5 Step Value-Chain Analysis for Customers’ Strategic Needs

Value-chain analysis is used for many purposes, but the process of examining customers’ value chains is relatively new. In our five-step process, Step 1 explains how internal and external value chains can be used separately and in related ways. Step 2 shows how to construct a customer’s value chain. Step 3 shows how to identify the customer’s business strategy by examining this value chain and using other kinds of information. Step 4 explains how to use additional information and intelligence to leverage that understanding into strategic needs and priorities. Finally, Step 5 explains how a firm’s marketing function can best use this method of value-chain analysis as a new strategic capability. Step 1: An overview of value-chain analysis Value chains may be defined in two ways: (1) within a company they describe the various value-added stages from purchasing materials to distributing, selling, and servicing the final product (Porter’s 1985 concept),[3] and (2) they also delineate the value-added stages from raw material to end-user as a product is manufactured and distributed, with each stage representing an industry. 4] For convenience, we will refer to these two definitions as ‘‘internal’’ and ‘‘external’’ value chains, respectively. The internal value chain is a key concept in the field of strategic management that has been thoroughly explored. In contrast, the external value chain has not been studied as extensively. The external value chain consists of the important ups tream/supply and downstream/distribution processes. However, even though these processes occur outside the corporation, the strategic opportunities they reveal and areas of risk they highlight warrant careful study. Consider: Outsourcing – involves transferring certain primary or support functions in the internal value chain to the external value chain. B Vertical integration – involves taking control of one or more additional stages of the external value chain and making them internal. B Horizontal expansion – involves new product lines or expanded channels of distribution, including geographic expansion. B Strategic alliances with suppliers – involves more closely managing external suppliers as if they were part of the company’s internal value chain, but without actually owning them (for example, Toyota’s Kaizen ystem, wherein key suppliers are located very near a factory and receive all kinds of help and training from Toyota to ensure smooth and efficient production). One of the most complex value chains today can be found in the oil industry. This chain has nearly 30 significant elements, starting with the search for oil (at the upstream end) and including fie ld production, transportation (pipelines and supertankers), refining and processing and, lastly, consumer gas stations (at the ‘‘downstream’’ end). Internally, the oil-industry value chain processes a broad range of products, including such major categories as oil/lubricants, gasoline, petrochemicals (plastics), fertilizers/pesticides, natural gas, power generation/electricity, and convenience stores. The firms that are considered major integrated oil companies participate in a significant number – sometimes all – of these external (upstream and downstream) and internal value-chain elements. In a 2006 issue of Strategy & Leadership, authors Wayne McPhee and David Wheeler suggested that strategists should use Porter’s concept to consider value-chain operations beyond the boundaries of the firm. Since its introduction, value-chain analysis has proven immensely valuable in three principal ways – cost analysis and reduction, differentiation, and product development – but the standard practice was for firms to analyze only their own value chain. Step 2: How to construct a customer’s value chain First, recognize that you need to construct both internal and external value chains for a particular customer. The internal value chain follows Porter’s original concept, which includes value-added steps from purchasing to distribution as well as support functions such as R&D and human resources. It’s tempting to let this generic diagram serve as the customer’s value chain, but it must be tailored to the particular customer. To produce a useful value-chain analysis, members of your engineering or sales team should ask the customer how its business processes add value and whether any have unique best-practice features. To perform the external value-chain analysis, team members should ask the customer a set of getting-to-know-you questions. What does your supply chain (the upstream value chain) look like? What role does your company play in it? How do your products reach their customers (the downstream value chain)? Your final diagram models only this single customer’s value chain and it represents virtually everything the customer does to add significant value. If your relationship with the customer permits a candid exchange of information, have the customer validate the value chain you have created. As an example of how the diagnostic process works, consider how a supplier to Wal-Mart might learn to enhance its value. [6] The objective of creating both internal and external value chains is to understand Wal-Mart well enough to be able to discern its implicit and explicit strategic concerns. Exhibits 3 and 4 depict preliminary pictures of Wal-Mart’s internal and external value chains. Getting to this initial stage is relatively easy – adding more detail, nuance, and understanding takes more time, involves interviewingWal-Mart executives, and more closely observing how the firm operates. Step 3: Inferring the customer’s business strategy Even long-time suppliers have trouble distinguishing critical customer activities from sometimes urgent but ultimately nonstrategic ones. Understanding your customer’s business strategy is therefore crucial. Value-chain analysis helps a supplier distinguish between the activities of the customer’s firm that directly support its competitive strategies – for its products and for enhancing key capabilities – and ordinary operations. For example, routine operations like billing customers or servicing the fleet of company vehicles must be done, and done well. But there is little if any competitive advantage to be gained from the superior execution of such activities. Nor are they likely to provide an opportunity for gaining new sources of revenue and profit. It is the customers’ strategic activities and projects that offer the potential