http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz Sharing the Dream of a Life in New Zealand Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:17:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Are you doing what you love and well on the way to wealth? Are you in the right job? On the right career path? The real trick to building wealth is to maximise your natural strengths and the things you feel are fun. If you are doing anything that feels like ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2010/07/wealth-dynamics-comes-to-new-zealand/ An article by John Owens, creator of IMM the Integrated Modelling Method. What is a Business Function? A Business Function – more commonly called a Function – is a discrete activity or a coherent set of activities that a business must perform in order to meet its business objectives and continue in ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2008/12/function-modeling-2/ The Information Flow Model Sometimes it is important to be able to understand how information OUGHT to flow around the business).   This is when you need the to build Information Flow Models.   In the past, primitive versions of these, known as Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs), were used in an attempt to ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2008/12/information-flow-modeling/ The Data State Model Some Data Entities in a business can exist in many states. An example is a theatre booking which could be in states, such as ‘provisional’, ‘confirmed’, ‘transferred’, ‘cancelled’, ‘collected’.  This Data State Model allows you to model the life cycle of the Entities and identify the Business Functions needed ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2008/12/data-state-modeling/ The Process Model Process models are essential when you need to answer questions such as: “When we receive a customer order how do we get to the situation where the product has been delivered and the customer has paid us in full?” “When we have a staff vacancy, what Functions must we carry ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2008/12/process-modeling/ Data Structure Modelling Before a business computerises any of  its functions, it should model, the data needed to support these functions.  This should be done from a 'business' as opposed to a 'systems' perspective.   The model should describe the data required for the functions and also its structure, that is, how ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2008/12/data-modeling/ The Function Catalogue This lies at the CORE of any good business systems model. The activities carried out by a business are called a “Business Functions”.  The business model that represents these is called the “Function Model”. The Function Model is best presented in the form of a hierarchy.  An example function hierarchy is shown ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2008/12/function-modeling/ The Procedure Model Process Models show the order in which business Functions must be carried out in order to arrive at a desired business outcome.  They show WHAT ought to be done and the order in which it ought to be done. Procedure Models show HOW the process is carried out, who ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2008/12/procedure-modeling/ The Matrix Model Matrix models are a very powerful way of showing how elements of a business are linked to or interact with each other. They can show how, for example, functions use data, which functions are carried out by which departments, what technology supports what functions, etc. The example shown below shows which Functions Create, Read, Update and Delete ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2008/12/matrix-modeling/ Business Model Put three business managers in a room and ask them the question “What is a business model?” and you will get at least four replies – none of which may be correct! The usual picture that comes to the minds of business people, consultants and analysts when they hear the ... http://www.kiwi-dreams.co.nz/2008/12/business-modelling-what-is-it/