BUSINESS
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Business Introduction

PEOPLE
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People Introduction

The Action Management System (AMS) is introduced into any business where the CEO wishes to systemize and improve the operational management of the business. AMS helps the CEO better manage the critical "operational" areas of the business. AMS also helps all staff better manage and perform in their own day-to-day "actions". AMS directly aligns all staff actions with those of the business so that staff can not only get a better understanding of the business, but can also see how their own job is making a relevant contribution to the business. AMS provides staff access to all of the information and tools they need to do the best job that they can. So AMS approaches business management from both the BUSINESS perspective (<== see left-side menu) and the PEOPLE perspective (see right-side menu ==>).

AMS is therefore a combination of three things:
(a) a method for better management & performance improvement;
(b) a computer system to plan, record, track, and assess all operational "actions" performed in the business, and
(c) a repository and directory of the knowledge required by the people for the business to be run efficiently.

AMS can be implemented rapidly over a 3 month period, or progressively over a 12 month period. As AMS grows in content it becomes a key operational component of the improvement of the business over the long term. There is considerable flexibility in the sequence of AMS implementation, but irrespective of the sequence chosen, the implementation is always done in small logical and simple steps. The menu boxes on the left and right side of this tour logically identify the "logical steps" approach of the AMS implementation. By working through this tutorial in the itemised number sequence, starting at the top of the left-menu and working downwards, then doing the same with the right-menu, the logical approach of AMS will quickly become evident. However, implementation is not be totally random, because a few of these steps are prerequisites for subsequent steps. For example, Steps 1 to 4 are always performed first, as these steps "define the business" and create the essential foundation for a common management and staff understanding of the business that is necessary before improvement can be implemented.

(1) Define Strategies is about "Directing the Business" and creating the basic strategic structure of the business. In AMS this called the Business 5x5. The CEO then has this simple framework within which to define the strategic direction of the 25 major components of the business. This simple approach enables all staff to get a quick understanding of where the business is going and how the CEO sees that the business should get there.
(2) The Business DNA is the "one-page" graphic view of the business showing the actual "operational actions" needed to run the business and it also shows the current "health" of the business that is visualized by colour code.
(3) The DNA Actions constitute the operational directory of the business actions. These actions contain the operational characteristics of the DNA that drive the business improvements of the entire AMS.
(4) Managing Risks is the identification and listing of every risk of every Operational DNA Action. Any action in the business can carry "risk" and this risk element is incorporated into colour-coding of the Business DNA and becomes a fundamental component used to highlight the "health" of the business. These risk elements are then continually assessed by management.
(5) Conducting Audits is the improvement method used by AMS to identify what needs to be done to improve the areas of the business that have been identified as "at risk". Improvement Audits are typically 90-minute sessions that are used to search out the issues and problems to establish the best way to improve.
(6) Registering Ideas is where recommendations can be generated by any staff member on any action area of the business, in particular those associated with an action area that has been identified as being "at risk".
(7) Improvement Projects are initiated where multiple resources are needed to address a critical action that requires a team focus to improve it. 

ONLINE HELP: Most pages of the Internet-AMS have a [?] button at the top of the form that explains the operation of that particular page, but also by clicking in any field and then selecting the F1-key on the keyboard, a user can display a field-level pop-up box which gives assistance related to that particular field.

 PLEASE NOW SELECT STEP 1: - Define Strategies