1. A0 Text: FULFILL BUSINESS VISION X (AS IS)
A1 OPERATE THE ENTERPRISE
Ensure that the business operates smoothly and efficiently. The enterprise must maintain itself in a viable business posture, ensuring
that it possesses adequate resources consistent with its vision and strategy. Business operations should be regularly examined for
efficiency, and tasks that can be more effectively accomplished by specialists should be outsourced.
A2 MARKET PRODUCT & SERVICES
Think creatively about the market. The enterprise must seek potential customers and attract them with unique services tailored to their
requirements. The company must form alliances with partners, engaging in a mutually beneficial business relationship. Employees
and sales staff should pursue business opportunities as they arise, and exercise vigilance to search for potential customers. The
company must not be static in its product line; it should be continually striving to create more products to attract the same or new
markets.
A3 BUILD PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Create a product from conception to its availability to the market. An enterprise must invest serious resources in designing a product
specific to the customer’s needs, with a firm understanding of the customer’s business requirements. The product must then be
manufactured and tested for defects. Finally, the available product should be stored and warehoused until its delivery to the customer.
A4 DELIVER PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Provide the finished product to the customer for its use and satisfaction. The product must be physically moved to the customer’s site
and installed to best serve the customer. The product must be installed and available for sustained use. Customer satisfaction must be
critically assessed to ensure business opportunities in the future and a continued business relationship.

2. A1 Text: OPERATE THE ENTERPRISE
A11 PROVIDE OVERALL DIRECTION
Make sure your people know and can explain where the company wants to go, encourage their participation in defining the core values
of the company and in formulating its direction, maintain enthusiasm and commitment to the company’s goals, and make clear what
the people need to do to help achieve the shared vision. Understand the dynamics of the marketplace in order to make sound
operational decisions.
Business Acumen Considerations: The ability of an enterprise’s people to articulate the mission and values implies they understand
the larger context in which they perform their work. The mission expresses the higher purpose of the organization’s work while
values provide guiding principles in how work is conducted and decisions are made. Recent research shows that organizations with
active values outperform, over time, those that don’t. Values provide ethical constructs that guide behavior and decision making
whether an individual is interacting with customers, partners or other members of the organization. Studies in the fields of sociology
and psychology have found that people want to be part of an endeavor that is larger than the individual. A well-defined mission
statement creates the framework for people to see their work as part of something greater than their individual tasks. In organizations
where people deeply understand the meaning behind the mission and value statements, a powerful alignment across functions is
created.
A12 MAINTAIN ENTERPRISE RESOURCES
Hire new employees and support new and current employees in a positive work environment by providing competitive benefits and
salary, treating them decently and professionally, giving them opportunities for personal and professional growth, and including them
in the life of the company. Maintain and improve the company’s physical plant and equipment to ensure that you will be capable of
delivering a higher volume of top-quality products and services as the company’s business grows.
Business Acumen Considerations: An enterprise’s people are its lifeblood. By providing them a positive work environment in which
they are clearly respected and valued, an enterprise can tap into their leadership capabilities, innovative ideas, willingness to go the
extra mile for a customer, and other factors that will help the company thrive. Regarding infrastructure, failure to maintain and
develop an enterprise’s physical workspace and equipment can introduce practical barriers to growth and can lead to employee
frustration and dissatisfaction.

3. A13 ACQUIRE EXTERNAL RESOURCES
Ensure that the company has the financial resources and external supporting relationships that will allow the company to execute its
strategic plans, for example, to enter new markets, seek investment capital, acquire companies, carry out critical research and
development, and manufacture new products.
Business Acumen Considerations: While growing a company based solely on cash flow can and has been done, the modern rapidly
changing marketplace requires that a company be able to move fast to capitalize on an advantage or innovative idea. Linking a
company’s strategic plan to a capital investment plan allows a company to put financial and other resources in place properly timed
with its strategic intentions, enabling it to take fast action at the right time.
A14 ADMINISTER BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Carry out the enterprise’s essential internal “back office” business processes efficiently, outsourcing those that can be done more
economically by specialists.
Business Acumen Considerations: While internal business processes may appear to be mundane, they are essential to the company’s
being able to perform on contracts, protect its intellectual property, determine its profitability, protect its cash flow, and maintain itself
as a viable business entity of integrity. Improprieties, inefficiencies, or errors on the business side can have serious repercussions on
customer and investor confidence in the company and on its financial survival.

