From the Ask Tom mailbag –

Question:
You always talk about the five levels of management –

• S-V – Business Unit President
• S-IV – Integrator role
• S-III – Single system manager
• S-II – Coordinator, supervisor
• S-I – Technician, production role

But my company is not that big. Do I have to have all these roles?

Response:
It depends. Depends on the size and complexity of your company. The five levels of management correspond to five different business platforms, any of which are perfectly acceptable as a business model. You can make money at any of these.

• S-V – Industry platform, where our enterprise competes using industry standard practices.
• S-IV – Market platform, where our multiple systems integrate with market systems.
• S-III – Single serial system platform, where we see the introduction of warranties as a competitive edge.
• S-II – Process implementation platform (of someone else’s system, like a franchisee).
• S-I – Product or service, where it’s all about the product.

And any of these platforms are valid. Today, let’s start with S-I, product or service platform, where it’s all about the product. How many roles do you need?
Bob’s Burgers