Should We Be so Quick to Judge People Essay Example for Free

Should We Be so Quick to Judge People Essay I ask this question in an attempt to focus on the tendencies of judging and the norm. Everybody has their own perceptions of what is normal and they make judgments based off of these perceptions. Many of these perceptions cause biases to be formed. A bias is â€Å"a particular tendency or inclination, esp. one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question; prejudice. † This essentially means that everyone has formed their own prejudice beliefs from life experience. Everyone has their own bias, whether it is towards a certain race, gender, music genre, what a person wears, and so forth. Biases are formed for almost everything you could possibly think of. So can someone truly understand a person by making quick judgments? Must we not first analyze and truly understand a person before we make a judgment about something like their personality or character. Thesis It is my belief that, in society today, everyone has the tendency to judge people. These judgments, whether rational or irrational, are, more often than not, based on biases and prior beliefs. These judgments could be right but, is it right to judge people? In a sense, can judging people based on your own perceptions be acceptable? There is the age old proverb: Don’t judge a book by its cover. This idea seems to be very true, because often we make judgments when we first meet a person. As we begin to understand and associate with this person we tend to find our judgment was not exactly correct, and that we misunderstood the true nature of this person. However, what if we stop making our judgments and not following our first instinct? Suppose we do not judge someone as a bad person, and therefore they take advantage of us. So should we try and avoid judging people? That too could become harmful to us in the future. In the oncoming sections I will show how judging people can be helpful in some cases; however I will also show how judging people so quickly can be wrong as well. In the end, I do believe that judgment is acceptable under certain terms which will be explained throughout. Analytical Section with Close Reading In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Philip K. Dick constantly addresses the idea of judgment. In this book it seems that there is a lot of disapproval with judgment and yet it is still made. When talking about the androids, Phil Resch states: â€Å"This is necessary. Remember: they killed humans in order to get away. And if I hadn’t gotten you out of the Mission police station, they would have killed you. That’s what Garland wanted me for; that’s why he had me come down to his office. Didn’t Polokov almost kill you? Didn’t Luba Luft almost? We’re acting defensively’ they’re here on our planet- they’re murderous illegal aliens masquerading as-. This quote, to me, does show some judgment. Now looking at this statement it does someone like some rational thought was put into it; however, at certain points there is a sense of bias which makes me second guess the rationality of Phil Reschs’ thinking. When Resch states, â€Å"Didn’t Polokov almost kill you? Didn’t Luba Luft almost† , he is making judgments about these androids. However, these judgments have been based on prior actions made by the androids. That is to say, he does not simply try and say that Polokov and Luba Luft are bad because they are androids. Instead, he has seen how these androids have reacted to Rick and that has allowed him to judge their character. But, later in the quote he does make a much more irrational statement. When Resch states, â€Å"†¦ they’re here on our planet-they’re murderous illegal aliens†¦Ã¢â‚¬  , we see a completely new sense of judgment. When Resch claims that â€Å"they’re murderous illegal aliens† he has made a generalization about all androids. Yes, he has experienced androids who have attempted the murderous acts that he speaks of; however, because of this experience he now perceives all androids as murderous and unhelpful to society. Furthermore, even some of the androids could be seen as contributors to society. Rick points this out when he states â€Å"She was a wonderful singer. The planet could have used her. This is insane. † Rick brings an understanding that many of us may not have seen. Yes, some androids have done unforgivable acts towards humans. But, should the androids that have done nothing wrong be treated the same? Must they all face the same fate? Rick says it perfectly when he says, â€Å"The planet could have used her. † Rick has a much more balanced outlook of everyone. He does not instantly assume that an android cannot contribute to society simply because, it is an android. Instead, Rick has based his judgments off of his analysis of each and every person’s character. I believe that character is the key to making good judgments of people. When Rick analyzes Luba Luft he doesn’t see her as just another mindless killing machine. Rather, Rick looks at Luba Luft’s life and comes to find that â€Å"She was a wonderful singer. The planet could have used her. This is insane. † He appreciates the contributions that Luba has made and identifies Luba’s contributions to society. He does not simply see that she is an android that must be exterminated. Instead, he states â€Å"This is insane. † He understands how androids can contribute to society and believes that this extermination is truly unnecessary. I believe this is his way of saying that there must be outright evidence that termination is necessary. There must be a true threat within each and every android that he gets rid of. Otherwise, these androids can be a key contribution, a necessity to society. Based on these ideas I still ask the question, should we be so quick to judge people?

Firm survival

Firm survival 1. INTRODUCTION During a recent period of time, the topic of firm survival has received increasing academic attention and many of the studies have focused on its determinants. It is well known that entrepreneurial small businesses contribute to the creation of the new jobs and innovations that helps to develop the economy and reduce the poverty. Some firms survive for considerably longer periods while others do not. The purpose of this paper is to discover research findings that are related to either the survival or death of young firms. Starting a business and operating successfully is subject to uncertainty and requires resources and capabilities which is not available for everyone. Government takes action to reduce unemployment by encouraging new venture start-ups. The problem with new businesses is that there is a high possibility of failure. Subsequently, majority of young firms leave the market relatively soon after entering. It is therefore relevant to determine and understand the factors that have an impact on firm survival, as it is the widely used performance measure of the businesses. The next part of the paper is concerned with the firm-based characteristics of fast growing firms. The observations are based on the UK and US comparative study of fast growing enterprises which were conducted in 2008. ‘Business growth is typically defined and measured, using absolute or relative changes in sales, assets, employment, productivity, profits and profit margins (Blackburn et al. 2008). There is no generally accepted definition of fast growth firms, however it is most often defined in terms of having high sales growth rate. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 provides a review of the literature. In Section 3 differences in firm-based factors between fast growth firms and all other small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are discussed. Section 4 provides conclusion. FIRM SURVIVAL DETERMINANTS Large number of research papers on young firm survival focus on the person specific characteristics such as prior experience, education and motivation for success of the founder of the firm and business specific characteristics as industry, location, age and size of the company. In addition, Van Gelderen, Thurik and Bosma (2006) summarized that ‘start-up efforts differ in terms of the characteristics of the individuals who start the venture, the organization that they create, the environment surrounding the new venture, and the process by which the new venture is started. 2.1 Person Specific Characteristics In research report by Shane and Venkataraman (2000), it is suggested that success of the business could depend on the founders personality attributes or as Shane (2000) noted on the education of the entrepreneur and prior knowledge. Moreover, experienced founders of the young firm are more likely to take right strategic decisions than the ones with no prior experience. These determinants are considered as being essential for the better performance and decrease the probability of death of the firm. Arribas and Vila (2007) suggested that entrepreneurs human capital is a key determinant of the firms survival. Moreover, they came to a conclusion that the larger the number of entrepreneurs founding the company, the higher will be the chances of survival. One interesting feature to note about human capital stock is that initial larger human capital will add value to the firm and decrease the probability of death but the subsequent changes in human capital will have little impact on the firm survival (Geroski, Mata and Portugal, 2007). On the one hand, researchers argue that the human capital relevant to increasing the chances of survival are measured by the prior knowledge of the entrepreneur, level of education, experience in doing business in that industry and the entrepreneurs motivation for prosperity. On the other hand, others contend that the personal determinants are not that influential on the firms survival or death (Wicker and King 1989). Nevertheless, the education of the founder may not have a specific impact on the firms survival or death, but the knowledge gained by learning and working in the specific industry will influence the way how the entrepreneur responds to the challenges of doing business. 