for future profits and command the attention of your customers’ senior management. So by supporting strategic activities, B2B service providers stand to gain the high-margin work they hunger after, the work that produces the highest returns, and the work that should be their constant priority. The Fluor case Fluor Corporation is a global engineering and construction company providing major capital facilities for a vast range of industrial clients in many vertical markets. With as many as 2,000 projects under construction employing 40,000 workers in more than 50 countries at any time, Fluor operates in all geographic regions of the globe and in all parts of its customers’ supply chains, delivering engineering and construction management services – in sum, a full range of B2B services. The questions of where Fluor should concentrate its resources to meet its customers’ most urgent needs can become enormously complex. To rationalize this process, Fluor must determine which customer projects – the ones that address its customers’ greatest strategic needs and, hence, have potentially the greatest margins – have the highest value. For many years, Fluor has known the critical importance of understanding every one of its B2B customers’ businesses. But that was not enough. The questions for Fluor’s marketing team became, ‘‘How can we learn each customer’s business strategy and strategic needs? ’ Some of the many different sources of information about a customer’s strategy are: B Marketing communications including printed materials (brochures and advertisements), media communications (press releases) and marketing websites reveal new product directions and customer targeting; these provide insights into market positioning and marketing strategy. B Financial-community reports (annual reports, SEC filings, as well as meetings with financial analysts) shed light on internal strategic initiatives in addition to market-positioning moves. Annual reports form the basis of this Fluor case study, but 10Ks and analysts’ reports could prove equally useful. B The academic literature is replete with surgical dissections of strategically successful companies and industries. Business-school cases abound featuring companies like Apple and industries like automobiles. Wal-Mart, for one, has been the focus of many Harvard Business School cases. [8] B Many companies make their published strategic plans available to interested parties. For example, British Petroleum has published its strategy on its corporate website since 2000. B Consultants that specialize in competitive intelligence. B Face-to-face conversations with your customers. Step 4: Discovering the customer’s strategic needs Strategic activities are the activities a firm must implement in order to realize its strategy or strategies. Every strategy has such a set of activities. Insofar as a company finds doing any of these activities difficult, potential suppliers have been trained to see these as ‘‘needs. ’’ But, suppliers need to differentiate between operations that are difficult and ones that are strategic. For example, an innovation strategy requires a system for generating ideas and picking the best ones, cost estimating, engineering, R&D, prototype construction and testing, and market-acceptance testing. The pharmaceutical industry relies on a great many B2B service providers to support its new-drug-development programs in the drug-formulation (R&D) stage and also B2B service providers that develop new systems to expedite regulatory approval. Value-chain analysis identifies both as key strategic functions. Step 5: Making value-chain analysis a strategic capability of the marketing department Engineering/construction companies have developed at least two approaches to break the forces of commoditization in their industry: 1. Project screening and selectivity. Not all projects are created equal or represent equal opportunity. Service providers should select projects on the basis of projected margin, not projected revenue. They must pursue projects that build on their strengths and core competences, projects where they can apply their best talents to serve their customers. This is done by first serving customers’ commodity work to position them to then pursue customers’ strategic opportunities. This is the approach used in the Fluor example. 2. Become selected customers’ strategic business partner. Such practice puts the business-services provider right in the customers’ lap, a decidedly advantageous position to be in when strategic opportunities are brewing. It also leads to many sole-source or noncompetitive-bid opportunities and, potentially, to higher margins. 1. The method described in the article is based on actual experience of one author when he worked for Fluor Corp. . A recent example is Ram Charan, What the CustomerWants You to Know: How Everybody Needs to Think Differently about Sales, Portfolio (Penguin Group), 2007. The application of value-chain analysis to B2B clients of engineering and construction management services was originally suggested by Don F. Coleman of Fluor Corporation in May, 2000. 3. Michael E. Porter, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, Free Press, 1985. 4. Stanley C. Abraham, Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide for Competitive Success, Thomson South-Western, 2006, 214. . Wayne McPhee and David Wheeler, ‘‘Making the case for the added-value chain,’’ Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 34 No. 4, 2006, Exhibit 1, p. 41; exhibit used with permission. 6. The supplier could have many other customers, and could replicate this process with those other customers. Typically, doing such an analysis would be reserved for the supplier’s top 3-5 customers. 7. The authors found little in the literature about B2B marketing practices based on knowledge of the customer’s value chain and business strategy. 8. See, for, example Harvard Business School Case #9-794-024, ‘‘Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ,’’ August 6, 1996, which provides a thorough review of Wal-Mart’s business practices up to its international (horizontal) expansion. 9. Michael E. Porter, ‘‘What is strategy? ’’ Harvard Business Review, November-December 1996. 10. HBS Case #9-794-024, op. cit. 11. Harvard Business School Case #9-302-102, ‘‘Robert Mondavi and the Wine Industry,’’ May 3, 2002. Mondavi’s flagship brand ‘‘Woodbridge’’ is a rare example of a brand name pointing, not to product benefits, but up the value chain to process benefits.

