation of the organization's activities. Weak points can also be considered a more disadvantageous position compared to competitive firms, lack of image and advertising, a narrow production line, etc.

Market opportunities- these are the conditions and market conditions that are favorable for the organization to achieve its goals and obtain additional benefits. These include the growth in the level of incomes of the population, the emergence of new technologies, the deterioration of the state of competitive firms, the possibility of cooperation with domestic and foreign colleagues etc.

Market Threats- these are the conditions and market conditions that are undesirable for the organization and the occurrence of which can harm its activities and existence. This is an increase in taxes by the state, a decrease in demand, the emergence of new competitors, etc.

SWOT analysis is carried out in several stages:

Stage 1. Determining the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This analysis is carried out on the basis of certain parameters, among which are the structure of the organization, the nature of the production process, financial and material resources, the level of technology and technology, personnel, marketing and management. Next, a table is drawn up in which the above parameters and the corresponding strengths and weaknesses of the organization are noted.

Stage 2. Identification of market opportunities and threats.

In the assessment, the same parameters are used as in the analysis of the external environment: political, economic, competitive, supply and demand, social, natural and climatic. A table is also compiled that highlights these parameters and the associated threats and opportunities.

Stage 3. Drawing up a SWOT matrix. As you can see, this is a combination of a table of strengths and weaknesses and market opportunities and threats.

Rice. 3.SNW-analysis

It is believed that SNW analysis is an improved version of SWOT analysis: strength - forte; neutral - neutral side; weakness - a weak side. Here the new element is the neutral side. The main reason for adding this part is in modern features market. Many experts now point out that in a competitive struggle, organizations do not have to have complete list benefits. If the firm is in a neutral position, then it will be enough to have some advantage to defeat competitors. When conducting an SNW analysis, a table is compiled that indicates the parameters by which the state of the organization is assessed, and their strong, weak or neutral positions.

Environment profile. In addition to the above methods, the environment profiling method can also be used to assess the business environment. It is convenient to use it if you need to evaluate separately the internal environment, microenvironment, macroenvironment. The method consists in compiling a table in which the factors of the studied environment are noted (Table 1). Each of them in several areas is given an assessment on a scale: importance for the industry: (3 - large, 2 - moderate, 1 - weak); impact on the organization: (3 - strong, 2 - moderate, 1 - weak, 0 - no impact); direction of influence: (+1 - positive, -1 - negative).

Table 1. Sphere profiling method

This method allows you to determine the most important factors and, accordingly, measures to influence them.

Before taking any action, the leader makes a decision. It is an integral part of any managerial function. As a rule, a decision is a choice of an alternative from several available options. Right choice ensures successful achievement of the goal.

Due to the fact that the manager and the administrative team very often have to make important decisions, they need to know the technology of finding optimal solutions. Due to the poor organization of this process, a large number of firms and organizations suffer. The choice of alternative permeates all human life. Therefore, studying the technology of finding the right solution is very important. topical issue these days.

Decision making is the central link with which all other parts of the organization are connected. It underlies the planning of the organization's activities, because the plan is a set of decisions on various issues regarding the components of the organization.

Decision making can be defined as:

1) conscious and purposeful activity of an individual;

2) the process of interaction of team members;

3) the choice of an alternative within certain factors;

4) part overall process management;

5) the basis for performing other management functions.

The role played by the decision is enormous. The existence of an organization is determined by whether it can identify its problems in time and find ways to solve them. A good decision is one that best suits the organization's goals. However, to find such a solution, it is very important to correctly determine the goal. Otherwise, the decision will go the wrong way, which will negatively affect the use of the organization's resources. And here a great responsibility lies with the leader.

Solutions can be proposed by managers and subordinates, but the direct choice remains with the leader. It should be emphasized that the personality of the leader largely determines this or that choice, since the decision is one of the types of mental activity and a reflection of the will of a person.

Since there can be two or more alternatives, the person responsible for finding and making a decision, in addition to rationality, often uses intuition and judgment.

With the intuitive method, people use a "sixth sense", a feeling that suggests one or another option. However, it is clear that it is better not to consider intuition as a fundamental method, since reliable information and the help of modern technologies are a more accurate source. People who are guided by intuition become hostages of chance. According to statistics and surveys, only 35% of decisions made on the basis of intuition led to positive results. 65%, it turns out, led to the opposite result.

The choice of a decision based on judgment, at first glance, differs little from the intuitive one. However, the judgment is still based on some specific knowledge and thought processes; experience is also taken into consideration here. A large share in the judgment belongs to common sense, but, unfortunately, this is also not the most reliable source. Another minus of judgment manifests itself when a completely new situation or problem arises, for which there is simply no experience in solving it.

But despite the above disadvantages, intuition and judgment can bring positive results. This happens when a person is completely confident in himself or he has already had a similar experience.

When looking for a solution, you should pay attention to the people involved in this issue. The fact is that the character of a person, as a rule, leaves a certain imprint on the decision. There is even a classification of solutions.

Balanced - such decisions are made by people who are attentive and critical of their actions. They clearly understand the purpose of the problem, and finding a solution can take them quite a long time.

Impulsive - the authors of such decisions see many alternatives for themselves, but do not particularly bother to check and clarify them. Such decisions are usually unreliable, since as such there is no search for a solution - it is determined by a spontaneous choice.

Inert - these solutions are the result of a careful search. Clarifying procedures, double-checking - all this can be repeated even several times. But even here there is a minus: it is difficult to detect innovation or originality in such solutions.

Risky - such decisions can lead either to a positive result or to failure. Of course, this is dangerous, but many have succeeded because of risky choices.

Cautious - here there is a supercritical approach to business, a thorough consideration of all options.

Of course, there are several other types of classifications:

2) by the number of people making decisions (individual and collective), etc.

But the main thing here is that the technology for finding a solution directly depends on the type of problem and situation.

Before you start looking for a solution, you need to clearly define and classify the problem, which will allow you to narrow your search.

In some cases, there is not enough information to choose any solution, or the opinions of the discussers differ greatly. It is difficult for a leader to make a decision in such a situation. Making a decision is more of a psychological process, and the human psyche is not always logical. Therefore, two main models of search and decision making have been developed.

Within the framework of mathematical theory, normative decision-making models are created. The goal is to select the best alternatives based on a given criterion and the situation in which the decision is made. Here the focus is on how the decision maker should approach the process. However, these models are not always effective, because each situation is associated with many factors, and you can simply not find a model for your situation.

Descriptive models based on behavioral decision theory.

The above has been more general information. But the crisis is distinguished by the presence of special factors that must be taken into account when making decisions. Much also depends on the type of problem that arose in the enterprise. They may be next.

1. standard problems. In principle, the very essence of the crisis does not particularly fit into the framework of the standards, however, there is a certain set of problems, the solution of which should be based on established standard rules. No deviations are allowed here, and the decision-making process requires experience and skills.

2. Common Problems. To solve them, there are many different rules and settings, and in the process of solving it is necessary to choose one specific rule.