2.2 Business Specific Characteristics: industry sector, location, age and size The survival performance of entrepreneurs varies across industrial sectors, as some industries decline, while others expand. ‘There is a negative relationship between industry growth and firm survival, because growing industries are in earlier stages of the industry life cycle when requirements of adjusting to a changing environment, therefore leading to greater risk of failure (Strotmann, 2007). In contrast, there is a positive relationship between the firm survival and industry relevant experience, because it influences entrepreneurs ability to successfully launch the business and compete within that industry. Here, the point is that entrepreneurs with experience in the same industry as their current business will have a more network of industry suppliers and partners and will have a better understanding of the challenges of the industries in which they are going start a business. According to Fertala (2007) not much of attention was given to the regional differences as a determinant of firms survival or failure. Choosing the appropriate location also has an impact on the business processes. The reason why the location plays an important role in the firms survival or failure is that different regions offer different resources for the company and the cultural environment varies across countries. According to the study, entrepreneurs operate their business close to the place where they live (Mueller and Morgan, 1962). Empirical evidence suggests that locating the firm closer to the suppliers, customers and business partners increases the probability of survival. In addition, Strotmann (2007) contends that the risk of firm death is 30% more in urban areas compared to rural regions. The reason for this might be the high level of salaries and intense competition in urban areas. Fontana et al. (2009) stated that ‘coefficients for age at entry and size are all negative and significant, indicating that bigger firms, endowed with better availability of financial capital have a relatively higher probability of surviving. There are number of reasons for this to be the case. Firstly, large firms have an advantage over a small firm in a way that it has more access to finance, e.g. stock markets and debt financing. Moreover, large firms are more diversified than small firms, therefore they have less risk of failure. Falck (2007) summarised that the size of the firm is the best indicator of failure at the firm level and considered to be an overall measure of access to human capital and financial resources. In addition, Shane and Foo (1999) suggested that greater age will increase the probability of survival. This is not surprising, as the studies show that the most of the businesses fail in the early years of their operations. 3. FAST GROWTH FIRMS Barringer, Jones and Neubaum (2004) wrote that there is a limited knowledge on what determinants influence the firm growth. Authors gave a definition of fast growth firms as ‘firms with a 3-year compound annual sales growth rate of 80% or above (Barringer, Jones and Neubaum, 2004). Smallbone, Leigh and North (1995) compared 70 high growth firms with the other 236 surviving companies. Authors assessed these high growth firms on the basis of the following criteria: ‘(1) Rapid growth: i.e. more than doubling sales turnover in real terms over the 1979-90 periods. (2) Significant size: i.e. reaching a minimum sales turnover of  £0.5m. (3) Financial stability: i.e. consistent profitability in the late 1980s (Smallbone et al. 1995). The interesting feature that the authors noted is that fast growth can be attained by the firms with different size, age and industry characteristics. According to this study, the factors that differentiate high growth firms from other SMEs are that best performing firms are paying more attention to their products and markets by investing in RD, focusing on growth through their mission and strategies, opening to new markets and taking strategic decisions that will make the firm more competitive. Similarly, another study conducted i n 2008, compares the growth challenges of UK and US firms proves that, product and market development are key determinants of growth in both countries (Blackburn et al. 2008). Moreover, the study investigates that US firms were able to achieve the targeted growth by operating in US market; in contrast UK firms were involved in exporting to achieve growth. Subsequently, UK firms are subject to expansion barriers compared to US firms, however UK firms are more diversified and have higher survival probabilities in case of economic downturn. In addition, fast growth firms have a stronger commitment to growth and deeper level of customer knowledge than the firms with low performance indicators (Blackburn et al. 2008). Furthermore, authors observe that product innovation is a key determinant of firms growth. They came to that conclusion by interviewing UK and US business owners who reported that product innovation is a primary motivation for new venture start-up. Finally, Sapienza, Autio and Zahra (2003) argue that internationalization increases young firms probability of failure but at the same time increases prospects for growth. Entering the international market is often costly and firm may not survive after doing business in a foreign country. Moreover, it was observed that starting to operate internationally soon after entering the market is very risky. However, some firms decide to internationalize in their first years of their operations in order not to lose the available opportunity (Sapienza, Autio and Zahra, 2003). Finally, the study shows that some entrepreneurs consider failing in one or more start-ups as an experience before succeeding in their business. 4. CONCLUSION Overall, the results of the studies show that entrepreneurs experience, education level, firm location, age, and size of the firm are vital determinants of firm survival. The empirical evidence suggests that while both individual and business characteristics shape young firm survival within the first years after entry, in the long term, business factor such as firm size, which is measured by financial and human capital have little effect on the probability of survival, while other factors still have a considerable impact on the firms performance. By investigating the factors that lead the firms to grow rapidly, researchers can help all firms better understand the determinants associated with firm growth. The result obtained here is that fast growth firms attributes of success which discriminates them from other SMEs are successful RD investments, product innovation, and focusing on growth through their mission and strategies. Taken as a whole, achieving fast growth is a task of management, similar to the other entrepreneurial challenges that they face. Finally, there is a negative relationship between firm survival and internationalization. However, internationalization opens opportunities for growth for businesses and it is the choice of entrepreneurs to enter or not the international market at the early years of their new venture operations in accordance with the opportunities they have.

Determinants of Productivity :: essays research papers

Determinants of Productivity Determinants of Productivity Productivity is the quantity of output formed by one unit of production input in a unit of time. Inputs used in the production of the goods and services are the major determinants of any country’s productivity they are also called factors of production. There are four major determinants of productivity of any country’s economy.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Land: the land itself, and raw materials such as oil and minerals beneath it. The natural resources that is available without alteration or effort on the part of humans. Land as a resource includes only unique fertility and mineral deposits, topography, climate, water and vegetation. Trees grown are not categorized as land because they have been deliberately grown on the other hand Trees in a natural rainforest are a natural resource and thus classify as land. The reward for letting others use land is called rent.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Labor: In order to produce the things, a human resource must be used. human resources consist of the productive aid of labor made by individuals who work—for instance, miners, artists, and professional baseball players. The contribution of labor to the production process can be amplified. Whenever potential workers obtain schooling and training and whenever actual workers acquire new skills, labor’s contribution to productive output will raise. In other words it is human effort, mental or physical. The reward to labor is label wages.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capital: When labor is applied to land to grow wheat, for instance, something else is used. Generally it is a plow or a tractor. That is to say, land and labor are shared with manufactured resources in order to produce the things that we need. These manufactured resources are called capital, which consists of machines, buildings, and tools. Additionally, capital consists of enhancement to natural resources, such as irrigation ditches. Money is used to buy factors of production – it is not a factor itself. The return for investing in capital is called interest.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Enterprise or Entrepreneurship: The fourth factor of production, involving human resources that carry out the functions of raising capital, organizing, managing, bringing together other factors of production, and making fundamental business policy decisions. Determinants of Productivity :: essays research papers Determinants of Productivity Determinants of Productivity Productivity is the quantity of output formed by one unit of production input in a unit of time. Inputs used in the production of the goods and services are the major determinants of any country’s productivity they are also called factors of production. There are four major determinants of productivity of any country’s economy.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Land: the land itself, and raw materials such as oil and minerals beneath it. The natural resources that is available without alteration or effort on the part of humans. Land as a resource includes only unique fertility and mineral deposits, topography, climate, water and vegetation. Trees grown are not categorized as land because they have been deliberately grown on the other hand Trees in a natural rainforest are a natural resource and thus classify as land. The reward for letting others use land is called rent.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Labor: In order to produce the things, a human resource must be used. human resources consist of the productive aid of labor made by individuals who work—for instance, miners, artists, and professional baseball players. The contribution of labor to the production process can be amplified. Whenever potential workers obtain schooling and training and whenever actual workers acquire new skills, labor’s contribution to productive output will raise. In other words it is human effort, mental or physical. The reward to labor is label wages.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capital: When labor is applied to land to grow wheat, for instance, something else is used. Generally it is a plow or a tractor. That is to say, land and labor are shared with manufactured resources in order to produce the things that we need. These manufactured resources are called capital, which consists of machines, buildings, and tools. Additionally, capital consists of enhancement to natural resources, such as irrigation ditches. Money is used to buy factors of production – it is not a factor itself. The return for investing in capital is called interest.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Enterprise or Entrepreneurship: The fourth factor of production, involving human resources that carry out the functions of raising capital, organizing, managing, bringing together other factors of production, and making fundamental business policy decisions.