Ilm M4.01 Essay

Managers have subordinates – people who operate at levels below the managers’. 10 In summary10 Leadership and Adaptability10 4. Communication and interpersonal relationships11 4. 1 Explanation11 4. 2 Barriers11 5. Development opportunities12 5. 1 Personal style14 5. 2 Personal development16 M4. 01: Understanding the management role (Work based assignment) 1. Introduction 1. 1 My Role – Principle Desktop Engineer †¢ Medway Council. The council employs around 7,000 people in a wide variety of general and specialist roles. Staff are based in the two main offices: Gun Wharf Chatham Maritime and Civic Centre in Strood. As well as in schools, social services centres and leisure, countryside, heritage and arts centres. †¢ My role within the organisation is Principle Desktop Engineer. I currently have a team of 8 engineers and an apprentice. †¢ The main purpose of the job is to manage the desktop engineer team, providing an effective and efficient desktop service to Medway Council. A full Job description (JDQ) is listed at appendix 1. 2. Medway Council[1] Medway Council is a unitary council responsible for providing services, including education and social services, in Rochester, Strood, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, the nearby rural areas and the Hoo Peninsula. The council also ensures that people comply with regulations, supports business and tourism in Medway and works to include everyone and regenerate the area. Services People who need services can find information on our website or at the council’s main offices, the town centre contact points as well as in local papers and radio and in the free magazine for residents, Medway Matters. You can also pay online for many services, including council tax, rent and parking fines and also complain if services are not up to your expectations. Decisions Decisions about our services are made after asking people for their views about, for example, what core values should underpin decisions and much more. Councillors make decisions about everything from refuse collection to regeneration of the area. It is their job to ensure that services are provided cost effectively, where they are needed and without discrimination. Council meetings are publicised in advance and members of the public are welcome to attend. Partnership Working in partnership with others to tackle problems effectively and campaign is co-ordinated through the Local Strategic Partnership and set out in the community plan. Other examples of partnership working are the Children and Young People’s Partnership and Community Safety Partnership (CSP). Employer As an employer of around 7,000 people, Medway Council offers full and part-time career opportunities. 2. 1 The council’s vision †¢ The Council’s vision for Medway is that Medway will be thriving, confident and healthy, a place where people are proud to live, work and learn. There will be opportunities for everyone to achieve and succeed, and to get the most out of life. We will celebrate the diversity of our communities, tackling disadvantage in all its forms. The local economy will grow an increasing number and range of jobs created by the expansion of existing businesses and the attraction of new ones. With a University for Medway offering opportunities for all local people, we will have a highly educated and skilled workforce, able to meet the needs of employers. Economic prosperity and progress will not however, be achieved at the expense of the environment. People living in Medway will enjoy a high quality of life, with decent, affordable housing. There will be a responsive transport system, helping to reduce traffic congestion. We will improve the environment and maintain it for future generations. †¢ This can only be achieved through the participation of all – the community, the Council, businesses and others sharing ambition and responsibility. We will listen to local people and jointly take pride in improving the place where we live. Networks of voluntary groups working with local people will be encouraged. Medway Council will provide high quality services, always working to improve value for money. Over and above this the Council will consult and involve local people so that decisions are taken on spending limited resources together. The Council will co-coordinate partnerships across boundaries to achieve common objectives. Medway Council will seek to set an example as a good and fair employer. †¢ Medway matters â €“ there is no limit to what we can achieve. Working together we will shape the future of Medway and create an environment of flourishing communities with people who fulfil their potential. . 2 Organisational structure The council is made up of two directorates: †¢ Children and Adults †¢ Regeneration, Community and Culture An additional partnership with NHS Medway includes: †¢ The Public Health Directorate An organisational chart can be found at appendix 2 with a management role table at appendix 3. 2. 2. 