3. heuristic problems. Such problems imply an independent search for solution rules.

Oddly enough, but the level of solving standard and typical problems is still not high enough. At the same time, for the successful implementation of activities in today's conditions, it is necessary to have heuristic thinking. For this, even special training is carried out.

The context in which decisions have to be made plays an important role. Conditions can be favorable, extreme or crisis. The last two types require special skills and training. Today's leaders tend to be prepared for the level of supportive conditions, because attention to crisis situations, to the extent that it is now, began to appear relatively recently.

Another problem in a crisis may be the lack of information. And this significantly reduces the effectiveness of decisions made. Therefore, many organizations are now implementing special information services that can provide all the necessary information in a short time. Such information departments are not yet very common in medium and small businesses, but in large companies this practice is already very common.

Stages of search and decision making.

1. Problem statement and goal selection.

2. Finding and listing all possible alternatives.

3. Analysis of alternatives.

4. Choice of solution.

5. Presentation of the result.

Choice of an alternative.

First, it is necessary to properly analyze all possible alternatives. Upon closer examination, some of the bottoms may not be entirely successful, after which the search circle will narrow. The search for the optimal solution is greatly facilitated by the following points: past experience, experiment, research.

Experience is perhaps the most commonly used approach in finding solutions. Here, again, not without psychological aspect. Middle managers use it because of the prevailing belief that the higher the management, the more experience. Although in reality this is not always the case. The manager's experience to a certain extent depends on the mind and skills of finding solutions.

However, using the experience of the past to decide the future can be dangerous. The experience itself is very situational and may not fit into the current situation. It is useful if it is subjected to careful scrutiny, and in the course of this scrutiny, miscalculations are found that were not noticed in the past.

The experiment, in turn, is considered almost the only reliable confirmation of the choice. But the minus here is the high cost and, possibly, long terms. The latter is especially important, since the results of the experiment are not always satisfactory, and time has been lost. Therefore, you need to use this method in parallel with others.

But choosing a solution does not mean solving the problem. The most common mistake leaders make is making a decision without further supervision. The implementation of the solution involves the efforts of many people. Therefore, it is so necessary to create a plan for solving the problem, in which it is necessary to note the responsibilities of employees.

Individual or collective search for a solution.

Undoubtedly, when a problem arises, the first stage is discussion, which already involves collective action. However, the manager may not inform his subordinates about some problems if they do not directly concern them. The question is, would such an action be appropriate? Brainstorming is now ubiquitous in many organizations, as the opinions of several people are certainly broader than one. The advantage of collective search is also that employees delve into the essence of the problem and, after finding a solution, they can immediately begin to implement the solution. But all this is appropriate if we are talking about a small organization or team. AT large organizations special crisis departments are currently being set up to look for solutions. However, these departments are usually engaged in the economic sphere. Therefore, if problems arise at the managerial level or relate to important aspects the functioning of the organization, then this is a question of the leader.

Another question is that if the crisis is not very large and to a greater extent its course is predictable, then here the decision may well be made by one leader. However, if it is necessary to carry out global changes (restructuring, integration, etc.), it is necessary to assemble a specific team, which will include all the necessary specialists. In such situations, the team leader plays an important role.

Leader- a person who has the main role in deciding on the type, control and dynamics of the activities of his subordinates in the team to achieve common goals.

A person who is a leader must show not only his ability to make the maximum contribution to the cause, but also be able to direct other team members along the branch of the chosen strategy.

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION

ELETSKY STATE UNIVERSITY IM. I.A. Bunina

FACULTY OF ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMY AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

"Crisis Project Management"

Executor:

economics student

faculty gr.EM-51

Sapronova M.S.

Supervisor:

Nikitina E.

Project Management in a Crisis

Not so long ago, even some six months ago, the word "crisis" was something from the last millennium. Many remembered him only in the context of 1998, and even then infrequently. This is understandable, because there was no time for reminiscences: the stabilization fund was growing, overtaking foreign exchange reserves, and investors were betting when the stock indices would take the next height.

In the field of project management, the situation resembled a Christmas sale or choosing souvenirs for relatives on the last day of vacation half an hour before the plane. Projects started very different, very often they were not brought to the end, and if they were brought to the end, then the result, if it was at all, was of interest only in so far as. Project management was viewed from the point of view of a fashionable hobby, "a tool for realizing the company's strategic goals and gaining an advantage over competitors" and everything that you can spend money on when there is more of it than is required to achieve the tasks of the first, second and all other degrees. importance.

Then the situation began to change. Not immediately, but after a certain time, big bosses, and then smaller bosses, began to understand that there was not so much money, while there were much more projects started (read “money spent”) than opportunities to complete them. And the success of the implementation of these projects, at least some of them, depends not only on the “implementation of plans for the financial year”, but on the existence of the company. Accordingly, the attitude to project management has become more serious.

Then the speeches began to sound that project management was not necessary, since soon there would be nothing to manage. What projects if there is no money? But still, the projects remained. Of course, not all, but only some. At the same time, the emphasis in their management has shifted.

Overdue change

Significant changes in the attitude of business to project management can be seen not only in Russia. More and more recognized world authorities believe that instead of the previously declared criteria for the success of a project, such as deadlines, budget, content and quality, the value of the project for business comes first.

Indeed, the project cannot be successful on its own. Even if the deadlines are met, the budget is saved, all the written requirements are implemented and there is written confirmation of all this. However, if the company does not benefit from the implementation of such a project (well, if it does not lose), the project cannot be considered successful.

Now the result is the most important thing. A result that benefits the business. Project initiators are interested in the answer to the question: what will the project bring if it is implemented? No less important is another question: what will happen if the project is not implemented? The answers to these questions are the criteria for choosing projects that now need to be managed. They can be divided into three categories:

Projects already launched (in every sense of the word), which cannot be stopped. Their termination means the loss of significant investments by the company without the possibility of returning them.

Business critical projects. The company is not faced with the question of "do or not do" - you can only choose the implementation option. At the same time, the success of the implementation is measured not by formal signs, but by what happened to the company after the completion of the project.

And, finally, projects that bring tangible income, and bring it quickly. This also includes cost savings.

Current trends

The current situation causes new requirements for the implementation of projects and for the managers who manage them. It is quite obvious that in a rapidly changing economy it is quite difficult to fix any formal evaluation criteria. It's even harder to match them. Therefore, such competencies of managers as managing risks and changes in the project have now come to the fore. It cannot be said that they were not in demand before, but the attitude was often formal.

If you put the requirements for projects and the requirements for managers on top of each other, you get a rather interesting picture. Managers who used to be considered, and many of them really were, successful may be out of work. Unless, of course, they learn to quickly rebuild and change along with how project management is changing these days.

The project manager in the current situation is not just a good leader who knows how to manage time, money and resources. This is also a person who pays attention to the interests of various project participants and knows how to manage them. This is a person who knows how to make quick decisions in conditions of uncertainty, taking into account possible consequences, as well as to foresee the most complex and ambiguous situations in the project in advance and find possible ways to resolve them in advance.