Alice Walker and Everyday use :: essays research papers

February ninth 1944, it was a dark and stormy night†¦ well maybe not. Regardless of the weather this is the date of Alice Walkers birth in Eatonton Georgia. Born to the sharecroppers Willie Lee and Minnie Grant Walker, who had already been blessed (cursed) with seven children, Alice was their eighth and final bundle of joy. She led a fairly normal life till she was eight years old and her elder brother accidentally (or was it?) shot her in the eye with a BB gun. This unfortunate incident caused Alice to lose the use of one eye. An interesting by product of this event was that she ended up with one blue eye and one brown eye. An excellent student, Alice graduated valedictorian of her class and then in 1965 she graduated from the Sarah Lawrence collage for women with a Bachelor of Art degree. During the 1960’s Alice was deeply involved in the civil rights movement. In 1967 Alice married a white human rights lawyer, Mel Leventnal. In 1969 the happy, socially controversial couple were blessed with a daughter, whom they named Rebecca. A year later Alice published her first novel; she was twenty-six years old. But alas, bliss does not last forever, she divorced in 1977. Although, this low point in her life did not keep her from writing. In 1983 she won the Putzler Prize for her novel The Color Purple. Cultural heritage was important to Alice Walker. This is shown repeatedly through out her story Every Day Use. Much of Alice’s own life and heritage can be seen in this excellent example of cultural pride and knowledge. She illustrates quite well that objects cannot define ones culture nor heritage, only attitude, experience, and an understanding of the past can tell where a person comes from. Dee's interest in her heritage can only be described as a passing fad. Only the monetary value of the things she wishes to take mean anything to her. She does not have the skills to use the churn top nor make quilts, such as the ones Mama wishes to give to Maggie. Mama and Maggie have, cherish and use these skills every day, using their heritage. Dee does not see the practical uses of the churn top and the quilts; she sees dollar signs and a rise in social status. She knows virtually nothing of the families past and doesn’t really care.

Autobiographical Writing on my 5th Birthday :: Papers

Autobiographical Writing My 5th birthday My 5th birthday is 1 of my earliest memories and is the first birthday I can remember I don't know why it has stuck in my memory so much but I can remember it like it was yesterday. It started very early in the morning around 5 am which is ridiculously early to be getting up and you wouldn't catch me getting up that early these days, but at the time I was used to it because my mum worked at night and my dad started work about 6 so I used to have to go round my next door neighbors house till my mum got home at about 8, the lady next door was called Maureen she was about 50 and she was quite tiny and had short gray hair. I remember her to be very kind, she had a colossal collection of video's that she let me watch every morning and she would always offer drinks, biscuits, cakes and anything you could think of really, her kitchen was the Aladdin's cave of cuisine and provisions. On the morning of my birthday my dad came in my room picked me up to carry me across to next door. I was still asleep not really knowing what was going on around me until the fearsome freeze of the early morning hit me round the head, winded me, then chopped off my fingers and toe's. My dad rushed to get me to Maureen's house as quick as he could when I got in there me and my dad sat down and had a goblet of rosy lea (tea) with Maureen before he had to dash off to work, then she whipped out a bowl of piping hot ready break which is like a kids version of porridge with a ton of sugar and a blab of milk it was lovely, I munched it down like a frog would a fly, I was still pretty drowsy so I had a snooze on the couch. When I awoke a gigantic box wrapped in lime green packaging was stood in the center of the room, I

Six thinking hats technique

Title (of the technique): Six thinking hats technique Purpose: The generation of new and innovative ideas is the main aim of using creative techniques. Often people fail to look at a problem from all angles and they may fail to look at the emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoints. The six thinking hats technique is a powerful technique created by Edward de Bono in the early 1980’s to look at decisions from different point of view.The purpose of applying this technique is that it encourages parallel thinking and helps people move away from their habitual thinking styles and towards a more well-rounded view of a situation. Description: The six thinking hats technique identifies six different modes of thinking that are meant to be directed at parallel to solve a certain problem on hand. Each thinking mode is represented by a different coloured hat and each colour is defined by the role that it plays in the process of problem solving.The process can be performed indiv idually or within a group environment and once the participants understand the necessary techniques involved they can proceed to address the problems at hand. They will all work together toward the same objective. When used correctly the hats separate ego from performance which allows everyone to work cooperatively toward a desired goal. Equipment needed: There are few things that are required to perform a successful six hats brainstorming session. Firstly the individual or group should have prior knowledge of the skills required.A pen, paper and innovative attitude and a simple and easy way of distinguishing people’s different colours at all times as the different coloured hats are metaphorical. Requirement for success . Educated audience (familiar with de Bono’s Technique) . Discipline from each person involved- while using the hat people need to stay in that particular mindset . Time under the hat should generally be short . Use any hat as often as needed . Set out to think in a certain direction . Don’t categorize people in a group beforehand (e. g. he is only a green hat). Everyone can and should use all hats . Be specific about where you want the thinking to go Process: Each hat represents a certain thinking style: White hat – Objective, neutral thinking in terms of facts number and information. With this hat you focus on the data that is available. Red hat- Emotional, with judgments, suspicions and intuitions. With this hat you look at a problem using intuition, gut reaction and emotion. Black hat- Negative sees risks and thinks about possible failure points. This hat looks at all the bad points of the decision to try and see why it might not work.Yellow hat- Positive, optimistic, clear, effective and constructive. This hat helps you think positively and to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. Green hat- Creative, seeks alternative. The green hat is where you can develop creative solutions to a problem. I t is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas. Blue hat (Meta hat) – thinking about thinking, the blue thinkers role is to keep an overview of what thinking is necessary on the subject. Recommended use in innovation:Many successful people and companies have embraced de Bono’s six thinking hats technique as it allows the necessary skepticism and emotions to be brought into what would have been purely rational decisions. It opens up an opportunity for creativity within decision making. Plans developed using this technique will be much more sound and resilient than would otherwise be the case. Advantages or benefits: . Leads to more creative thinking . Improves communication and decision making . Allows a person to say things without risk . Provides a common language . Diversity of thoughts Saves time . Create, evaluate and implement action plans . Removal of ego (reduces confrontation) . Helps people work against type, preference . Help people use more of their brains . Focus (one thing at a time) Limitations: The technique is not good to solve short term problems as people need to first be introduced to the method and become familiar with it before it can be used. If it is not monitored correctly it can also become time consuming. You can’t get the right answer asking the wrong questions the group needs to be sure that they are focused in the right direction. references

Telecom Application Map (Etom, Release 3.1)

These process elements can then be positioned within a model to show organizational, functional and other relationships, and can be combined within process flows that trace activity paths through the business. The eTOM can serve as the blueprint for standardizing and categorizing business activities (or process elements) that will help set direction and the starting point for development and integration of Business and Operations Support Systems (BSS and OSS respectively). An important additional application for eTOM is that it helps to support and guide work by TM Forum members and others to develop NGOSS solutions. For service providers, it provides a Telco industry-standard reference point, when considering internal process reengineering needs, partnerships, alliances, and general working agreements with other providers.For suppliers, the eTOM framework outlines potential boundaries of process solutions, and the required functions, inputs, and outputs that must be supported by pro cess solutions. This document consists of: An introduction to the role of the eTOM Business Process Framework. An overview of the eTOM Business Process Framework, from both Intra-Enterprise and Inter-Enterprise viewpoints, that sets out the main structural elements and approach. The implications and impact of ebusiness for service providers and their business relationships, and how eTOM supports them.  A description of extensions to eTOM for Business to Business Interactions. Several Annexes and Appendices, including terminology and glossary. An Addendum (Addendum D) describing the Service Provider nterprise processes and sub-processes in a form that is top down, customer-centric, and end-to-end focused. Process decompositions are provided for all processes from the highest conceptual view of the framework to the working level of the eTOM, and many selected lower level decompositions in the framework are also included. An Addendum (Addendum F) describing selected process flows at several levels of view and detail that provides end-to-end insight into the application of eTOM. A separate Application Note (GB921L) that shows how eTOM can be used to model the ITIL processes. ?TeleManagement Forum 2002 GB921v3. 