The Financial Value Chain


Figure 2-1 shows the layers of people in an organization as a financial value chain. For simplicity ‚ s sake, four levels are used to describe the movement of value through any organization. Depending on the size of the organization you work with, there may be more or fewer actual levels in your organization. No matter how many organizational layers you really have, the people in these layers tend to operate like one of the four levels in this model.


Figure 2-1: The financial value chain.

Individual Performer

The first level (shown at the far right in figure 2-1) is the level of the Individual performer. This is the level that WLP professionals are most comfortable with simply because this is where most of the people in an organization reside and where the majority of the WLP professional ‚ s work is focused. WLP professionals know how to ‚“talk ‚½ at this level because they often think of the success of their WLP programs in terms of performance objectives ‚ in other words, in terms of the Individual performer ‚ s metrics.

First-Level Management/Operations

The second level is the First-Level Management/Operations (1st/Ops, pronounced first ops ) layer. This is a tactical layer comprising first-level supervisors and high-level operations contributors who have a great deal of influence over the financial performance in other jobs. An example of a 1st/Ops person is a lead buyer in a purchasing department. This person may be an individual contributor but, depending on the business, would need to be highly positioned to work closely with other 1st and Mid-level managers in manufacturing, distribution, or marketing units.

Middle Management

Moving to the left in figure 2-1, the next level in the financial value chain is the Middle management (Mid) layer. These are the managers of managers. These people operate at a strategic level. They are, however, still required to stay within the budgets they have been assigned. They must still follow the directions of the final, or Senior level.

Senior Level

You will recognize the Senior level (at the far left in figure 2-1) by the use of certain words in their titles. Chief anything (chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief information technology officer, and so forth) is a tip-off that a person occupies the Senior layer.

The word senior or executive coupled with a title is another clue. For example, many corporations use several levels of vice presidents . Senior executive vice president is a typical senior title. In other organizations, such as the government, there can be many levels of directors. Senior executive director is a higher form of the title of director and is more likely to be used at the top of the organization. The focus of the Senior layer is to create the vision, direction, and pace for the rest of the organization. This layer has the most discretion in moving funds across the organization and the most clout in supporting key initiatives that get time, resources, and attention.




Quick Show Me Your Value
Quick! Show Me Your Value
ISBN: 1562863657
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 157

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