Project management of the categories listed earlier will be in demand in the current economic conditions, but only as long as it is successful. As for project managers, only those who can manage the “right” projects well will stay afloat.

How to reduce the impact of the crisis on investment projects

In the context of the financial crisis, many enterprises are forced to reduce their investment and production programs. At the same time, the pressure of the crisis affects several directions at once.

The first thing that the management of the enterprise faces with a sudden reduction in funding is the difficulty in choosing priority projects. Which projects should be implemented by the enterprise in a crisis, and which ones can be frozen? How to quickly identify reserves for critical projects in the face of shrinking resources?

When adjusting the portfolio of projects, one should not forget that many projects are related. And if such projects are considered in isolation from each other, then the biggest risks and threats arising from the freezing of individual projects are hidden from attention.

An additional problem for many enterprises is the forced need to reduce staff and related resource constraints in projects. In addition, along with the departure of employees, the experience of the organization, established connections and contacts are lost.

And finally, with a decrease in funding, the manager needs to devote more time to monitoring the implementation of the project in order to eliminate the inefficient use of funds.

As a result of these factors, the risks of project failure increase significantly, which, against the backdrop of increased competition, may mean a loss of market share. How to reduce the impact of the crisis on the projects and business of the company?

The way out of this situation can be the introduction of an information system for managing projects and project portfolios at the enterprise.

By investing in information technology today, you get opportunities to reduce costs and project deadlines by 5-15%, and also increase the efficiency of using the working time of managers and employees by an average of 25%.

The corporate project management system forms a single information base for all projects, available to project participants in accordance with the assigned access rights. At the same time, for managers, the system provides tools for planning and monitoring investment projects, and for executors - means of reporting and electronic document management.

Project management in the information system will allow managers to make decisions based on the most complete information provided in real time.

When choosing software for creating such a system, you should pay attention to the following features:

1. availability of tools for project portfolio management, built-in project selection tools, support for both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods;

2.resource management tools, support for electronic document management and joint work, archiving of projects;

3. built-in project monitoring system for the manager, graphical and tabular reports, automatic notifications of events in the project to team members.

An additional advantage will be the ability to work in the system via the Internet, because. this will allow the manager to remotely control projects, reduce communication costs and provide additional business mobility.

All of the above features are provided by the "Project Management Office - PMO" system developed by Advanta Group. With this system, you will be able to make informed decisions on the distribution of investments, get operational control over the implementation of projects and increase the efficiency of resource use.

How to increase the competitiveness of a company in a crisis

Today, the domestic economy is experiencing the consequences of the global financial crisis. Many organizations are forced to seriously revise their business plans, reduce, and even curtail investment programs.

In the context of the global crisis, the company's business is simultaneously affected by many factors that take the company out of a state of stability:

1. refusals of consumers from the agreed volumes of purchases, which leads to disruption of sales plans;

2.delaying the movement of funds by banks;

3. non-fulfillment by suppliers of their obligations;

4.confusion and anxiety of employees;

5. not always predictable state policy.

Any crisis brings not only threats, but also new opportunities. The crisis is not good or evil in absolute terms - it all depends on how the company behaves in this situation. For some companies, the crisis will turn out to be a bonanza, clearing the market of competitors or creating new consumer needs. On the contrary, other companies that were market leaders only yesterday will lose their positions.

After the crisis is over, those companies that acted more effectively, were able to catch new trends and quickly adapted to them, will be at the top. As the head of the international corporation Northern Telecom David Weiss said, "in the future there will be two types of companies - fast and dead." Existing reality has made this future present.

How to make a company fast?

By developing the ability to quickly respond to changing external conditions, the company goes through three successive phases of organizational maturity. These phases can be represented as levels, the achievement of which is carried out from simple to complex.

Let's look at these three levels in more detail.

At the first level of maturity, the organization seeks to improve operational efficiency, which occurs due to the clear setting and rapid implementation of tasks, as well as the management of information flows. This provides a faster company response to changes.

If we compare an enterprise with a living organism, we can make the following analogy. The organism at this level of development becomes more efficient, because it has a higher rate of transmission of nerve impulses, due to which information from the stimulus is transmitted faster to the brain, and from the brain to the muscles that respond to irritation.

At the enterprise, this can be achieved by creating a system for monitoring the execution of instructions, introducing electronic document management and information management tools.

This level has its limitations. An organization that has achieved it only increases the speed of reaction to changes, but does not yet have effective methods for planning its activities for a longer period under conditions of uncertainty.

An enterprise at this stage not only quickly responds to external threats, but also embodies the intended goals with a sufficiently high accuracy in conditions of uncertainty.

The limitation of this level is that the organization at it does not have well-established mechanisms for comparing the goals of projects and the real needs necessary for its survival and development. At the same time, there is a risk of separation of tactics from strategy, and the redirection of the organization's efforts in the event of a change in its strategy is not yet fast enough.

Therefore, at the third level of maturity, the organization must increase its strategic flexibility, or, in other words, adaptability - the ability to accept right decisions on the choice of goals and the optimal allocation of resources to achieve them.

An enterprise that has reached the third level not only embodies, but also chooses the best goals, and also uses resources to achieve them in the most effective way. Such an enterprise inevitably becomes a market leader, because. it brings to market the products that are in the highest demand, does it faster than competitors, and in doing so achieves more High Quality. Read more about the third level >>

At the third level of maturity, there is a transition from tactical control to strategic planning. The strategy is considered both as a whole, and as a set of goals, and as a portfolio of projects. The result is the optimal choice of goals and the optimal use of resources to achieve these goals.

Thus, the ability of an organization to quickly manage change in a crisis depends on its level of maturity: first it operational management at the level of tasks and information flows, then - project management, and, at the highest level - project portfolio management.

Each level solves its own range of problems, and gives measurable and accurate results. With an increase in the level of maturity, the opportunities for an enterprise to increase its efficiency in a crisis are becoming wider. But at the same time, if problems of a lower level are not solved, the enterprise cannot take advantage of these opportunities.

How can organizations quickly increase their level of maturity in a time-limited, resource-poor environment?

Advanta Group offers a range of solutions based on the Project Management Office - RMO platform, which is the only system on Russian market, effectively solving problems at all three levels, and available for implementation in the face of an impending crisis.

Our proposal contains a consistent program to develop the organization's ability to quickly and effectively manage organizational changes. This program involves training, development of methodology and implementation information platform"Project Management Office - RMO", adapted to the specifics of the organization.

In addition, we have developed and special conditions for the acquisition of this complex, taking into account the current difficult situation of many organizations experiencing the consequences of the crisis.

Project Management in a Global Crisis

After another collapse in quotations, the fulfillment of financial obligations of one international high-tech company was under serious threat. A trade magazine correspondent interviewing the CEO asked the obvious question, "What are you going to do now?" The manager, after a second's pause, replied: "We innovative company and I'm sure we'll find a way to fix the problem."