5 Draft 4 Page 2 eTOM Business Process FrameworkAnother Application Note (GB921B, currently under development) outlining implications and impact of ebusiness for service providers and their business relationships, and how eTOM supports them, including a description of handling of Business to Business Interactions by eTOM. Note: Annexes and Appendices both allow material to be removed from the â€Å"in-line† flow of the document main body, so that the reader does not become embedded in too much detail as they read. However, they have a different status within a document. Annexes contain normative material, i. e. they have equivalent status to the material within the main body of the document, while Appendices are non-normative, i. e. they contain mat erial included for information or general guidance but which does not represent formal agreement and requirements for users of the document.Addenda have a similar status to Annexes, but are presented as a separate document that is an adjunct to the main document. This is typically because otherwise a single document would become cumbersome due to its size. Thus, a document body, together with its Annexes and Addenda (and their Annexes, if any), represents the normative material presented, while any Appendices in the main document or its Addenda represent non-normative material, included for information only. Application Notes are a specific document type, used to provide insight into how a specification or other agreed artifact is used in a particular context or area of application. They are non-normative as they provide information and guidance only within the area concerned.The basic operations framework continues to be stable even as the Information and Communications Services in dustry continues to change, largely because, like the TM Forum’s previous Telecom Operations Map (TOM), the eTOM Business Process Framework: Uses a high level and generic approach Reflects a broad range of operations and enterprise process model views Reflects the way service providers run and are architecting their businesses eTOM is already being widely used eTOM is accepted as the Telco industry standard by Service Providers, Vendors, Integrators and Consultants. The eTOM significantly enhances the TOM, the previous ‘de facto’ standard for Service Provider operations processes for the industry. eTOM has become the enterprise process, ebusiness enabled, ‘de facto’ standard for the Information and Communications Services industry processes. For those familiar with the TOM, it may be helpful to refer to the prior release of this document (GB921 v3. 0) that includes appendices covering TOM to eTOM Chapter Comparison, and TOM To eTOM Process Name Chang es. GB921v3. 6 ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 3 Relationship to Standardization ActivitiesMuch of the management infrastructures upon which systems will be built are expected to be based on standard interfaces. Relating business needs to available, or necessary, standards is a primary goal of the TM Forum in promoting a standardsbased approach to information and communications services management. Where applicable, the TM Forum uses industry standards in its work to promote the acceptance of standards and to minimize redundant work. People active in management standardization (in the broadest sense) will find the eTOM useful in setting a top down, enterprise-level, customer-centric context of how management specifications need to work together.TM Forum uses existing standards as much as possible. As a result of implementation experience through Catalyst projects, TM Forum provides feedback to appropriate standards bodies. NGOSS and eTOM NGOSS is the TM Forum’s New Generation Operations Systems and Software program, which delivers a toolkit to guide the definition, development, procurement and deployment of OSS/BSS solutions while also defining a strategic direction for a more standardized OSS marketplace. NGOSS uses a common business process map, systems descriptions, and information models and couples them with pre-defined integration interfaces, architectural principles and compliance criteria.NGOSS’s end-to-end approach enables service providers to redesign their key business processes in line with industry best practices while allowing suppliers to cost-effectively develop OSS software that can easily fit into a service provider’s IT environment. ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 4 eTOM Business Process Framework S S A y A n ysstte na em m a D ly D e lyssiis ss essi s & ig n & g n NGOSS Supporting Tools s es ap s in s M Bu ces M) O o Pr (eT Co nt ra Ne c ut Tec t In ra h te l A no rf rc log ac hi y e & te ct ur e In S f h Da orm are ta at d i (S Mo on ID de & ) l So An Souu An l l t to ii aa n De lyys on De l sis is& ssg iig & nnPr B Pr u oo Bus cc sin ee ssss ine e & & A sss De An s De naa ssg lyy iig l ss nn iss i Co m p Te lia st nce s ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 Figure P. 1: TM Forum NGOSS Framework Figure P. 1 shows the NGOSS Framework, and the vital role of eTOM within this. eTOM provides the Business Process Map for NGOSS. Moving around the NGOSS â€Å"wheel†, eTOM feeds requirements to the Information Model and thence to the Integration Framework and Compliance Criteria. More information on NGOSS is available through the TM Forum website www. tmforum. org GB921v3. 6 C S Coo Soollu n nff o uttiio o Te orrm n m n Te ssttii aanc n n ngg cee eTOM Business Process Framework Page 5Chapter 1- eTOM Business Process Framework Introduction Purpose of the Business Process Framework Traditionally in the telecommunications industry, service providers delivered end-toend services to their customers. As such, the entire value chain was controlled by a single enterprise, if necessary via interconnection arrangements with other service providers. However in a liberalized marketplace, service providers are having to respond both to the customer’s increased demands for superior customer service and to stiffer competition. They have therefore been expanding their markets beyond their self-contained boundaries and broadening their business relationships.Service Providers face very different regulatory environments and their business strategies and approaches to competition are quite distinct, nevertheless they share several common characteristics: Heavily dependent upon effective management of information and communications networks to stay competitive Adopting a service management approach to the way they run their business and their networks Moving to more of an end-to-end Process Management approach developed from the customer’s point of v iew Automating their Customer Care, Service and Network Management Processes Need to integrate new OSSs with legacy systems Focusing on data services offerings and Focusing on total service performance, including customer satisfaction Integrating with current technology (e. g. SDH/SONET and ATM) and new technologies (e. g. , IP, DWDM) Emphasizing more of a â€Å"buy† rather than â€Å"build† approach that integrates systems from multiple suppliers Some Service Providers choose to operate their own network and/or information technology infrastructure, while others choose to outsource this segment of their business.The effective exploitation of this information technology and network infrastructure, whether directly operated or outsourced, is an integral part of the service delivery chain and directly influences the service quality and cost perceived by the end customer. Service Providers will need to become skilled at assessing outsourcing opportunities whether in infor mation technology and/or network infrastructure areas or other areas and then, be skilled at integrating and managing any outsourcing arrangements. ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 6 eTOM Business Process Framework To meet both existing and new demands, Service providers still urgently require wellautomated operations processes whether they are incumbent providers or new entrants, and whether communications service providers, application service providers, Internet service providers, etc. Some service roviders are struggling with high growth from a start-up phase, others with the commoditization of key cash-cow services, and yet others with the move from a manual-intensive, inconsistent, inflexible environment to one that provides significant improvement in customer focus, service quality, unit cost, and time to market. Service providers have to pervasively do business electronically with trading partners, suppliers and wholesale and retail customers. For the growing Mobil e/Wireless and IP Services markets, these service providers are focused on quickly provisioning new customers and supporting service quality issues, while continually reducing development and operating costs.. For all service providers, there is an intense drive to introduce both new value-added services and dramatic improvements in customer support.There is also an increasing need for Service Providers to manage the integration required in mergers and acquisitions activity due to the consolidation trend the industry is now experiencing. For the full range of service providers and network operators, the leading focus of the TM Forum’s mission is to enable end-to-end process automation of the business and operations processes that deliver information and communications services. The eTOM is the business process framework for accomplishing this mission. The purpose of the eTOM is to continue to set a vision for the industry to compete successfully through the implementation of business process driven approaches to managing the enterprise.This includes ensuring integration among all vital enterprise support systems concerned with service delivery and support. The focus of the eTOM document is on the business processes used by service providers, the linkages between these processes, the identification of interfaces, and the use of Customer, Service, Resource, Supplier/Partner and other information by multiple processes. Exploitation of information from every corner of the business will be essential to success in the future. In an ebusiness environment, automation to gain productivity enhancement, increased revenue and better customer relationships is vital. Perhaps at no other time has process automation been so critical to success in the marketplace.The over-arching objectives of the eTOM Business Process Framework are to continue to build on TM Forum’s success in establishing: An ‘industry standard’ business process framework. Common d efinitions to describe process elements of a service provider. Agreement on the basic information required to perform each process element within a business activity, and use of this within the overall NGOSS program for business requirements and information model development that can guide industry agreement on contract interfaces, shared data model elements, and supporting system infrastructure and products. A process framework for identifying which processes and interfaces are in most need of integration and automation, and most dependent on industry agreement.This document, the eTOM Business Process Framework and its associated business process modeling, describes for an enterprise the process elements and their relationship that are involved in information and communications services and technologies management. Additionally, the points of interconnection that make up the end-to-end, customer operations process flows for Fulfillment, Assurance, Billing within Operations, and for Strategy, Infrastructure & Product are addressed. GB921v3. 