1 Functional areas and managerial roles in relation to its purpose Under the Medway Council Personal Development Review (PDR) there are several personal qualities and attributes (PQAs) which middle managers are assessed against: Commitment to diversity and integrity – promoting and managing diversity and demonstrating a fair and ethical approach in all situations †¢ Openness to change – proactively supporting change, seeking opportunities to pr omote improved organizational effectiveness †¢ Confidence and resilience – consistently projecting and promoting a confident, controlled and focused attitude in highly challenging situations †¢ Working with others – leading, involving and motivating others both within Medway and in the community †¢ Effective communication – communicating effectively oth orally and in writing †¢ Commitment to development – committed and able to develop self, individuals and teams to improve organisational effectiveness †¢ Problem solving – understanding and applying relevant information to make appropriate decisions which reflect key priorities and requirements †¢ Situational awareness – maintaining an active awareness of the environment to promote safe and effective working †¢ Commitment to excellence – leading groups to achieve excellence by the establishment, maintaining and managing performance requirements †¢ Planning and implementing – creating and implementing effective plans to deliver a range of organizational objectives †¢ Political/organizational awareness – recognizing the potential political impact and implications of actions from a strategic perspective These are primarily for operational staff but there is an expectation that all middle managers fulfil these roles. 2. 3 Stakeholders and their objectives A stakeholder is any individual or organisation that is affected by the activities of a business. They may have a direct or indirect interest in the business, and may be in contact with the business on a daily basis, or may just occasionally. Our main stake holders are: †¢ Members – they are elected, accountable and drive values and activities. †¢ Staff – they will be interested in job security and pay. †¢ Agencies – Shools, NHS, Housing, Police, Highways, Waste and Building Control. †¢ Other authorities – SE7, a partnership of seven councils that have committed to working together to improve quality of services and to achieve savings. Stakeholders have an interest in the company but do not own it. I would suggest that most people would say the public would be the main stakeholder as the end-user. However there is a stakeholder matrix which is used to assess how much power and influence they have to an organisation. Using this then influences how much attention/priority the organisation should allocate to each. [pic] 3. The role of management in achieving goals To achieve its goals and ensure that the stakeholder’s interests are continually analysed and met, the council employs middle managers. The council goals can only be achieved if everyone works as a team and supports the council vision and values. Middle managers are an important component of this team. Middle managers have a responsibility within the organisation to implement at an operational level, the policy and programs set out by the senior managers and directors. They have a strong impact on the outcome of customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and the efficiency and development of the organisation. Middle managers within the company also act as role models who interpret and represent the company; they communicate and track the different goals and policies ensuring information flows up as well as down. 3. 1 Responsibilities of middle managers Middle managers relay strategic objections from senior managers to their subordinates. They set local targets, review and evaluate, and report back to senior managers. Communication is therefore crucial in the organisation to ensure everyone fully understands their roles and responsibilities. Middle managers play an important role in promulgating information to their staff from senior managers in an appropriate manner and understandable language to ensure duties are carried out efficiently and effectively, as we have a duty as â€Å"public servants† to provide value for money. In essence they make it â€Å"real†. Various systems are in place to enable middle managers to provide evaluation on targets to senior managers, and provide data for Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs). Adair’s Action Centred Leadership model can be used to show how middle managers can show achievement towards the organisation’s goals: By Achieving the Task By Developing the Team By Developing Individuals Importantly as well, Adair set out these core functions of leadership and says they are vital to the Action Centred Leadership model: Planning – seeking information, defining tasks, setting aims †¢ Initiating – briefing, task allocation, setting standards †¢ Controlling – maintaining standards, ensuring progress, on-going decision-making †¢ Supporting – individuals’ contributions, encouraging, team spirit, reconciling, morale †¢ Informing – clarifying tasks and plans, updating, receiving feedback and interpreting †¢ Evaluating – feasibility of ideas, performance, enabling self assessment Following training, Medway Council middle managers are involved in recruiting staff, conduct appraisals and performance management and absence management, in accordance with service procedures. Middle managers are specialists within their department or team. . 3. 2 Leadership/Management styles How you talk to your staff, how you motivate, how you delegate, how you solve problems and how you make decisions will depend on you view your role as a manager or as a leader. The table at appendix 4 lists the different styles. 3. 