4. A2 Text: MARKET PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
A21 MAINTAIN MARKETING STRATEGY
Decide the best way to condition the marketplace, attract customers, and sell the company’s products and services consistent with the
enterprise’s strategic and financial objectives.
Business Acumen Considerations: The world will not beat a path to your door just because you have, or think you have, the best
mousetrap. A company needs to carefully consider the means and content of communications directed toward potential customers, the
positioning of its products and services relative to those of competitors, and sales approaches. Failure to think these matters through
and to adapt your methods based on feedback from the marketplace can lead to poor sales and eventually can threaten the survival of
the company.
A22 ESTABLISH STRATEGIC MARKETING RELATIONSHIPS
Enter into agreements with companies and individuals who can assist your company in developing new business through their own
market presence, offerings, and relationships.
Business Acumen Considerations: The traditional concept of the “value chain” of companies, narrowly viewed as a company, its
suppliers, its value added resellers, and its customers, is no longer adequate to maintain a company’s competitiveness in the modern
rapidly-changing market. Companies today need to establish many partnering relationships with companies and individuals that can
be called upon to help the company adapt quickly to changing market circumstances and bring more robust and innovative offerings to
their customers. The company that isolates itself in a static set of traditional relationships runs the risk of isolation as more nimble and
well-connected competitors and their partners run away with the market.

5. A23 PURSUE NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Generate and screen prospects, understand qualified prospects’ requirements, convince prospects to purchase the company’s products
and services to meet their needs, and close the deals. Maintain an open mind and seek business opportunities creatively.
Business Acumen Considerations: Successful selling is fundamental to the success of a company. Convincing customers to buy and
obtaining their legal commitment to buy are essential to revenue generation and sustaining the life of the company.
A24 PLAN NEW PRODUCT/SERVICE OFFERINGS
Anticipate products and services that will sell successfully in the future and develop specifications for their development.
Business Acumen Considerations: Products and services can become obsolete very rapidly in today’s marketplace, with decreasing
sales immediately affecting the financial health of the company. Companies must keep in close touch with customer’s changing needs
and advancements made by competitors in order to maintain and grow market share.

6. A3 Text: BUILD PRODUCTS & SERVICES
A31 DESIGN
Specify the characteristics of a new product or service intended to meet market requirements to a level of detail sufficient for a
developer to produce it. Create a product or service tailored to the customer’s needs.
Business Acumen Considerations: The translation of perceived needs in the marketplace into specifications of a product or service
represents an essential bridge to the future success of the company. If market needs are understood but not expressed in actionable
form that will lead to development of a competitive offering, the company will waste money on market introduction of an
unsuccessful offering and will fall behind as more attractive competitors’ products are embraced by its customers.
A32 PRODUCE & MAINTAIN
Physically develop and maintain a product or service in fully deliverable form, including all documentation.
Business Acumen Considerations: Products and services are fundamental to a company’s ability to generate revenue. Failure to
produce and maintain them in a timely fashion will cripple a company’s success.

7. A33 TEST
Ensure the a new product or service satisfy the requirements it is intended to satisfy and that customers will be able to use it properly
in the real world.
Business Acumen Considerations: Products and services that do not work properly will lead to an image of poor quality, a loss of
confidence in the company by the market, and decreased sales.
A34 STORE PHSYICAL INVENTORY
Maintain products in a secure facility so they retain their viability until needed for delivery.
Business Acumen Considerations: A company’s stock of products represents a significant asset and potential revenue, and must be
protected until needed for sale to customers.

8. A4 Text: DELIVER PRODUCTS & SERVICES
A41 PHYSICALLY MOVE TANGIBLE ITEMS
Transport products from inventory to a point at which customers can take possession of the products at their site.
Business Acumen Considerations: Products must be delivered into the hands of customers before revenue can be claimed.
Transportation inefficiencies or damage occurring to products in transit can negatively affect cash flow and profit margins.
A42 INSTALL PRODUCTS
Put products into usable condition and final position so a customer can derive the expected benefits from the product.
Business Acumen Considerations: The success of the company will ride on the ability of the customer to use the product as intended
and to obtain value from the investment made in acquiring the product.
A43 PERFORM SERVICES
Deliver value-added know how to the customer in the form of services performed by company experts.
Business Acumen Considerations: The success of the company will ride on the ability of the customer to receive desired services and
to obtain value from the investment made in acquiring the service.
A44 ASSESS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Determine whether customers are ecstatic, pleased, neutral, disappointed, or outraged as a result of their experience with the company.
Business Acumen Considerations: The reputation of a company is a primary determinant of its long-term success. A company must
pay close attention to the reaction of customers. There are many ways the marketplace and future customers hear about a company, its
products, and how the company treats customers. If problems arise, the company that has put mechanisms into place to understand
and fix each problem will reap great benefits in customer satisfaction and future business.