In a steadily growing market, the conditions for business improvement and innovation are most favorable, however, it is in such a situation that most companies are in no hurry with systemic changes, not wanting to “rock the boat”. But as soon as the crisis comes, many companies forget about innovation altogether. Benefit (or return on investment) management is giving way to cost management, or rather cost reduction. However, not everyone does this. Some find a way out of a difficult situation in opening new projects and managing them effectively.

The use of so-called "best practices" allows you to significantly reduce the risks of performing vital projects, especially in difficult times. this is the opinion of Harold Kerzner, one of the world's leading experts in the field of project management. Best practices are solutions and methods of work that have repeatedly proven their effectiveness in various companies. According to numerous studies, the implementation of project management processes and tools is in itself best practice: it expands the possibilities of increasing the return on any investment. In a difficult market and financial situation, careful selection of projects and their impeccable execution are much more preferable than cutting staff and stopping development, says Harold Kerzner. A project manager with extensive experience, he has advised the largest corporations in Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, Asia and Canada on project management issues, and his lectures have been attended by more than 200,000 people around the world. Today he is the author of a number of well-known books, among which is the "Strategic Planning for Project Management Using the Maturity Model" published in Russian.

“I believe that many companies that were not proponents of project management in the past will now accept project management as the most effective way to not only survive but also grow in difficult conditions,” says Dr. Kerzner.

It would seem that the course of action is clear. It remains only to identify the necessary best practices by analyzing existing processes and the state of affairs in the organization, and act! However, the introduction of new tools into the work of the company is always a difficult task, especially in difficult times.

On the one hand, the limited perception of the best practices of project management by top management can interfere. On the other hand, the team may not be ready to accept new approaches and quickly master the toolkit. In both cases, it is clear that training is needed to show best practices in action and explain the benefits of using them. However, training is just one of the items of expenditure that are primarily subject to cuts.

How to overcome this traditionally existing paradox and get the most out of project management tools in a crisis situation Harold Kerzner intends to tell in his keynote speech to the participants of the Fifth International Annual Conference "Project Management: Innovation and Development", which will be held November 17-18, 2008 at the Renaissance Hotel in Moscow.

Many executives and top managers are familiar with your book Strategic Planning for Project Management Using the Maturity Model. How will the current situation in the economy affect the application of this concept? Does it still apply?

Companies in all environments need some advice on how to effectively implement project management to avoid wasting money. The purpose of my book was to provide some practical guidance in this regard. In principle, any approach can work, it's just that some methods take longer than others. From my point of view, any approach can be beneficial if the company understands that strategic planning for the implementation and development of project management methods is better than empty guesswork and trial and error. Companies often start taking rash steps to implement one tool or another and find that what seemed like a straight and open road is actually a winding and bumpy path of delusion. Without a proper understanding of the challenges and how to overcome them, it may take a company ten years to learn how to manage projects, while its competitors take two or three years to do so. And there is nothing to say about the money spent.

Are there any best practices that will by definition bring benefits? How do you differentiate between really good practice and beautiful but ultimately dubious ideas?

The best project management practices are those that can eliminate unnecessary meetings and reduce paperwork. They must necessarily increase the speed and quality of decision-making. For example, one of my clients implemented a seemingly simple traffic light progress reporting system - a control desk, so to speak. He wanted to get rid of paperwork in project management. The result was a savings estimated at $1 million annually from the elimination of non-mandatory meetings and reduced reporting costs.

Today, there are many practices and solutions offered at conferences and similar events. How to distinguish between those that will be really useful to the organization, and those that will not bring returns in the end?

An ideal practice is one that can be used throughout the company. Unfortunately, this rarely happens. Not all best practices apply everywhere. What works in one company may not work as well in another. In all of the research I've done, best practices fall into one or more of four categories based on the way companies use them. They should: improve efficiency, increase efficiency, ensure standardization and lead to stability and quality of tasks.

Can you name any specific practices that are most helpful in dealing with a crisis situation?

It appears that most of the best practices involve developing templates to make the job of project managers easier. These may include templates for risk management, project scope management, and cost control using the earned value method, labor report templates, and others. After developing and implementing templates, you need to interview project team at the end of the project and see if we can merge some of the patterns, reduce their complexity, or even remove them altogether if people start doing these things naturally and no longer need guidance.

What project manager skills are most in demand by the most active and rapidly growing companies?

The skills that project managers need, however, are determined by the needs of a particular company. Some companies believe that a project manager needs to be tech-savvy and therefore emphasize technical skills with less emphasis on people skills. Other companies believe that a project manager cannot remain an expert in one technical area if he or she wants to make a career in project management, and therefore make demands specifically on personal qualities and people skills. I believe that the strength of a project manager should be in the qualities of a leader (better - "in leadership qualities"). What seems most important to me is the ability to be a leader for a group, even without official authority, to manage the group, coping with tension, as well as the ability to communicate effectively. That being said, one manager once told me that the most important skill his project managers should have is the ability to "introduce" themselves to the client.

In the conversation, Dr. Kerzner also noted that on the way to the implementation of certain best practices, companies face typical mistakes that can be avoided if the implementation of certain project management tools and methods is considered and managed as a project. Among these pitfalls were the substitution of goals when introducing tools ("implementation for the sake of implementation"), the definition of the number of templates used as a criterion for the success of the project management methodology, excessive importance attached to software, as well as the frequent substitution of real top management support for the appearance of such.

Particular attention, according to Harold Kerzner, should always be given to the value (value) that can be obtained from the implementation of best practices or the implementation of a project. The mere fact of having financial difficulties is not sufficient reason to confine ourselves to cost-cutting measures. good example may serve as a decision taken during the preparations for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City 2002, when, when clarified financial plan$100 million in losses were predicted. Instead of reducing the scope of work and reducing costs, the decision was made to increase funding, build additional facilities and introduce new services. As a result of additional sales, the profit of the mega-project amounted to $400 million.

This example is just one of many illustrations of how an innovative approach and focus on the ultimate value can provide a win even in a critical situation. Fortunately, project management professionals today have every opportunity to share experiences and best practices that can shorten the path to success.

A model of a systematic approach to practical consulting for managers of crisis enterprises

Any leader who claims to set and solve the problems of bringing the enterprise out of the crisis has at the start a very limited set of his own working concepts of development in a rapidly changing external environment.

At the same time, the diversity of the controlled situation imposes two very severe, in our opinion, restrictions on all his actions. On the one hand, the set of methods used by him (the leader's toolkit) must fully correspond to the variety of the controlled situation, and, on the other hand, the specifics of the very procedures of his activity and thinking must be precisely "tied" to the high uncertainty of the situation.

Even I. Ansoff predicted that in the companies of the year 2000 (the future that has become the present for us today) there will be drastic changes in the style and methods of work of generalist managers. It will require (especially in diversified firms) the skills and abilities of all the main types of manager (leader; administrative planner; extrapolator planner; entrepreneur; statesman; system builder). All these qualities of a leader (in terms of time) will be in demand at the same time (the first type of complexity).

