Initial Situation
“From marketing vehicles to marketing mobility experiences” was the brief of an automotive manufacturer’s five-year strategy. This vision requires a fundamental rethinking: The existing indirect dealer structures are not sufficient for this; the manufacturer must establish its own direct contact with the customer. In the future, the vehicle itself will be just one offering component in the portfolio of many, and the customer relationship will extend beyond the vehicle purchase and service process.
The challenge was to set up a strategic program. But to set this up, it was first necessary to assess what capabilities were needed to manage this strategy shift, and then to examine which of these already existed within the company. This set of capabilities had to be explainable and communicable in all its consequences, as a basis for further professional exchange. The complexity of the project also required effective structuring that allowed planning and implementation in independent teams.
The automotive manufacturer’s IT department had its first experience with capability mapping. Capabilities describe what a company must be able to do in order to achieve its goals. Capabilities were named after brainstorming with an expert group and documented in PowerPoint and Excel. The collection was based on an existing domain structure, and the requirements of the strategy were not transparent. The capabilities still lacked a reference to operational use cases and were therefore described in too little detail to be able to be implemented concretely. The presentation in Office applications also offered too little scope for effective collaboration, so the automotive manufacturer requested technical and methodological sparring, as well as the use of a professional capability mapping tool.
GP+S Services
Methodical onboarding and coaching
Teaching of the methodical procedure in the development of a capability map: How should capabilities be formulated and cut? How can maps be designed in an attractive and comprehensible way? How can the added value of the CAPAMAP software be used effectively? How do we establish processes for sustainable use of the methodology?
Development of a first CAPAMAP
Derivation of success factors, which are prerequisites for the implementation of the strategy. Development of a first CAPAMAP structure based on these success factors, localization of the identified capabilities on the CAPAMAP and definition of a reasonable depth of information, which is necessary for a business/IT exchange on the capability level.
Completion of capabilities along selected value streams
Capturing of value streams from the fields of action e. g. e-mobility, infotainment, data products; collection of the required capabilities per process step, formulation of an ambition level per capability and determination of the respective maturity level from today’s perspective.
Refinement, knowledge management and scaling
Transfer of the results into the CAPAMAP software, consolidation and condensation of the extensive workshop outcomes, visualization of the pressure to act via heatmap functions, preparation and support of the management presentations, alignment with the “SAFe” approach, as a framework for scaling agile work in organizations and the transfer into “Agile Release Trains”, creation of manuals and training tutorials.
Results
- A structured overview of all required capabilities and capability gaps with visually recognizable prioritization logic
- A unified goal-oriented view of what action items the automaker needs to keep in mind to execute the strategy.
- Maximum transparency on inventory capabilities, with a sufficiently detailed description of the respective ambition level, understandable for operational units and efficiently processable.
- Methodical security and clear procedure model in the development of maps, clusters and capabilities in the company.