6 ? TeleManagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 7 Note that, although eTOM has been focused on information and communications services and technologies management, this work is also proving to be of interest in other business areas.Service providers need this common framework of processes to enable them to do business efficiently and effectively with other entities and to enable the development and use of third-party software without the need for major customization. In an ebusiness environment, this common understanding of process is critical to managing the more complex business relationships of today’s information and communications services marketplace. eBusiness integration among enterprises seems to be most successful through strong process integration. Recent industry fallout, particularly in relation to dotcoms, does not reduce the pressure for ebusiness automation – it strengthens t he need to capitalize on ebusiness opportunities to be successful.However, the eTOM is not just an ecommerce or ebusiness process framework, it supports traditional business processes with the integration of ebusiness. Define Common Terminology The eTOM document also provides the definition of common terms concerning enterprise processes, sub-processes and the activities performed within each. Common terminology makes it easier for service providers to negotiate with customers, third party suppliers, and other service providers. See Annex B for the definition of eTOM acronyms and terminology. Consensus Tool The TM Forum produced the TOM initially as a consensus tool for discussion and agreement among service providers and network operators.Its broad consensus of support, which has been built on and extended with the eTOM, enables: Focused work to be carried out in TM Forum teams to define detailed business requirements, information agreements, business application contracts and shar ed data model specifications (exchanges between applications or systems) and to review these outputs for consistency Relating business needs to available or required standards A common process view for equipment suppliers, applications builders and integrators to build management systems by combining third party and in-house developments The anticipated result is that the products purchased by service providers and network operators for business and operational management of their networks, information technologies and services will integrate better into their environment, enabling the cost benefits of end-to-end automation. Furthermore, a common industry view on processes and information facilitates operator-to-operator and operator-to-supplier process interconnection, which is essential for rapid service provisioning and problem handling in a competitive global environment.This process interconnection is the key to ebusiness supply chain management in particular. ?TeleManagement F orum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 8 eTOM Business Process Framework What is the eTOM? The eTOM is a business process framework, i. e. a reference framework or model for categorizing all the business activities that a service provider will use. It is NOT a service provider business model. In other words, it does not address the strategic issues or questions of who a service provider’s target customers should be, what market segments should the service provider serve, what are a service provider’s vision, mission, etc. A business process framework is one part of the strategic business model and plan for a service provider.The eTOM can be regarded as a Business Process Framework, rather than a Business Process Model, since its aim is to categorize the process elements business activities so that these can then be combined in many different ways, to implement end-to-end business processes (e. g. fulfillment, assurance, billing) which deliver value for the customer and the service provider. eTOM Release 3. 0 provided a member-approved eTOM Business Process Framework with global agreement from its highest conceptual level to its first working level. This eTOM Release 3. 5 builds on this to take account of real-world experience in applying this work, and to incorporate new detail in process decompositions, flows and business to business interaction.However, eTOM is still developing in areas such as further lower-level process decompositions and flows, and ongoing feedback together with its linkage with the wider NGOSS program, will be used to guide future development priorities. Note that the development of a total process framework is a significant undertaking with process work that will be phased over time based on member process priorities and member resource availability. This is visible in eTOM’s own history, from the original Telecom Operations Map (TOM) that was carried forward into the eTOM and broadened to a total enterprise framework, through s everal generations of detail and refinement, to the current Release. More information on TOM and its links with eTOM are provided in the previous release of this document (GB921 v3. 0).A great many service providers, as well as system integrators, ASPs and vendors, are working already with eTOM. They need an industry standard framework for procuring software and equipment, as well as to interface with other service providers in an increasingly complex network of business relationships. Many service providers have contributed their own process models because they recognize the need to have a broader industry framework that doesn’t just address operations or traditional business processes. GB921v3. 6 ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 9 Customer Strategy, Infrastructure & Product Operations Customer Market, Product & Customer Market, Product and Customer Service ServiceResource Resource (Application, Computing and Network) (Application, Computing an d Network) Supplier/Partner Supplier/Partner Supplier/Partner Suppliers/Partners Enterprise Management Shareholders  ©TeleManagement Forum October, 2001 Employees Other Stakeholders Figure 1. 1: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 0 Processes Figure 1. 1 shows the highest conceptual view of the eTOM Business Process Framework. This view provides an overall context that differentiates strategy and lifecycle processes from the operations processes in two large groupings, seen as two boxes. It also differentiates the key functional areas in five horizontal layers. In addition, Figure 1. also shows the internal and external entities that interact with the enterprise (as ovals). Figure 1. 2 shows the Level 0 view of Level 1 processes in the eTOM Framework. This view is an overall view of the eTOM processes, but in practice it is the next level – the Level 1 view of Level 2 processes – at which users tend to work, as this detail is needed in analyzing their busine sses. This view is presented later in the document in a series of diagrams examining each area of the eTOM framework. Figure 1. 2 below shows seven vertical process groupings. These are the end-to-end processes that are required to support customers and to manage the business.The focal point of the eTOM (as it was for the TOM) is on the core customer operations processes of Fulfillment, Assurance and Billing (FAB). Operations Support & Readiness is now differentiated from FAB real-time processes to increase the focus on enabling support and automation in FAB, i. e.. on line and immediate support of customers. The Strategy & Commit vertical, as well as the two Lifecycle Management verticals, are also now differentiated because, unlike Operations, they do not directly support the customer, are intrinsically different from the Operations processes and work on different business time cycles. The horizontal process groupings in Figure 1. 2 distinguish functional operations processes and other types of business functional processes, e. g. Marketing versus Selling, Service Development versus Service Configuration, etc. The functional processes on the left (within the Strategy & Commit, Infrastructure Lifecycle Management and Product Lifecycle Management vertical process groupings) enable, support and direct the work in the Operations verticals. ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 10 Customer Strategy, Infrastructure and Product Operations eTOM Business Process Framework Strategy & Commit Infrastructure Lifecycle Mgmt Product Lifecycle Mgmt Operations Support & Readiness Fulfillment Assurance Billing Marketing and Offer Management Customer Relationship Management Service Development & ManagementService Management & Operations Resource Development & Management Resource Management & Operations Supply Chain Development & Management Supplier/Partner Relationship Management Enterprise Management Strategic & Enterprise Planning Brand Management, Market Research & Adv ertising Enterprise Quality Mgmt, Process & IT Planning & Architecture Human Resource s Management Research & Development Acquisistion & Technology Financial & Asset Management  © TeleManagement Forum October, 2001 Stakeholder & External Relations Management Disaster Recovery , Security & Fraud Management Figure 1. 2: eTOM Business Process Framework—Level 1 Processes As can be seen in Figure 1. , eTOM makes the following improvements to the high level TOM Framework: Expands the scope to all enterprise processes. Distinctly identifies Marketing processes due to heightened importance in an ebusiness world. Distinctly identifies Enterprise Management processes, so that everyone in the enterprise is able to identify their critical processes, thereby enabling process framework acceptance across the enterprise. Brings Fulfillment, Assurance and Billing (FAB) onto the high-level framework view to emphasize the customer priority processes as the focus of the enterprise. Defines an Operations Support & Readiness vertical process grouping, applicable for all functional layers, except Enterprise Management. To ntegrate ebusiness and make customer selfmanagement a reality, the enterprise has to understand the processes it needs to enable for direct, and more and more, online customer operations support and customer self-management. Recognizes three enterprise process groupings that are distinctly different from operations processes by identifying the SIP processes, i. e. , Strategy & Commit, Infrastructure Lifecycle Management and Product Lifecycle Management. Recognizes the different cycle times of the strategy and lifecycle management processes and the need to separate these processes from the customer priority operations processes where automation is most critical. This is done by decoupling the Strategy & Commit and the two Lifecycle Management processes from the day-to-day, minute-to-minute cycle times of the customer operations processes. GB921v3. 