Overview

The difficulty in trying to analyze and evaluate an organization is to know where to start and what to consider. Most of the literature about organizations deals with specific topics such as management, finance, strategy or personnel.  In addition existing models are either too simplistic, complex or industry specific.

This model is taken from Dowding's Universal Business Model and provides a single method of analysis, which is straightforward but comprehensive and at the same time can be applied to any organization including our competitors, suppliers, partners, etc. The model has a three-layer structure:

• Aspects: The organization is defined in terms of ten 'aspects', which represent its major components  - its structure, participants, culture, deliverables, performance, etc. 

• Elements: The 'aspects' are composed of various ‘elements’; for example, the 'Participants' aspect consists of customers, employees, owners, suppliers and others. There are a total of 55 elements in the model.  

• Issues: Each element is assessed using three 'issues':  Analysis (what the element is composed of or how it is made up, and how well it is defined, understood and quantified);  Evaluation (how it contributes to or affects the organization and how it compares to a similar element in another organization);  Strategy (how the organization approaches, deals with, or uses the element and what plans there are for developing it for the future).

This example shows how the model can be applied to a real-life organization - Ashley's Home Furnishings Limited. Click here for a description of the customization process.     See Copyright notice.

Note: The example illustrates the type of model which can be constructed. We do not presume to be experts in all elements of the model, so the details given in the example should not be examined too pedantically.