To overcome this type of complexity, practitioners took the path of forming a team consisting of several types of leaders at once (there was a tendency for the formation of multiple company management). Our reader is probably familiar with this widely used method. In the same author, we can find another answer to the reason for the emergence of such a trend - the complexity lies in changing the decision-making technology (the second type of complexity).

But it turns out that this situation can also be successfully resolved due to the fact that senior management (read: our leaders of crisis enterprises) must develop and improve the skill that is characteristic of some outstanding leaders: gaining experience in using expert consultants.

You need to be able to obtain and accurately use in your management cycles (goals - identifying opportunities - diagnosing the current situation - identifying alternatives - analyzing consequences - selecting project situations - planning projects-- implementation projects, etc.) expertise on issues such as: strategy formulation; product optimization; updating markets, technologies; continuous planning covering production, projects, resources of the entire system; control based on cost-benefit forecasts; optimal formation of strategic alliances and organizational structures.

The purpose of this article is to show a visual image (recognition stereotype) of the model of a systematic approach to practical consulting for managers of crisis enterprises. This model uses one of the most important principles - "Concentration on key areas." It is precisely this skill that we often lack in order to “stop and look back”, to collect (bit by bit or all at once) the information necessary for setting and solving any problems of management practice.

The consequence of applying this approach is the creation of a “thinking participant” situation that is comfortable for the leader (internally not tense), which creates the basis for determining the course of action to overcome the crisis. Thus, the leader can place specific “signs” in the technology of making his decisions (thinking strategies) and, at the same time, let through a large amount of knowledge of an expert consultant.

The use of a visual image allows us to endow our “undisciplined mind” with the ability to distinguish relationships in heterogeneous “stressful” situations, and then creates the prerequisites for active intervention in the possible course of processes at the enterprise in accordance with a given vector of goals.

Start complex processes from a generalized level

If we decided to talk about changing the thinking strategy of the leaders of crisis enterprises, then we should probably start ( general rule for all consultants and their partners) from some generalized level.

In this capacity, it is often customary to consider the management style, with which the current state of the enterprise may be associated. Thus, the most valuable and most interesting, at least from the point of view of the manager and consultant, is to unearth the reasons for the successes or failures associated with this particular feature of a particular enterprise.

And here we have no choice but to turn to the experience of successful companies (even if not Russian ones). Interestingly, the real strength of a company like IBM comes from the “simple” application of some of the most important principles and beliefs, collectively called the IBM management style. Without going into details, we will only note that the assimilation of these principles was the main success factor for this company (we found a simple clue where certain opportunities may be hiding).

crisis investment competitiveness resource

List of used literature:

1. Ansoff I. Strategic Management. Monograph. - M.: Economics, 1989. - 520 p.

2. Mercer D. IBM: management in the most successful corporation in the world / Per. from English. ed. V.S.Zagashvili. - M.: Progress, 1991. - 449 p.

3. Theory of organizations and organizational design(a manual on non-classical methodology): Textbook / Ed. T.P. Fokina, Yu.A. Korsakov, N.N. Slonova. -- Saratov: Saratov University Press, 1997. -- 240 p.

4. Chernetsov G., Ushakov A., Korotin E. Possibilities of application of project management methods for the implementation of the enterprise restructuring program//Management in Russia and abroad. - 1999. - No. 3. with. 113-129.

5. Sufficiently general theory of control. -- Sat. Moscow, 1997.

6. Shchedrovitsky G.P. Selected works. -- M.: Shk. Cult. Polit., 1995. - 800 p.

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A lot has already been written about the crisis, its causes, negative manifestations and ways to overcome it. Among the recommendations there are many that deserve attention and can be used in real practice. But it is very important to understand that the main condition for any successful work is consistency, which in a crisis becomes a critically necessary attribute of business management. Below is an attempt at a systematic representation of all anti-crisis measures. The system is shown in fig. 1, it has the shape of a fish, which is called the Isshikawa diagram.

Rice. one.

Let's give brief description each of the general scheme factors. All of the following is an attempt to systematically integrate an integral set of anti-crisis management measures. This does not mean that all measures must be taken. After reviewing the contents of this paragraph, the manager himself must choose what suits him best and on what he should focus his efforts.

Strategy adjustment. As you know, the fish begins to deteriorate from the head. Therefore, it is necessary to start by adjusting the strategy. Leaving the company's mission unchanged, its vision should be reconsidered, refusing, apparently for a while, from achieving large ambitious goals. Although the conditions of the crisis may provoke the emergence of new ambitious goals, for example, in terms of capturing the market of bankrupt companies or acquiring weaker companies that have little chance of survival. It must be remembered that the crisis creates additional conditions for development, if you correctly use the emerging opportunities.

Reconsider your attitude to the crisis based on the following positive factors:

1. The crisis stimulates consolidation:
   • cheapening of assets will lead to the fact that the weak will die, the strong will become even stronger,
   • consolidation will most likely occur in retail grocery and household goods, banks, pharmacies, etc.
2. Managers will get the practice of managing in a crisis.
3. There will be a reassessment of the system of risks, which were considered too formally in the last period. After the crisis, risk management will become more effective tool management.
4. "Deflate" a few " soap bubbles”, in particular, stock, real estate, oil, metals ...
5. The position of strong domestic players may be strengthened by a possible reduction in competition from imports and additional export opportunities.

The listed factors are named here rather conditionally. They will be positive for those who can dispose of them. And this may be new strategy companies.

Productivity increase. In a crisis, the decisive factor in maintaining the effectiveness of the company is speed. It turns out that the well-known formula of general relativity works in business: E=mc2 , however, with some amendments. E is the performance (performance) of the business, m is the mass (volume) of the resource used, and c - the rate at which this resource is used. The whole point here is that the speed is taken in the square, i.e. has an order of magnitude greater impact than the amount of resource used. In the period leading up to the crisis, most of the company, to put it mildly, "relaxed somewhat." The main focus was on mass m , and not at speed: a large “back office” staff was hired, constantly growing wage key specialists, realizing their importance, key specialists demanded comfortable conditions (expensive personal cars), hospitality expenses were constantly growing, expensive offices were built or rented. This list could be continued. Things got to the point that young graduates of the capital's universities demanded a starting salary of $1,000. At the same time, no one thought about speed.