6 ?TeleMa nagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 11 Moves from a customer care or service orientation to a customer relationship management orientation that emphasizes customer selfmanagement and control, increasing the value customers contribute to the enterprise and the use of information to customize and personalize to the individual customer. It adds more elements to this customer operations functional layer to represent better the selling processes and to integrate marketing fulfillment within Customer Relationship Management. Note that eTOM Customer Relationship Management is very broadly defined and larger in scope than some definitions of CRM.Acknowledges the need to manage resources across technologies, (i. e. , application, computing and network), by integrating the Network and Systems Management functional process into Resource Management & Operations. It also moves the management of IT into this functional layer as opposed to having a separate process grouping. e TOM is More Than One Document It is intended that the eTOM Business Process Framework will become a collection of documents and models. The current view is as follows: This document – the eTOM: The Business Process Framework – is structured as a core document that explains the overall framework approach and all its elements.In addition, two Addenda are associated with the core document: Addendum D provides process descriptions for the eTOM at Level 0, Level 1, Level 2 and selected Level 3 processes Addendum F provides examples of process flows that use the eTOM Business Process Framework and its component process elements to address high-priority business scenarios The eTOM Overview/Executive Summary is a â€Å"single sheet† document that provides an overall view of the eTOM business process framework and highlights key concepts. The eTOM Business Process Framework Model provides a version of the eTOM framework, processes and flows intended for automated process ing by modeling tools, etc.This is intended to be available in several formats: Tool-based (e. g. XML for import into a process analysis environment) Browsable (e. g. HTML) †¢ †¢ Using This Document A service provider’s specific process architecture and organization structure are highly specific and critical aspects of a provider’s competitiveness. The eTOM provides a common view of service provider enterprise process elements or business activities that can easily translate to an individual provider’s internal approaches. The document is not intended to be prescriptive about how the tasks are carried out, how a provider ? TeleManagement Forum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 12 eTOM Business Process Framework r operator is organized, or how the tasks are identified in any one organization. It is also not prescriptive about the sequence of Process Elements that are combined to implement end-to-end business processes. The eTOM provides a starting point for detailed work coordinated through TM Forum that leads to an integrated set of specifications that will provide real benefit to both suppliers and procurers in enhancing industry service provider enterprise management capability. This document is not a specification, in the sense that vendors or operators must comply directly. However, it does represent a standard way of naming, describing and categorizing process elements.It will enable unambiguous communication and facilitate the development of standard solutions and reuse of business processes. It is not intended to incorporate all the detail of eventual process implementation, but is more a guiding reference for the industry. One of the strengths of the eTOM is that it can be adopted at a variety of levels, in whole or in part, depending upon a service provider’s needs. The eTOM can also act as a translator by allowing a service provider to map their distinct processes to the industry framework. As the process examples are develop ed, service providers can use and adapt these examples to their business environment.The eTOM Business Process Framework can be used as a tool for analyzing an organization’s existing processes and for developing new processes. Different processes delivering the same business functionality can be identified, duplication eliminated, gaps revealed, new process design speeded up, and variance reduced. Using eTOM, it is possible to assess the value, cost and performance of individual processes within an organization. Relationships with suppliers and partners can also be facilitated by identifying and categorizing the processes used in interactions with them. In a similar manner, it is possible to identify the all-important customer relationship processes and evaluate whether they are functioning as required to meet customers’ expectations. Intended AudienceThe eTOM aims at a wide audience of professionals in the Information and Communications Services Industry. For experie nced Telecommunications professionals, the eTOM has proven itself to be intuitive; and a strong, common framework of service provider enterprise processes. Through TM Forum Catalyst projects and other work, it has been verified that the eTOM framework has strong application in many applications and throughout many companies. More information on use of eTOM within the industry is available at the TM Forum website www. tmforum. org The eTOM is aimed at service provider and network operator decision makers who need to know and input to he common business process framework used to enable enterprise automation in a cost efficient way. It is also an important framework for specialists across the industry working on business and operations automation. The document or framework supports, and is consistent with, many efforts under way in the industry supporting the need to accelerate business and operations automation in the information and communications services marketplace. GB921v3. 6 ? T eleManagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 13 The eTOM will continue to give providers and suppliers a common framework for discussing complex business needs in a complex industry with complex technologies.For both service providers and network operators additional complexities arise from: Moving away from developing their own business and operations systems software, to a more procurement and systems integration approach. New business relationships between service providers and network operators The creation of new business relationships and the move away from developing internally are a reaction to market forces. These market forces require service providers and network operators to increase the range of services they offer, reduce time to market for new services, increase speed of service, as well as to drive down systems and operational costs.The eTOM is also aimed at service provider and network operator employees involved in business process re-engineering, operations, procurement and other activities for: Understanding the common business process framework being used to drive integration and automation Getting involved in providing processes, inputs, priorities and requirements The eTOM Business Process Framework is also aimed at designers and integrators of business and operational management systems software and equipment suppliers. They can benefit from understanding how management processes and applications need to work together to deliver business benefit to service providers and network operators.An equally important and related audience is suppliers of management applications, management systems, and networking equipment, who need to understand the deployment environment for their products and solutions. The eTOM Business Process Framework provides a common framework useful in supporting the significant amount of merger and acquisition activity. Common process understanding and a common process framework can greatly improve int egration performance for mergers and acquisitions. eTOM is applicable for an established service provider or a new entrant, ‘green field’ provider. It is important to note that not all areas defined in the eTOM are necessarily used by all providers.As mentioned earlier, the framework is flexible, so that the process elements the specific service providers require can be selected on a modular basis and at the appropriate level of detail for their needs. Benefits of Using eTOM eTOM makes available a standard structure, terminology and classification scheme for describing business processes and their constituent building blocks eTOM supplies a foundation for applying enterprise-wide discipline to the development of business processes eTOM provides a basis for understanding and managing portfolios of IT applications in terms of business process requirements ? TeleManagement Forum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 14 eTOM Business Process FrameworkUse of the eTOM enables consistent and h igh-quality end-to-end process flows to be created, with opportunities for cost and performance improvement, and for re-use of existing processes and systems Use of the eTOM across the industry will increase the likelihood that off-the-shelf applications will be readily integrated into the enterprise, at a lower cost than custom-built applications GB921v3. 6 ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 15 Chapter 2 – eTOM Business Process Enterprise Framework The main purpose of this Chapter is to provide a formal description of the eTOM Business Process Framework, with two distinct viewpoints: The Internal Viewpoint, which considers the processes that characterize the â€Å"internal behavior† of a Service Provider; The External Viewpoint, which considers the processes necessary for a Service Provider to handle external interactions (e. g. xecute electronic transactions) with Customers, Suppliers and Partners in a Value Chain. In the following sectio ns both of these viewpoints are presented. The Internal Viewpoint follows the structure of former releases of GB921, the External Viewpoint is new material and a general overview is provided. Internal viewpoint The eTOM Business Process Element Enterprise Framework considers the Service Provider’s (SP’s) enterprise, and positions this within its overall business context: i. e. the business interactions and relationships, which allow the SP to carry on its business with other organizations. These wider aspects, together with the implications for an eBusiness and eCommerce world are introduced in Chapter 3.This section introduces the eTOM Business Framework and explains its structure and the significance of each of the process areas within it. It also shows how the eTOM structure is decomposed to lower-level process elements. This explanation is useful for those who decide where and how an Enterprise will use eTOM, and those who may be modifying it for use in their Enter prise. To assist the reader in locating the process area concerned within eTOM, a graphical icon of eTOM, alongside the text, is provided to draw attention to the relevant eTOM area. This is highlighted in red to indicate the focus of the following text or discussion. eTOM Conceptual View The eTOM Business Process Element Enterprise Framework represents the whole of a service provider’s enterprise environment.At the overall conceptual level, eTOM can be viewed as having three major areas of process, as shown in Figure 2. 