Page 115 - Performance Leadership

104 • Part II Operational and Analytical Dimensions

F igur e 7.3
Multitiered Model of Business Domains and Business Interfaces

Management

Business Domain Business Domain

Management Management

Business Business Business Business
Domain Domain Domain Domain

Business Business
Interface Interface

manager. Figure 7.3 depicts a multitiered model of business domains
and business interfaces, showing the various levels of responsibility.
Although the idea of business interface metrics based on co-
ownership is new within organizations, it already exists between organ-
izations: managing customers. Many organizations have sales
representatives or account managers that are responsible for develop-
ing and sustaining the relationship with their accounts. If the account
purchases many products or services, the account manager gets paid
more. If the customer decides to shop somewhere else, the account
manager gets paid less. The account manager does not control the
behaviors of his or her clients; yet making the sales targets depends
on them. This also violates the principle that every target should have
a clear owner and the owner should have the necessary means and
resources to make that target. Most organizations have built a certain
expertise with activities crossing multiple business domains and have
designed controls called service level agreements (SLAs). A service
level agreement is a contract between a supplier and consumer of
services. This differs from a typical contract in the sense that the serv-
ices usually are continuous of nature and not related to a single deliv-
ery, such as a product or a project. Particularly IT departments have
a long history in creating and managing SLAs. It is typically the IT