3 To lead or to manage You need both. The old proverb says that leadership is doing the right thing; management is doing things right. The difference between the two is not as sharp as the saying would suggest, and both are required for effective corporate growth: leadership risk creates opportunities while management strictness turns them into tangible results. â€Å"If your organization is not on a journey don’t bother about leadership – just settle for management† advises John Adair. â€Å"There is a direct correlation between the way people view their managers and the way they perform† [2] Leadership vs. Management What is the difference between management and leadership? The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do. Many people are both. They have management jobs, but they realize that you cannot buy hearts, especially to follow them down a difficult path, and so act as leaders too. Managers have subordinates – people who operate at levels below the managers’. Leaders have followers, leaders do not have subordinates – at least not when they are leading. Many organizational leaders do have subordinates, but only because they are also managers. But when they want to lead, they have to give up formal authoritarian control, because to lead is to have followers, and following is always a voluntary activity. In summary The table at appendix 5 summarizes the differences between being a leader and being a manager. This is, of course, an illustrative characterisation, and there is a whole spectrum between either end of these scales along which each person can range. Leadership and Adaptability We know that what will inspire or motivate one staff member, will not inspire or motivate another; managers therefore need to be adaptable in their responses to staff. 4. Communication and interpersonal relationships 4. 1 Explanation[3] Interpersonal communication is a crucial part of your everyday life, yet you probably rarely think about the way in which you interact with other individuals. DeVito defines interpersonal communications as â€Å"communication that takes place between two persons who have an established relationship; the people are in some way ‘connected’ Thus, as interpersonal communication can occur between romantic partners, business associates, doctors and patients, etc. , it permeates our lives. Often, you devote your interpersonal interactions to attempts at influencing the other individual in some way. 4. 2 Barriers One thing I’ve seen as an inhibitor is people like to communicate in different ways. So as a manager, we need to really seek to understand for each person, what they prefer. Some may like short 1-1 sessions that focus on quick communication of facts. Some may like longer communication sessions and be comfortable talking about personal life. Some may want weekly 1-1s, some bi-weekly. Trying to tailor the communication style in personal interactions is important. Another inhibitor I’ve seen is globally dispersed teams where communication can often take the form of instant message conversations and emails. I find that at least on occasion, suggesting a quick 5 minute call to cover something can really be of value – allows a more personal level of communication and can also allow for â€Å"off topic† communication which can help people connect. Management is based on communication but being able to transfer that into drivers, performance, motivation and sustainability needs leadership and empowerment skills. It is the basis of trust building. You can give someone a reprimand or praise and even both over a coffee and with genuine commitment you have a strong bond to build on. It converts into motivation when focused right. It’s not just about communicating – it’s about several crucial interplays of trust, motivation, inspiration, support and leadership. The main barriers we come across are solved on a trust related basis. Even a simple barrier like arriving late for work is a mountain without trust. Bottom line is each team player is different – respect will give you the ability to enter and discuss. Trust will aid the action plan†¦ then follow up and reward progress mechanisms facilitate team building and mentoring. 5. Development opportunities Every council employee has a PDR covering: †¢ Performance over the last 6/12 months, achieved objectives/targets, areas of good performance. †¢ Areas of performance to be developed further or any other problems or constraints. †¢ Agreed priority objectives/targets for next 12 months (including any Corporate Plan objectives/targets). †¢ Review of development and training over last 12 months. †¢ Agreed future development. †¢ section/department/authority. †¢ Manager’s comments. †¢ Employee’s comments All managers will manage differently as no two people are the same. However if a manager is able to critically appraise their own performance they will be able to identify areas to be developed, or at least to be aware of. The Johari Window (Loft and Hingham) is a widely used model for understanding and training self-awareness, personal development, improving communications, interpersonal relationships, group dynamics, team development and inter-group relationships. [4] [pic] 1. The public area contains things that are openly known and talked about and which may be seen as strengths or weaknesses. This is the self that we choose to share with others 2. The hidden area contains things that others observe that we don’t know about. Again, they could be positive or negative behaviours, and will affect the way that others act towards us. 3. The unknown area contains things that nobody knows about us – including ourselves. This may be because we’ve never exposed those areas of our personality, or because they’re buried deep in the subconscious. 4. The private area contains aspects of our self that we know about and keep hidden from others. 5. 