1. Strategy, Infrastructure & Product – covering planning and lifecycle management Operations – covering the core of operational management Enterprise Management – covering corporate or business support management ? TeleManagement Forum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 16 eTOM Business Process Framework Customer Strategy, Infrastructure & Product Operations Market, Product and Customer Service Resource (Application, Computing and Network) Supplier/Pa rtner Suppliers/Partners Enterprise Management Shareholders Employees Other Stakeholders  © TeleManagement ForumOctober, 2001 Figure 2. : eTOM Business Process Framework Conceptual Structure The Conceptual Structure view provides an overall context that differentiates strategy and lifecycle processes from operations processes in two large process areas, seen as the two large boxes towards the top of the diagram, together with a third area beneath which is concerned with enterprise management. It also differentiates the key functional areas in four horizontal groupings across the two upper process areas. In addition, Figure 2. 1 shows the internal and external entities (as ovals) that interact with the enterprise. eTOM is a structured catalogue (a taxonomy) of process elements, which can be viewed in more and more detail.When viewed in terms of the Horizontal Functional groupings, it follows a strict hierarchy where every element is only associated with or parented to a single elem ent at the next higher hierarchical level. In a taxonomy, any activity must be unique, i. e. it must be listed only once. Figure 2. 1 shows the top level (Level â€Å"0†) Groupings that eTOM is decomposed into. Because the purpose of the eTOM framework is to help SPs to manage their end-toend Business processes, the eTOM enhances the TOM practice of showing how process elements have a strong association with one (or several) end-to-end business processes (e. g. Fulfillment, Assurance, Billing, Product Development etc. which are introduced later in this Chapter). These Vertical End-To-End groupings are essentially overlays onto the hierarchical top-level horizontal groupings, because in a hierarchical taxonomy an element cannot be associated with or parented to more than one element at the next higher level. Because eTOM was developed to help build and implement the process elements for a Service Provider, it was decided from the start that the primary top-level hierarchy of p rocess elements would be the functional (horizontal) groupings, rather than the endto-end process (vertical) groupings. GB921v3. 6 ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 17To understand the eTOM Business Process Framework, each process area is analyzed and decomposed into further groupings and processes. For each level of analysis or decomposition, the process area, grouping or process element itself is presented with a brief, summary-level description. At this highest level, the three basic process areas are outlined below. The Operations Process Area is the heart of eTOM. It includes all operations processes that support the customer operations and management, as well as those that enable direct customer operations with the customer. These processes include both day-to-day and operations support and readiness processes.The eTOM view of Operations also includes sales management and supplier/partner relationship management. The Strategy, Infrastructure & Pro duct Process Area includes processes that develop strategies and commitment to them within the enterprise, that plan, develop and manage infrastructures and products, and that develop and manage the Supply Chain. In the eTOM, infrastructure refers to more than just the IT and resource infrastructure that supports products and services. It includes the infrastructure required to support functional processes, e. g. , Customer Relationship Management (CRM). These processes direct and enable the Operations processes.The Enterprise Management Process Area includes those basic business processes that are required to run any large business. These generic processes focus on both the setting and achieving of strategic corporate goals and objectives, as well as providing those support services that are required throughout an Enterprise. These processes are sometimes considered to be the corporate functions and/or processes. e. g. , Financial Management, Human Resources Management processes, e tc†¦ Since Enterprise Management processes are aimed at general support within the Enterprise, they may interface as needed with almost every other process in the Enterprise, be they operational, strategy, infrastructure or product processes.The conceptual view of the eTOM Business Process Framework addresses both the major process areas as above and, just as importantly, the supporting functional process groupings, depicted as horizontal groupings. The functional groupings reflect the major expertise and focus required to pursue the business. The four functional groupings are described below: The Market, Product and Customer processes include those dealing with sales and channel management, marketing management, and product and offer management, as well as Customer Relationship Management and ordering, problem handling, SLA Management and billing. The Service processes include those dealing with service development and configuration, service problem management, quality analysi s, and rating. The Resource processes include those dealing with development nd management of the enterprise's infrastructure, whether related to products and services, or to supporting the enterprise itself. The Supplier/Partner processes include those dealing with the enterprise’s interaction with its suppliers and partners. This involves both processes that manage the Supply Chain that underpins product and infrastructure, as well as those that support the Operations interface with its suppliers and partners. ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 18 eTOM Business Process Framework Additionally, in the diagram (Figure 2. 1), the major entities with which the enterprise interacts are shown. These are: Customers, to whom service is provided by means of the products sold by the enterprise: the focus of the business!Suppliers, who provides products or resources, bought and used by the enterprise directly or indirectly to support its business Partners, with whom the enterpr ise co-operates in a shared area of business Employees, who work for the enterprise to pursue its business goals Shareholders, who have invested in the enterprise and thus own stock Stakeholders, who have a commitment to the enterprise other than through stock ownership. eTOM CEO Level View Below the conceptual level, the eTOM Business Process Framework is decomposed into a set of process element groupings, which provide a first level of detail at which the entire enterprise can be viewed. These process groupings are considered the CEO level view, in that the performance of these processes determines the success of the enterprise. The eTOM Business Process Framework is defined as generically as possible, so that it is independent of organization, technology and service. The eTOM is basically intuitive, business driven and customer focused. To reflect the way usinesses look at their processes, the eTOM supports two different perspectives on the grouping of the detailed process elemen ts: Horizontal process groupings, which represent a view of functionallyrelated processes within the business, such as those involved in managing contact with the customer or in managing the supply chain. This structuring by functional groupings is useful to those who are responsible for creating the capability that enables the processes. The IT teams will look at groups of IT functions which tend to be implemented together e. g. the front-of-house applications in the Customer Grouping, back-of-house applications which focus on managing information about the services sold to customers, the network management applications which focus on the technology which delivers the services.For processes delivered by people there is a similar separation of workgroups – the front-of-house workgroups in the Customer Grouping, back-of-house workgroups which focus on managing information about the services sold to customers, the network management workgroups which focus on the technology whic h delivers the services. Vertical process groupings, which represent a view of end-to-end processes within the business, such as those involved in the overall billing flows to customers. This end-to-end view is important to those people who are responsible for changing, operating and managing the end-to-end processes. These people are more interested in the outcomes of the process and how they support customer need rather than worrying about the IT or the workgroups that need to work together to deliver the result. GB921v3. 6 ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 19 The overlay of the Functional (horizontal) groupings of process elements and the endto-end process (vertical) groupings forms the inherent matrix structure of eTOM. This matrix structure is the core of one of the innovations and fundamental benefits of eTOM – it offers for the first time a standard language and structure for the process elements that are understood and used by both the pe ople specifying and operating the end-to-end business, as well as those people who are responsible for creating the capability that enables the processes (whether automated by IT or implemented manually by workgroups).The integration of all these processes provides the enterprise-level process framework for the information and communications service provider. This is the ‘Level 0’ view of the enterprise and shows the vertical and horizontal process groupings that are the decompositions of the process areas introduced above. These groupings are ‘Level 1’ process groupings in the parlance of the eTOM business process model, e. g. Customer Relationship Management, Fulfillment. The Level 0 view, which reveals the Level 1 process detail, is shown in Figure 2. 2. As process decomposition proceeds, each level is decomposed into a set of constituent process elements at the level below.Thus, Level 0 is decomposed into Level 1 processes, Level 1 into Level 2,and so o n. The Enterprise Level 0 view decomposes into seven Vertical (or â€Å"end-to-end†) Level 1 process groupings as well as eight Horizontal (or â€Å"functional†) Level 1 process groupings in four layers. These Vertical and Horizontal process groupings represent alternative views relevant to different concerns on the way that processes should be associated. Note that we will see that these alternatives have been selected to yield a single, common view of the Level 2 processes defined at the next level of decomposition, and hence do not represent a divergence in the modeling.In addition, there are eight additional enabling and support Level 1 process groupings within Enterprise Management. This full view of the Level 1 processes is shown in Figure 2. 