REFERENCE
Business Motivation Model concept
Origin and purpose
The Business Motivation Model (BMM) was originally conceived by the Object Management Group. (For the original details, see BMM at OMG). The model is useful for organising strategic thought and content in a consistent manner, over time, and across various disciplines/capabilities within an organisation.
The name ‘Business Motivation’ comes from the idea that the contents are what’s motivating a business in terms of Things to Do and Things to Achieve. It’s a ‘model’ because it offers a way to organise and present information.
What it is
In a simplified version of the model (provided here), there are six pieces of key information: Mission, Vision, Strategies, Goals, Tactics and Objectives. The model explains the relationship between these elements.
Mission, Strategies and Tactics are Means (to Ends). Vision, Goals and Objectives are Ends. Visually these are represented as a table with two columns; Means on the left, and Ends on the right.
The Means — Mission, Strategies and Tactics — are connected in a hierarchy. Mission is the summary of Strategies; Strategies are the decomposition of Mission. Tactics are a decomposition of Strategies.
Similarly, for the Ends — Vision, Goals and Objectives. Vision is the summary of Goals; Goals are the decomposition of Vision. Objectives are a decomposition of Goals.
You may be tempted to apply your own everyday understanding of these six concepts; however, to follow the Business Motivation Model technique is to adopt these particular meanings, and relationships of the concepts. With common adoption, you and your team can have consistency of thought and content.
The following table has more detailed explanation as well as providing a written example of content.
| MEANS | END |
|---|---|
Mission is the means by which the Vision will be made operative. Composed as a statement with an action, a product/service & market. e.g. “Provide mobile tailored wealth management services to self-employed people in Australia” | Vision is the desired future state resulting from doing the Mission. Composed as a concise aspirational statement about a state of being (not an action); the future ‘what’, without the ‘how’. e.g. “Be the wealth management services provider of choice with best customer service for self-employed people.” |
Strategies are the broad courses of action that give substance to the Mission, and produce the results as stated in Goals. Strategies are actions typically focused on creating the value the organisation seeks for itself and for others. Composed as general statements of action. e.g. “Redevelop products and services based on customer feedback.” | Goals give substance to the Vision and state the desired results of Strategies. Goals can specify the nature and scope of the value to be created. Composed as qualitative general statements. e.g. “Improved Customer Satisfaction across all products and services within two years.” |
Tactics are specific courses of action that give substance to the Strategies, and produce the results as stated in Objectives. Tactics can affect the Capabilities of the Business: creating, maturing, and scaling them. Composed as specific statements of action. e.g. “Call first-time customers personally to learn about their initial experience.” | Objectives give substance to the Goals and state the desired results of Tactics. Composed as quantitative specific statements of things that can be measured. Can include a time reference. e.g. “By end of year, 90% of first-time customers get a personal call within 2 business days.” |
Multiple models with connections inside one business
A Business Motivation Model can be created for different levels of organisational activity in a single business, and nested for complete organisational coverage.
That which is a Tactic at the Executive Level, could be a Mission for a Team or Department. For that Team or Department, they might then decompose the Mission into local Strategies with Goals at the relevant level.
Multiple-nested BMMs is more relevant for medium-size to large organisations.
Where it is used
The Business Motivation Model concept can be used to create a Business Motivation Model for a business, and can be adapted to create a Workscape Motivation model for individuals and their workscape.
Each version of the method uses the same core logic, tailored for the context, people and decisions involved.
This content by RHX Group — product owner of value(x) — is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.