1 Personal style The main two styles used by myself now are Negotiating and Facilitating I carried out a self-assessment and had three of staff carry out the assessment for comparison. All four assessments are fairly well balanced showing my main two styles are: Negotiating and Facilitating. Appendix 6 is my self-assessment. Appendix 7 is an assessment by one of my senior engineers. This shows a lower result for Directing and a higher result for Laissez-faire when compared to the other two staff assessments. This person is experienced, knowledgeable and trustworthy and has pride in his work. Appendix 8 is an assessment by one of my junior engineers. This shows an increase in Directing and a small decrease in Laissez-faire. This person is competent but still requires a little coaching at times. Appendix 9 is an assessment by a fairly new member of staff. This shows a significant increase in Directing and a small decrease in Laissez-faire. This person being fairly new to the team still requires Directing while he gets used to the policies and working practices of the organisation. From the assessment results, it is clear that my main two leadership styles are Negotiating and Facilitating, this fits in well with the organisation and is both encouraged and supported by the business. I believe I use the following styles: †¢ Style 1 – the directing or telling leader. This style I use on new members of staff and for projects that are high priority and need to be completed by the book. †¢ Style – 2 the coaching or selling leader. I use this style when dealing with the every day workloads, I have two senior engineers who manage the internal and external work queues seperately. I leave them to orghanise there own schedule but monitor both queues and expect feed back from them. †¢ Style 3 – the supporting or participating leader. I use this style during when I have smaller projects that I can delegate to my engineers knowing that they are fully capable of achieving the goals laid down. †¢ Style 4 – the delegating leader. I use this when I delegate more complex projects to my senior engineers knowing that they are fully capable of achieving the goals set out and will seek my advice/approval if any changes are required during the project. 5. 2 Personal development My areas for self improvement would be: 1. Communication, change leadership is enhanced when leaders communicate a little at a time, as often as possible, in as many different ways as possible, and providing as many different perspectives as possible. Once team members have built their own personal model of the future and have checked it out against the reality of what is happening on the ground, so that they can once again begin to make their own decisions, the communication process will have served its purpose. This could be achieved by allowing time for more team meetings to pass on any changes that may be in the pipeline, get an update on how the team feel in general. What has worked – can we improve on current working practices to give an improved and more efficient service to the organisation. What hasn’t worked and why, analyse where the task went wrong and see if it can be avoided in the future, lessons learnt. Finally to give praise/rewards where/if appropriate. 2. Self awareness, more patience with both team members and customers, being an autocratic leader for 20 years leaves its mark. My own personal development plan can be found at appendix 10 Possible organisational improvements: 1. Review working practices on a regular basis and try to improve on them making work more productive, efficient leading to a more effective service to the organisation [pic][pic] ———————– [1] Medway Council website [2] Adair, 1997 [3] DeVito, J. A. (2004). The interpersonal communication book, 10th ed. Boston: Pearson-Allyn & Bacon. [4] Google Images

This Should Not of Happened to Peter Connelly

This should not of happened to Peter Connelly – By Jonathan Pinder Born 1st March, 2006, Peter Connelly â€Å"Baby P† was only three months old when his natural father walked out after the mother; Tracey Connelly began an affair with Steven Barker, a racist thug obsessed with Nazi memorabilia and pornography. This was the start of the end for such a beautiful little innocent boy! In the world we live in today this should NEVER have happened!So many things should never have slipped through the net and gone un-noticed. The professionals where the only people that could of saved this poor little boy’s life, they had the words! They had the means! And they had the power to stop this. But instead Fifteen month-old ‘Baby P' was left to die at the hands of his mother and stepfather because of catastrophic blunders by doctors, police and the same Haringey Borough Council who so disastrously failed to help nine year-old Victoria Climbie ten years earlier.Rather than resign in shame, doctors and social workers have fallen over each other to blame others and keep their jobs. And so it begins! In November 2006, Tracey Connelly’s new boyfriend, Steven Barker, moved in with her and shortly after the new lover moved into the family home in Finsbury Park, north London, Peter was seen with bruises and scratches on his skin on a visit to his GP Dr Jerome Ikwueke. This is when the excuses and lies began; Tracey Connelly’s excuse was that the boy's skin ‘bruised easily. But no sooner had Peter visited the Doctors, Peter was taken to Whittington hospital with a head injury, bruising to the bridge of the nose, sternum, right shoulder and buttocks and when Tracey was asked about finger-marks on Peters body, the mother said they were from ‘holding him and throwing him up in the air. ‘(Excuse and lie number 2) She also claimed that Peter, now only 9 months old, liked ‘rough and tumble play’ (Excuse and lie number 3 ) when she was under police questioning on suspicion of assault.This is where Haringey social services placed Peter on the ‘at risk' register and visited the family home to find it filthy and