2. Customer Strategy, Infrastructure and Product Operations Strategy ; Commit Infrastructure Lifecycle Mgmt Product Lifecycle Mgmt Operations Support ; Readiness Fulfillment Assurance Billing Marketing and Offer Management C ustomer Relationship Management Service Development ; Management Service Management ; Operations Resource Development ; Management Resource Management ; Operations Supply Chain Development ; Management Supplier/Partner Relationship Management Enterprise Management Strategic ; Enterprise PlanningBrand Management, Market Research ; Advertising Enterprise Quality Mgmt, Process R esea rch ; D evelo p m en t ; IT Planning ; Architecture ; T ech n o lo g y A cq u isistio n Human Resources Management Disaster Recovery, Security ; Fraud Management Financial ; Asset Management  © TeleManagement Forum October, 2001 Stakeholder ; External Relations Management Figure 2. 2: eTOM Level 0 View of Level 1 Process Groupings ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 20 eTOM Business Process Framework eTOM Operations Processes To be useful to a Service Provider, the eTOM Process Element Framework must help the SP to develop and operate their business processes.This sections shows how the matrix str ucture of eTOM offers for the first time a standard language and structure for the process elements that are understood and used by both the people specifying and operating the end-to-end business, as well as those people who are responsible for creating the capability that enables the processes (whether automated by IT or implemented manually by workgroups). â€Å"OPS† Vertical Process Groupings The Operations (OPS) process area contains the direct operations vertical process groupings of Fulfillment, Assurance ; Billing, together with the Operations Support ; Readiness process grouping (see Figure 2. 3). The â€Å"FAB† processes are sometimes referred to as Customer Operations processes. Customer Operations Operations Support and Readiness Fulfillment Assurance Billing Figure 2. : eTOM OPS Vertical Process Groupings The TOM was focused only on the direct customer processes represented by FAB. However, FAB processes were not on the TOM framework map, they were rather an overlay. In an ebusiness world, the focus of the enterprise must be enabling and supporting these processes as the highest priority. Therefore, in the eTOM, Fulfillment, Assurance ; Billing are an integrated part of the overall framework. Fulfillment: this process grouping is responsible for providing customers with their requested products in a timely and correct manner. It translates the customer's business or personal need into a solution, which can be delivered using the specific products in the enterprise’s portfolio.This process informs the customers of the status of their purchase order, ensures completion on time, as well as a delighted customer. Assurance: this process grouping is responsible for the execution of proactive and reactive maintenance activities to ensure that services provided to customers are continuously available and to SLA or QoS performance levels. It performs continuous resource status and performance monitoring to proactively detect possible f ailures. It collects performance data and analyzes them to identify potential problems and resolve them without impact to the customer. This process manages the SLAs and reports service performance to the customer.It receives trouble reports from the customer, informs the customer of the trouble status, and ensures restoration and repair, as well as a delighted customer. GB921v3. 6 ? TeleManagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 21 Billing: this process grouping is responsible for the production of timely and accurate bills, for providing pre-bill use information and billing to customers, for processing their payments, and performing payment collections. In addition, it handles customer inquiries about bills, provides billing inquiry status and is responsible for resolving billing problems to the customer's satisfaction in a timely manner. This process grouping also supports prepayment for services.For a high-level view of how the eTOM Process Elements can be used t o create Fulfillment, Assurance ; Billing process flows, please see document GB921 v3. 5 Addendum â€Å"f†, Process Flow Examples. In addition to these FAB process groupings, the OPS process area of the eTOM Framework contains a new, fourth vertical process grouping: Operations Support ; Readiness (see Figure 2. 3). Operations Support ; Readiness: this process grouping is responsible for support to the â€Å"FAB† processes, and for ensuring operational readiness in the fulfillment, assurance and billing areas. In general, the processes are concerned with activities that are less â€Å"real-time† than those in FAB, and which are typically concerned less with individual customers and services and more with groups of these.They reflect a need in some enterprises to divide their processes between the immediate customer-facing and real-time operations of FAB and other Operations processes which act as a â€Å"second-line† in carrying out the operational suppor t tasks. Not all enterprises will choose to employ this split, or to position the division in exactly the same place, so it is recognized that in applying the eTOM Business Framework in particular scenarios, the processes in Operations Support ; Readiness and in FAB may be merged for day-today operation. Nevertheless, it is felt important to acknowledge this separation to reflect a real-world division that is present or emerging in many enterprises.The separation, definition and execution of the Operations Support ; Readiness processes can be critical in taking advantage of ebusiness opportunities, and is particularly important for successful implementation of Customer Self Management. â€Å"OPS† Horizontal Process Groupings In the OPS process area of the eTOM Framework, there are four OPS functional process groupings that support the operations processes discussed above, and also the management of operations to support customer, service, resource and supplier/partner interac tions (see Figure 2. 4). The original TOM Process Framework used the ITU-T TMN Logical Business, Service, and Network Layers to organize the core business processes. This facilitated mapping of the Management Functions defined in TMN, to the TOM processes.As the eTOM Business Process Framework is an evolution of the TOM Process Framework and because the TMN layering approach is still relevant, the TMN Logical Layers continue to be loosely coupled to the functional process groupings. The TM Forum is working with ITU-T to harmonize the eTOM and TMN models. See reference 3 for further information on ITU-T TMN. ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 GB921v3. 6 Page 22 eTOM Business Process Framework Cu stome r Oper ati ons C usto mer R el ation ship Manag emen t Serv ice Man ag ement ; Op eration s R eso urce Man ag em ent ; Op erat ion s (Applicati on, C om puting a nd N etwor k) Sup plier/Partn er R elat ionsh ip Man ag em en t Figure 2. : eTOM OPS Functional Process Groupings Customer Relationsh ip Management (CRM): this process grouping considers the fundamental knowledge of customers needs and includes all functionalities necessary for the acquisition, enhancement and retention of a relationship with a customer. It is about customer service and support, whether storefront, telephone, web or field service. It is also about retention management, cross-selling, up-selling and direct marketing for the purpose of selling to customers. CRM also includes the collection of customer information and its application to personalize, customize and integrate delivery of service to a customer, as well as to identify opportunities for increasing the value of the customer to the enterprise.CRM applies to both conventional retail customer interactions, as well as to wholesale interactions, such as when an enterprise is selling to another enterprise that is acting as the ‘retailer’. The introduction of CRM is a key feature of eTOM over TOM. At the highest, most general level, t he TOM Business Process Framework included two process groupings to manage relations with customers, â€Å"Customer Interface Management† and â€Å"Customer Care†. In the TOM, it is explicitly mentioned that Customer Interface Management may effectively be a distinct process within Customer Care or may be performed as part of the lower level Customer Care processes. However, eTOM advances the TOM in several key ways: It expands Customer Care to Customer Relationship Management (CRM), which is management approach to supporting and interacting with customers, that enables enterprises to identify, attract and increase retention of profitable customers. CRM focuses on collection and application of customer data and managing relationships with customers to improve customer retention and customer value contribution to the enterprise. CRM is more than Customer Care or Customer Interface Management, it is the integration of customer acquisition, enhancement and retention throu gh managing the customer relationship over time. For eTOM, CRM also represents the integration of Sales and Service processes and ensuring a consistent customer interface across all CRM functional processes. GB921v3. 6 ?TeleManagement Forum 2003 eTOM Business Process Framework Page 23 eTOM integrates Customer Interface Management for Fulfillment, Assurance ; Billing across all the CRM functional processes and with customer processes. Customer Interface Management represents any type of contact, e. g. , phone, email, face-to-face, etc. It expects an integration and coordination across these different interface types, to provide a consistent interface and highlights the requirement for customer process control and customer self management. eTOM also encourages the design of solutions so that systems interfaces used within the enterprise are the same as those used by customers.TOM CRM processes include an expansion of TOM Customer Care processes to: †¢ Focus on customer retention †¢ †¢ †¢ Improve enterprise process exception customer response Integrate marketing fulfillment execution Better represent the billing function at the customer level and the need to assure revenue. Service Management ; Operations (SM;O): this process grouping focuses on the knowledge of services (Access, Connectivity, Content, etc. ) and includes all functionalities necessary for the management and operations of communications and information services required by or proposed to customers. The focus is on service delivery and management as opposed to the management of the underlying network and information technology. Some of the