Purpose alignment model developed by Niel Nicolaisen is a model in project management tools and techniques under project management that helps project managers and teams to make smart decisions about the products and business. It organizes the options based on how well they align with the business goals
Assuming that Dell has planned to use this model to help them decide which features to emphasize while developing Laptops or PCs. Here, the features of laptop are placed on a quadrant matrix at the project level. To proceed into the decision two factors are taken into consideration: Market differentiation and Criticality. A feature that is found to be extremely critical may be required for the company to continue operating or to work on the legal requirements. While the feature that will be a market differentiator could help the company generate sales, capture market share, or surpass competitor offerings. In this way Dell can apply the tools and techniques of this model in burgeoning their business.
Why is this Model Used?
This model is used because it makes deciding which business tasks to focus on and how to provide them easier. It also eliminates elements that serve as obstacles to decision-making. Support the team in maintaining focus by means of their mission critical and market differentiating qualities.
When to use?
Setting priorities for options, especially when there are several aspects or features to consider. Aligning IT with business priorities. Reducing waste by improving focus and resource allocation. Evaluating, planning, and implementing large system projects.
How to use?
It is used to categorize the importance of each marketing activity. This is possible after understanding the two factors:
- Market Differentiation.
- Mission Critical.
There are four categories which determines whether the features can prove productive for the company and the necessary measures to be followed from a feature perspective:
- Differentiating. Here the features are mission critical and refers to high market differentiation. This results in gaining market share, improving competitive advantage, and outperform top competitors.
- Parity. In this category the features help the organization to maintain its parity in the market. Focusing and prioritizing in parity features may be mission critical, however the company is not benefited by them.
- Partner. Since the features listed here aren’t considered to be mission-critical, having them would help the company stand out from competitors. As a result of this, companies will search outside for a partner company to provide such features rather than making the necessary internal investments.
- Who Cares. Here the features have low mission-critical and low market differentiating tasks. This quadrant may have technological elements that are inconsistent with what makes a company stand out or their most pressing requirements.
You can check the brief video explanation of the Purpose Alignment Model in the link below.
References:
•Project Management Institute. (2017). The PMI Guide to Business Analysis (pp 81-82). Project Management Institute, Inc.
•Hollebone, E. (2022). Prioritize Martech Decisions With Ease: The Purpose Alignment Model. Demand Gen Report. Retrieved from Click here