smelling of urine. Is this acceptable for a baby Was this question asked Yes it was and they came to the conclusion to let Peter stay with Angela Godfrey, a church going therapist and Tracey Connelly's best friend, instead of a foster carer. Why a friend of the mother who has just been questioned on suspicion of assaulting Peter and who’s house was so filthy? But within just a month, on January 26, 2007, with no decision made on any charge against the mother, Peter was allowed back home!Mistake 1 and the first of many! On April 9TH, Peter was taken to hospital with a large swelling to his head and bruises to his eyes and cheek. Despite the injuries – which Tracey Connelly claimed were caused by another boy pushing him into a fireplace (Excuse and lie number 4) – docto rs focused on treating the boy for possible symptoms of meningitis. While at hospital Tracey Connelly told staff ‘I had been told in March that if there were any more accidental injuries they were going to take him away. ‘ Was this Tracey’s way of asking for help? If so why wasn’t this followed up?Well it was and social services took no action other than to buy the family a fireguard. A fireguard Then on June 1st the social worker made an unannounced visit to the home and found Peter with bruises under the chin and a red line under his eye. Tracey Connelly claimed that another 18 month-old child had hit the boy during a squabble (Excuse and lie number 5). Tracey Connelly was ordered to take him to hospital. An examination by doctors revealed more bruising in 12 different areas of his body including a ‘grip mark' on his leg. Tracey Connelly was interviewed by police four days later but again released on bail for the second time.Disregarding the mountin g evidence, it was decided jointly by police and social services to allow Peter home on condition his care was supervised by Angela Godfrey. The police officer investigating both assaults, DC Angela Slade, did at first object to returning the child but it was decided there was not enough evidence to start care proceedings. Peter's condition deteriorated even faster he lost weight and his scalp and ear infections became so bad that the child-minder refused to look after him anymore and his GP only prescribed anti-bacterial cream.When Peter spent a night with his natural father; he had lost nails on his fingers and toes. On the next visit by social worker during a scheduled visit Tracey Connelly covered up Peter's bruises with chocolate (Excuse and lie number 6). Why was this happening and still no-one noticed anything and spoke up? Peters Last Chance The last chance to save Peter's life came on August 1st, when a doctor examined him at the Child Development Clinic in St Anne's Hospit al, Tottenham. The doctor failed to spot his fractured ribs and ignored a series of bruises to his back and legs. Peter may even have already been paralysed y having his back snapped over a hard surface such as an adult knee or cot. When in court the doctor later said ‘He didn't look any different from any child with a common cold. ‘ The next day, August 2nd, 2007, Tracey Connelly was told the assault investigation against her was being dropped and offered a free trip to the seaside as a treat! Peter spent that evening face down in his cot, wrapped tightly in a blanket ‘like a cocoon' while his mother and stepfather celebrated. Peter was already dead when Tracey Connelly finally got out of bed at 11am. Good bye Peter. Why didn’t anyone fight for you?Peter was seen by 28 different social workers, doctors and police officers before he was tortured to death! Whoever is to be blamed, and however the degrees of blame are to be portioned out, the bottom line is th at Peter was killed after a horrific 18 month life, during all or most of which he was repeatedly beaten and physically injured by his mother, and her partner, and, perhaps, the lodger. What happened is beyond excusing or excuse-making. Those responsible should be called to account and removed from such work. Everyone from the case workers, to their supervisors, and the doctors and police.Too many people and too many mistakes. Why did everyone make some many failings? The â€Å"devastating† catalogue of failings on the part of Haringey Council, health advisors and police meant that those who highlighted fears were ignored and the obvious signs of abuse went unheeded. It took seven inspectors from Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary just two weeks to produce the report comprising a long list of failings. (See list of failings) But the biggest blow came from the reaction of us, the public who rarely see these types of events and such brutality.This cut us all to the core. To hear this brutality to such a young little boy was harrowing and devastating and then to hear of all the failings made by the people and authorities that where put in place to help prevent this was disgusting and we all wondered what exactly these people do for a living? For me as a support worker originally from a children’s background and now working with vulnerable adults this made me look more closely at my work and the procedures that where in place to see what changes I could possibly make and to be honest the changes aren’t at ground evel that need to be made, these changes need to come from way up the ladder, from managers up to the MP’s. So where do we go from here? What happened here was horrific but we must move forward. This should never have happened but unfortunately these things do happen and do slip through the net, the only positive thing that will come for this will be new rules and recommendations tha t are laid out for departments for