The crisis came and put everything in its place. There was a rapid reassessment of values. The question was posed point-blank: “Gentlemen, highly paid managers, if you were not able to foresee the crisis and now you cannot overcome its consequences, then why do you receive high remuneration and why do business need you at all. Or turn on high speed their activities, or - goodbye, just goodbye, and not goodbye. Only those who can effectively work will remain. But being efficient doesn't mean running fast around the office. It is necessary to quickly and in detail analyze all factors of business productivity growth, if possible, excluding all activities that do not bring value to business processes. This refers to both technological and operational processes. In most cases, it is quite difficult to increase the speed of technological processes, as quality may suffer. At the same time, most organizational processes have huge reserves of acceleration. And here it is not necessary to thoughtlessly reduce staff, saving costs. Usually on the contrary, in order to increase productivity, additional costs must be incurred. At one enterprise well known to the author for the overhaul of gas wells, instead of one operator, at a certain stage of the technological cycle, they began to use two, i.e. increased costs. As a result, equipment downtime has been reduced to zero, and the rate of well workover has increased. And speed, as Einstein's formula says, is squared. In combination with other similar techniques, the amount of work performed by one team during its shift has increased. In the end, it became possible to reduce one of the five permanent teams altogether, without losing the overall turnover. The company's profit increased sharply due to the reduction of fixed costs.

This recipe is not universal - it is useful when production has a large amount of fixed overhead. As the ancient sages said, truth is always concrete. In each case, it is necessary to find those ways of improving productivity that are acceptable for a particular business. And no one, except for the specialists working at the enterprise, can do it better. True, certain tools can be recommended to these specialists.

One such tool is the Theory of Constraints (TOC) proposed by E. Goldratt. Note that this is an integral system of technologies, which in its essence reproduces the model of the weakest link, well known in technology. Suppose we want to strengthen the chain (improve the system). Where would it be most logical to focus your efforts? On the weakest link! Is it worth reinforcing something else, something that is not a limitation? Of course not. The weakest link in the chain will still break, no matter how we strengthen the rest. In other words, the effort put into the constraints will not cause immediate and noticeable improvements in the performance of the system.

Goldratt developed his approach to continuous improvement and called it The Theory of Constraints (TOC). He even described it in novels that demonstrate the use of TOC technology.

Changing attitudes towards marketing. Everyone's fears marketing agencies in a crisis, it is reasonable that “now all companies will start cutting marketing budgets.” Indeed, this is really observed during the crisis: being in a panic, companies begin to reduce what they can temporarily do without. This is, first of all, the cost of training and promotion of products on the market. Such measures look justified only at some, perhaps the very initial stage of the development of the crisis. If this strategy continues in the future, the company may simply lose its competitive advantage. The staff will not be able to solve the tasks that management sets for them, and the market will gradually forget about these competitive advantages.

Basically, there are two alternative attitudes towards marketing in a company.

Alternative 1. Marketing is the policy of consumers within the company, forcing the company to smoothly change in the direction desired by most consumers. Companies address consumers in the market like this:

• "We will give you anything you want if you become our loyal customers."
• "We are ready to spend a lot of money, if only you were our customers."

Alternative 2. Marketing must be profitable. In other words, marketing must measure the costs of promoting products with the result that is obtained as a result of numerous marketing programs in terms of understandable economic indicators, such as profit, cash flow, etc.

In a crisis, a shift will occur in the direction of the second alternative. But it can be achieved in different ways. The owner and management of the company can take the first, radical path. It's easy to cut down on the company's marketing staff as much as possible while slashing the budgets of all marketing programs. The problem asks whether there will be an economic effect from this. Undoubtedly yes! The reduction in total costs caused by such a reduction will lead to an increase in profits and cash flow: “Thanks to marketing, it helped us save costs, and, as you know, money saved is wage money.”

The second path within the framework of the profitable marketing alternative involves conscious behavior: 1) we soberly assess the situation, 2) we are looking for new opportunities. What is the first thing to evaluate? Most companies produce several types of products and offer them in different markets. One operating unit can serve several markets at once, with different perspectives. Different operating units may operate in the same demand area. So how many lines of business does the company actually have? Why is it important. The well-known 80/20 rule works here: 80% of the results of any activity are provided by 20% of the efforts. In a crisis, a company cannot afford to scatter resources on non-core (non-profitable) activities. First of all, it is worth focusing the attention of marketers on promising products and activities, focusing all marketing costs on this segment.

Management of economic factors. The main manifestation of the crisis from which business suffers is the lack of money. On fig. 2 is a diagram explaining the causes and manifestation of lack of money.

Rice. 2.

So, there are only three main reasons: 1) the company fails to sell a lot, 2) the company incurs high costs, 3) the company does not know how to manage working capital. These three reasons may not appear in standard, non-crisis circumstances, but in crisis conditions they arose due to the unwillingness of management to reorganize to work in new conditions. Worst of all, when all three causes appear at the same time, which most often happens. As you can see from the diagram, the indicators that signal to management that a problem has arisen are profit and cash flow. What should the management team focus on first in order to at least reduce the impact of the lack of money problem - on profits or on cash flow. Profit is a necessary but not sufficient condition for obtaining money. In other words, to ensure the company's ability to generate money, it must make a profit. In standard, non-crisis conditions, this condition is considered unshakable. But in a crisis, you need to generate money in any way, and do it quickly. What happens during a crisis? Sales are falling. This is a deep reason. It is not possible to fix it quickly - the markets are shrinking. Partial compensation for the drop in sales may occur due to cost reduction. This is what companies “know how” to do best. But it is not a fact that cost reduction will not lead to an even greater drop in sales, which will eventually lead to even greater losses. We discussed this possibility when analyzing marketing aspects.

During a crisis, a company needs time to restructure its activities in relation to crisis conditions: shrink, cut some activities, optimize staff. After such a restructuring, the company will learn to live in a new way and make a profit, most likely in smaller volumes, but adequate to shrinking markets. During this restructuring, the company will not be able to live without money. Therefore, money must be made or saved at any cost. So, from the two indicators of the scheme in Fig. 2 more important is the indicator of operating cash flow, rather than profit, at least in the initial stages of the crisis.

And here comes the technology of Total Money Management, or TCM, from the English term Total Cash Management. The essence of TCM is manifested in practical implementation the following two fundamental provisions:

1) all aspects of the enterprise's activities must involve available or fundamentally available financial resources,
2) each employee of the enterprise can influence the state of monetary resources by applying some simple rules everyday.

In many real situations, managers of enterprises in the course of their activities do not realize the exceptional importance of money. They do not understand that money is a completely liquid asset. Having money, an enterprise can solve absolutely all problems, both technological, and marketing, and all the rest. This is especially acute in times of crisis. The pragmatic goal of TCM is to create a system that:

• on the one hand, it contributes to the efficient generation of cash flows,
• and on the other hand, it contributes to their no less effective use, again with the aim of generating subsequent cash flows.

It is important to understand that TCM does not consist of "Save Money" slogans alone that must be posted throughout the firm in order to succeed. This is far from the case: TCM is, first of all, a system that covers all the activities of the company. The figure shows the main blocks of TCM.

Rice. 3.

The systemic nature of the TCM concept is manifested not only in the fact that each functional unit and even each person has a role to play in the implementation of the strategic goals, but also in the fact that an additional effect can be created at the interface between departments. In other words, improvements in one of the blocks shown in the figure may cause changes in other blocks so that the cumulative effect can be either greater or less than the amount two separate effects.

