If you boil all of the daily activity down to its essence, the fundamental purpose of a business is Creating Value. Without it, the business will cease to exist sooner or later.  The definition of what constitutes Value varies, however, depending upon the relationship of the party to the business.

When if comes to Creating Value:

• The Customer ultimately decides if they have been a beneficiary of the business’ products or services. Their definition alone determines business growth, stagnation or demise.
• It’s up to Sales to get things started. As the saying goes, “nothing happens until somebody sells something”. Creating Value for a Customer requires the ability to listen, understand, adapt and then deliver a solution. Only when Sales increases the pool of Value can the business claim a portion of that for its efforts.
• Operations has the responsibility to keep the promises that have been made by delivering Value that exceeds expectations. Further, Operations has an obligation to identify even greater opportunities for Creating Value in ways that were not part of the original solution. Operations must expand the Value proposition in order to retain Customers for the long term. Operations provides the moment of truth.
• Human Resources supports Sales and Operations by recruiting, on-boarding, developing and caring for human talent that the business requires.  Creating Value occurs when the assembled teams become much more valuable than the sum of their individuals.
• Finance guides the business operations by Creating Value through timely, useful information.  Value lies in seeing the road ahead and navigating accordingly, rather than mostly looking in the rear view mirror.
• All other Support Services are dedicated to Creating Value through the individuals and departments they serve.  Success is measured by the degree to which they enhance the Value creation efforts of others.
• Senior Management is obligated to provide the resources needed by Sales and Operations to achieve maximum productivity. Creating Value is achieved through others when the business is focused on its Vision and working on the right thing to get there.
• Capital Partners provide the economic business fuel that enables the business to operate in a fluid and efficient manner. Creating Value occurs when the sources are in balance with business financial needs and performance abilities.
• Suppliers contribute to Creating Value through their unique expertise in bringing forward the right products and services at the required time to fulfill Customer needs.

All of these elements are dependent upon one another in the business ecosystem. When they exist in the right combinations, Creating Value for Customers is the result.

Regardless of the role you play day-to-day, Creating Value requires much more than simply showing up for work and putting in the requisite hours. It depends upon continuous improvement and exploration of new and better ways of working together.  What does Creating Value mean to you?