Children, Schools, Residential children’s homes, other professional’s and families.The joint area review has brought out a list of recommendations to enable all such parties to ensure that comprehensive and effective safeguarding arrangements for children and young people are established (see attached Recommendations of the joint area review) Also Ed Balls (Children's Secretary) told MPs that in the light of the Baby P case; â€Å"We have tabled three new clauses that will help us to go further towards implementing Lord Laming’s recommendations in this Bill, they will introduce new statutory targets for safeguarding and child protection and require local safeguarding children boards to appoint two members drawn from the local community and to publish an annual report on their effectiveness, But these measures could only go some way to protecting children†. And this is a sad and truthful fact that we will never be able to stop every single death of a child or vulnerable person, despite being known or unknown to social services.It’s a sad point, but it is not realistic to say that every child murder can be prevented. Child protection is everyone’s business, but things that go on behind closed doors stay there- even when they shouldn’t.! LITTLE ANGEL (BABY P) Bye, bye little angel, So bright and so sweet, You had been here with us, With your heart of love and joy, Now you will rest in peace, No one now will treat you bad. We watch you grow and change, We will remember you always, With every smile on your tiny face. You are so special in every way And we will love you every day. List of failings found by Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Insufficient oversight of child protection services by Haringey's councillors and senior officers; *A managerial failure to ensure all the requirements of the inquiry into Victoria Climbie's murder in 2000 is met; *Social workers, health professionals and police do not communicate routinely and consistently; *A failure to identify children who are at immediate risk of harm; *Frontline procedures are of inconsistent quality; *Child protection plans are generally poor; *Record-keeping for case files is inconsistent and often poor; *An over-reliance on performance data which is not always accurate; * A failure to speak directly to children at risk; Concerns that youngsters suspected of being abused may not have been able to speak up without fear; *The Serious Case Review into Baby P's death is inadequate; *The high turnover of social workers at Haringey Council has resulted in heavy reliance on agency staff, leading to a lack of continuity for children and their families; * Heavy workloads for social workers, with the true number of children allocated to them not always accurately counted. The inspectors' summary to their report may have been written in official jargon but its stark meaning is clear enough. They wrote: â€Å"The contribution of local services to improving outcomes for children and young people at risk or requiring safeguarding is inadequate and needs urgent and sustained attention. In other words, vulnerable children in Haringey cannot necessarily rely on the authorities to protect them and Baby P's death was not just tragic bad luck. Recommendations of the joint area review The joint area review made the following recommendations that the Department for Children, Schools and Families should provide immediate appropriate support and challenge to the local authority to ensure that comprehensive and effective safeguarding arrangements for children and young people are established. The Local Authority, working with its partners and in particular health and the police, should: *improve governance of safeguarding arrangements establish more secure assessment and earlier intervention strategies which ensure that, in all cases where concerns about c hildren are identified, agencies can intervene and assess risks of significant harm to children in a timely manner *establish more systematic monitoring of the quality of practice ensure that managers and staff at all levels are accountable for casework decisions, and that they draw as necessary on the expertise of partner agencies to inform the decision making process *take steps to integrate individual service processes and systems across all agencies more effectively *assure the competence of leadership and management in all areas of children’s services and develop clear and effective accountability structures *establish rigorous arrangements for management of performance across all agencies, which ensure that the quality of practice is evaluated and reported regularly and reliably, and that accountability for each action is defined and monitored *make explicit to all staff and elected members the expectations and standards required of front line child protection practice *establish rigorous procedures to audit and monitor the quality of case files across all partner agencies and ensure processes are in place to deliver improvement *establish clear procedures and protocols for communication and collaboration between social care, health and police services to support safeguarding of children, and ensure that these are adhered to *assure the competence of service and team managers in conducting rigorous and evaluative supervision and monitoring of safeguarding practice *appoint an independent chairperson to the local safeguarding children board (LSCB). Whilst not a mandatory requirement, it would be good practice for the Local Authority to: *ensure that all elected members have CRB checks *ensure that all elected members undertake safeguarding training.

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