Transformation of investment and financial activities. It is generally accepted that during a crisis, investment activity should be reduced. Real practice proves this, judging by the numerous reports of the suspension or termination of the construction of new production facilities, the cancellation of earlier decisions on investment. The reduction in investment activity is due to the fact that 1) there is simply not enough funds, 2) the prospects for new investment projects are unclear.

At the same time, the crisis provides an opportunity to increase the company's assets and expand the scope of its activities through the absorption of other weaker enterprises. There is no doubt that in a period of crisis there is a redistribution of property - the strong absorb the weak.

So, the transformation of investment activity should be considered from two positions:

1) developing an attitude towards investment decisions made before the crisis,
2) analysis of opportunities to increase investment activity by acquiring new assets, using a probable decrease in their price.

In a crisis, the procedures and technologies used for conducting the investment activity itself should be reviewed. Here are typical features of the investment activity of domestic companies:

1. The task of investment development, which is important for business, is solved through outsourcing (assigned to a consulting company).
2. Closed software products such as Project Expert are used, which do not provide a transparent idea of ​​the business for the owner and management.
3. The focus is on cash flow forecasting and calculation of standard indicators (NPV, IRR, DPB) without deep insight into the practical economics of the project. At the same time, the choice of the discount rate does not correspond to the specifics of project financing.
4. Investment analysis lasts for 2-4 months and ends with a rather cumbersome description containing many unnecessary details.
5. It is often not possible to trace a direct link between a business idea and/or technological improvement and the economics of the project.

In a crisis, this is not good. the main task investment design in a crisis environment is as follows:

We do it for ourselves, quickly and without errors.

So, as before, the speed and quality of decisions made. Agree that there is nothing simpler than making a decision to buy companies that are rapidly losing their effectiveness, as a result of which their owners are ready to sell them cheaply. And then what? Resell to someone for a higher price. This is what so-called portfolio investors usually do. It is not certain that this speculative operation will be successful. So, you need to buy, following strategic goals. During the crisis, the takeover of weak companies will be carried out mainly by a strategic investor. The latter, by definition, will seek to develop the purchased object in order to earn even more money on it.

The strategic investor has two problems. First, you need to act quickly, otherwise another strategic investor will get ahead. Secondly, you cannot make a wrong decision, otherwise the money spent will not be returned. To minimize the risks of these two mistakes, the investment technologies used must meet the following requirements:

1. The technology must allow quick and correct conclusions about the feasibility of investments.
2. Technology must be flexible, i.e. able to make multiple recalculations depending on changing conditions.
3. Technology must be individual, i.e. reflect features existing business and special requests from owners and top management.
4. Technology must be open and transparent: the occurrence of each indicator must be traced ( widely used Project Expert does not meet this requirement).
5. Technology must be as clear as possible for a possible potential investor: it is enough to show justify marketing forecasts and show financial tables, and the investor is ready to make a decision.

If a company owns such technology, it is able to avoid these mistakes. Otherwise, enterprises with a negative economic result will be bought and resold.

Financial activities companies in a crisis occurs in the most stressful conditions. In essence, all enterprises are moving to a starvation financial ration. This primarily concerns credit sources of financing.

Having problems with money, the head of the company should not “write off” all of them for the crisis. A crisis, even an external one, actually reveals the company's hidden problems. There are three groups of reasons that lead the company to a shortage of money. The first group includes market reasons, which can be both external and internal. These are, first of all, a drop in sales volumes and shortcomings in assortment management. Indeed, sales volumes may fall due to an external cause, i.e. due to market shrinkage, or may be the result of an imperfect marketing strategy of the company. Even if the markets are shrinking, marketing strategy must find a way to save volumes. Among the internal causes of the shortage of money is the imperfection of the financial management system, which manifests itself in

• lack of management accounting
• poor financial planning
• low qualification of financial managers,
• suboptimal financial management structure,
• loss of control over costs.

The emerging external crisis should reveal all internal causes, increasing the perfection of all aspects of the company's activities, in the face of objectively existing external causes.

What to do to reduce the shortage of money. First of all, one should not succumb to panic and systematically present the directions in which it is necessary to act. The system of measures presented in fig. 4 looks very simple.

Rice. 4.

Having built a kind of Procrustean bed of the system, it is necessary to think in detail possible ways. These measures will vary from company to company. Below is a list of the most typical measures for each of the groups.

1. Short-term measures to increase the inflow of money:
   • sale or lease of non-current assets,
   • rationalization of the product range,
   • restructuring of receivables into financial instruments,
   • use of partial prepayment,
   • development of a system of discounts for buyers,
   • attraction of credit sources of short-term financing.
2. Short-term measures to reduce the outflow of money:
   • cost reduction,
   • deferment of payments on obligations,
   • use of supplier discounts,
   • revision of the investment program,
   • tax planning,
   • bill settlements and offsets.
3. Long-term measures to increase the flow of money:
   • additional issue of shares and bonds,
   • restructuring of the company - liquidation or separation into separate business units,
   • search for a strategic investor,
   • looking for a portfolio investor.
4. Long-term measures to reduce the outflow of money:
   • long-term contracts providing for discounts or deferred payments,
   • tax planning.

It is clear that not all of the above measures are equally available in times of crisis; this applies, for example, to the additional issue of shares or bonds. However, a systematic search for financial opportunities should lead to success.

Mega motivational system. This aspect of the overall program for the transformation of the company's activities in a crisis is shown in the diagram in Fig. 1 in the form of a fish tail. As you know, with the help of its tail, the fish increases the speed of its movement. This is the meaning of the mega-motivational system. All of the above factors of restructuring the company's activities should start to work very quickly, as many leaders like to say: "I need to do it yesterday." How to make it all start working as soon as possible? The fundamental answer is simple: it is necessary to put the company's personnel in conditions when they themselves will be interested or forced to do it. I remember a fragment of the film “Peculiarities of the National Hunt”, when a cow was transported in an airplane bomb bay. She could not be ejected from the bomb bay. Then the commander very figuratively put it: “if you want to live, you won’t get so upset.”

This is the fundamental meaning of the term megamotivation. Megomativation can be implemented in two polar ways:

1) reduce N% of the staff, motivating the rest with the opportunity to continue working,
2) switch to pay-by-result, giving people the opportunity to earn by achieving higher goals that appear as a result of the crisis.

The first way is trivial, but it can be effective. The final effect of this method will be determined by the extent to which the manager correctly “cleanses” the ranks of his staff. If the remaining staff can “spread out” in order for everyone to survive, then the effect is guaranteed. If they start flying out of the bomb bay, it means that they “cleaned out” the wrong ones.

In this sense, the second method is more insured against errors. The company's staff is far from homogeneous in terms of their managerial skills and ability to work in crisis conditions. As soon as work experience in difficult conditions no one has a crisis, then management skills should appear (or appear) in the process of the crisis itself. This won't happen to everyone. But the owner or manager must create conditions for the personnel that will allow the employees to understand for themselves whether their abilities and skills correspond to the tasks set. This can be done by creating a motivational system that minimizes the fixed part of the reward and fundamentally increases the variable part, which will be determined by the achieved result. Under such conditions, incapable workers will leave on their own, as they will not be able to solve their goals and earn decent money. This approach can be formalized using KPIs, which quantitatively describe the task assigned to the employee. The technology for determining the variable part is described using fig. 5.

Rice. 5.

As follows from the diagram of the figure, if the employee reaches the planned KPI value, he receives the planned reward. The amount of remuneration decreases proportionally with a decrease in the actually achieved KPI and becomes zero if the achieved KPI becomes less than a certain minimum value (point min in the figure). If the actually achieved KPI becomes higher than the planned value, then the premium increases, but not indefinitely, but up to a certain number (max point in the figure). The last feature of this algorithm insures the manager against understating the planned KPI value. During a crisis, the whole picture shifts to the right, setting higher goals for the employee and allowing him to earn more. If in such a situation the permanent part of earnings is made very small, for example, at the level of the living wage accepted in the country, the worker will be forced to do everything possible and impossible to survive. And it again resembles a cow in a bomb bay.

The listed approaches are a motivational technology for individual managers, a kind of bonus tool. If the owner and manager thinks strategically, he must understand that this tool alone is not enough. He must analyze not only the current problems and how the company will live after the crisis. A strategically thinking leader must understand that he alone is not able to bring the company out of the crisis. To work in a crisis, having or building a team is critical. Only a strong team is able not only to withstand the crisis, but also to gain new advantages. You need to analyze who is on your team. What features and personal traits are characteristic of team members, and what tasks they solve.

"Financial newspaper. Regional issue", 2008, N 46

In a steadily growing market, the conditions for business improvement and innovation are most favorable, but it is in this situation that most companies are in no hurry with systemic changes, not wanting to "rock the boat". But as soon as the crisis comes, many companies forget about innovation altogether. Benefit (or return on investment) management is giving way to cost management, or rather cost reduction. However, not everyone does this. Some companies find a way out of a difficult situation in opening new projects and managing them effectively.

Significantly reduce the risks of performing vital projects, especially in difficult times, using the so-called best practices - this is the opinion of Harold Kerzner, one of the world's leading experts in the field of project management. Best practices are solutions and methods of work that have repeatedly proven their effectiveness in various companies. According to numerous studies, the implementation of project management processes and tools is in itself a best practice: it allows you to expand the opportunities to increase the return on any investment. In a difficult market and financial situation, careful selection of projects and their impeccable execution are much more preferable than cutting staff and stopping development, says Harold Kerzner. In his opinion, many companies that were not supporters of project management in the past must now accept project management as the most effective way not only to survive, but also to grow in difficult conditions.

It would seem that the course of action is clear. It remains only to identify the necessary best practices by analyzing existing processes and the state of affairs in the company, and act. However, the introduction of new tools in the work of the company is always difficult. On the one hand, the limited perception of the best project management practices by top management may interfere, on the other hand, the team may not be ready to accept new approaches and quickly master the toolkit. In both cases, it is clear that training is needed to show best practices in action and explain the benefits of using them. Today, however, training is just one of the items of expenditure that are primarily subject to reduction.

* * *

Harold Kerzner intends to tell the participants of the 5th Annual international conference Moscow branch of the Project Management Institute (PMI) "Project management: innovation and development", which will be held November 17 - 18, 2008 in Moscow at the Renaissance Moscow Hotel.

In anticipation of his arrival in Moscow, Harold Kerzner agreed to answer a few questions.

• Many executives and top managers are familiar with your book "Strategic Planning for Project Management Using the Maturity Model". How will the current situation in the economy affect the application of this concept?
• Companies in any environment require some advice on how to effectively implement project management tools to avoid wasting money. The purpose of my book was to give some practical advice. Either approach can be beneficial if the company understands that strategic planning for the implementation and development of project management practices is better than trial and error. Companies often start taking rash steps to implement a particular toolkit and discover that what seemed like a straight and free road is actually a winding and bumpy path of delusions. Without a proper understanding of the possible difficulties and ways to overcome them, it may take 10 years for a company to learn how to manage projects, while its competitors will need 2-3 years for this, and there is nothing to say about the money spent.
• With so many solutions on offer today, how do you differentiate between the ones that will really benefit your company? Are there any best practices that will by definition bring benefits?
• The best project management practices are those that can eliminate unnecessary meetings and reduce paperwork. They must necessarily increase the speed and quality of decision-making. for example, one of my clients implemented a seemingly simple traffic light progress reporting system - a control desk. He wanted to get rid of paperwork in project management. The result has been savings estimated at $1 million annually from the elimination of non-mandatory meetings and reduced reporting costs.

An ideal practice is one that can be used throughout the company. Unfortunately, this rarely happens. Not all best practices apply everywhere. What works in one company may not work as well in another. In all of the research I've done, best practices fall into one or more of four categories based on the way companies use them. They should contribute to the growth of the efficiency of activities, increase the effectiveness, as well as ensure the standardization, stability and quality of the tasks.

• Can you name any specific practices that are most helpful in dealing with a crisis situation?
• Most of the best practices involve developing templates to make the job of project managers easier. They may contain templates for risk management, project scope management and cost control using the earned value method, work report templates, etc. After developing and implementing the templates, it is necessary to interview the project team at the end of the project and see if we can merge, reduce their complexity, or even remove them altogether.
• What project manager skills are most in demand by active and growing companies?
• The skills that project managers need, however, are determined by the needs of a particular company. Some companies require only technical knowledge from them and do not pay attention to their ability to work with people. Others believe that the project manager cannot remain an expert in any one technical area, and put forward requirements specifically for his personal qualities and people skills. I believe that a project manager should have leadership qualities. Even without official authority, he must be able to manage the group, communicate effectively. That being said, one manager once told me that the most important skill his project managers should have is the ability to "introduce" themselves to the client.

* * *

In the conversation, Harold Kerzner also noted that when implementing best practices, a company faces typical mistakes that can be avoided if the introduction of certain project management tools and methods is considered as a project. Among these "pitfalls" were the substitution of goals when introducing tools ("implementation for the sake of implementation"), the definition of the number of templates used as a criterion for the success of the project management methodology, the excessive importance attached to software, and the frequent replacement of real support from top management with the appearance of it.

Particular attention, according to Harold Kerzner, should always be given to the value (value) that can be obtained from the implementation of best practices or the implementation of a project. The fact that there are financial difficulties is not a sufficient reason to confine ourselves to cost-cutting measures. A good example is the decision made during the preparations for the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics, when a $100 million loss was forecast when refining the financial plan. increase funding, build additional facilities and introduce new services. As a result of additional sales, the profit of the mega-project amounted to $400 million.

This example is just one of many illustrations of how an innovative approach and focus on the ultimate value can provide a win even in a critical situation. Fortunately, project management professionals today have every opportunity to share experiences and best practices that can shorten the path to success.

A. Bazhenov

Moscow branch of PMI

A.Arefiev

Moscow branch of PMI